Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
'Dazzling technologies': Addressing the digital divide in the Southern African universities

The countries of Southern Africa are poorly served with respect to ICT resources and access to the Internet, resources that are sorely needed by higher education institutions in the subregion in order to enable Southern Africa’s knowledge to permeate the classrooms and other spaces where ideas for a future world are being wrought. Southern African scholars publish in a range of knowledge fields, with important contributions in the health sciences (with some specialisation in public health, tropical medicine, and infectious diseases), in the agricultural sciences, geology and earth sciences, as well as some work in the marine and space sciences (Mouton, 2007). These emerging bodies of knowledge are poorly utilised by students, scholars and researchers as they cannot easily be accessed, either in print or in electronic format. Nor do Southern African researchers participate effectively in global or regional research communities, which have come to rely on high-speed electronic networks for conducting and producing research. Ng’ambi (2006) argues that ICT must become a centrepiece of university infrastructure – bringing free and open software and collaborative web-based teaching tools into the learning endeavour. It is argued that:
RE-REVISED Effect of glucose and pyruvate on nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of porcine oocytes in a chemically defined medium

The present study was undertaken to examine the potential roles of glucose and pyruvate in nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of porcine oocytes. Oocyte-cumulus complexes (OCC) from 3 to 6 mm follicles were cultured in a chemically defined medium, pyruvate-free mNCSU37-PVA with/without 5.55 mM glucose during in vitro maturation (IVM), germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and nuclear maturation of porcine oocytes were prevented in glucose-free medium (P<0.05). Subsequently, OCC were cultured for IVM in glucose-containing mNCSU37-PVA supplemented with various concentrations of 6-amononicotinamide (6-AN) and diphenyleneiodonium (DPI), inhibitors of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP); both compounds (≥10 μM 6-AN and ≥10 nM DPI) inhibited resumption of meiosis (P<0.05). Supplementation of glucose-free maturation medium with increasing concentrations of pyruvate induced resumption of meiosis and increased the incidence of oocytes reaching the metaphase-II stage in a concentration-dependent manner (P<0.05). More mature oocytes were obtained in the presence of pyruvate + glucose (P<0.05). After culture to allow maturation, glutathione content was higher in the oocytes cultured in the presence of pyruvate, alone than in those cultured in glucose alone; inclusion of 6-AN abolished responses to pyruvate (P<0.05). These results demonstrate that, in the pig, both glucose and pyruvate play a critical role in the release of oocytes from arrest at the GV-I stage, probably through the PPP, whereas supplementation with pyruvate improves the cytoplasmic maturation as determined by oocyte glutathione level.
Helicoplacoidea: A New Class of Echinoderms

A fusiform, spirally coiled and pleated, free-living, heavily placate echinoderm with an expansible test has been discovered in the Lower Cambrian Olenellus zone of California. It is characterized by 10 "interambulacral" areas, a single principal endothecal ambulacrum with a short branch, and oral and apical regions at opposite poles. A new class, the Helicoplacoidea is proposed for the new genus Helicoplacus, with two new species, H. gilberti (type species) and H. curtisi.
Banking Smart: Factors Affecting Intentions to Use

Indian banking sector is one of the fastest growing sectors. The banks in order to realize their true potential and overcome the bottlenecks posed by inseparability are trying to introduce products based on innovative technologies: Banking Smart. These help banks cater to “Customerization” while standardizing the back office operations to reap economies of scale. However, true potential of these new an innovative service is realized only when they are accepted and used by the customers. This paper is an attempt to understand factors which influence intention to use technologically innovative products. A survey research was conducted among the banking customers across four tier 2 cities in India. The findings show that major factors which influence consumer intention to use technologically innovative products are technology discomfort and perceived self efficacy.
The value of upstream recognition of goals in supply chains

Purpose – The literature on supply chain management has focused on the benefits of frequent and strategic communication in supply chains. However, it has paid much less attention to the difficulties and conflicts associated with day‐to‐day communications in supply chains. This discrepancy is surprising because operational communications play a crucial role in supply chain management. In this paper, the aim is to investigate when operational, day‐to‐day communications in supply chains become linked with conflicts and how these conflicts can be prevented.Design/methodology/approach – The authors surveyed respondents from the partner firms of 81 different supply chains. The data from 380 surveys were examined with moderated regression analyses.Findings – The findings indicate that operational communications are linked with conflicts if upstream parties in supply chains do not recognise the importance that their downstream partners attach to certain performance objectives.Research limitations/implications – F.
Group authenticated key exchange schemes via learning with errors

We propose a novel passively secure group key exchange GKE scheme via learning with errors LWE. Then, we extend it to a GKE scheme via ring-learning with errors. We show the security analysis of our GKE schemes based on the LWE assumption and the security property of secure sketch in the random oracle model. One of our innovative points is a simple and practical robust extractor that serves as the key derivation function. Based on our GKE scheme, we build a group authenticated key exchange scheme and then prove its security under the LWE assumption and the secure property of secure sketch in the random oracle model. The proposed scheme not only provides authenticated key exchange security and mutually authenticated security but also needs only two round communications to negotiate a shared session key. Copyright © 2015John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Correction: Associations between Neuroticism and Depression in Relation to Catastrophizing and Pain-Related Anxiety in Chronic Pain Patients

Several cognitive-affective constructs, including pain catastrophizing and pain-related anxiety, have been implicated in the onset and progression of chronic pain, and both constructs have been identified as key targets for multidisciplinary pain treatment. Both neuroticism and depression have been linked to these constructs (and to each other), but how each may contribute to the pain experience is unknown. This study tested associations between neuroticism, depression, and indices of catastrophizing and pain-related anxiety among persons seeking treatment for chronic non-malignant pain. We hypothesized, as a higher-order personality trait, neuroticism would remain uniquely associated with both pain catastrophizing and pain-related anxiety, even after accounting for current symptoms of depression. A retrospective study design assessed depression (as measured by the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale), neuroticism (measured with the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and the Pain Anxiety Symptom Score in a consecutive series of patients (n=595) admitted to a 3-week outpatient pain treatment program from March 2009 through January 2011. Hierarchical regression indicated that neuroticism was independently associated with greater pain catastrophizing and pain-related anxiety, above-and-beyond the contributions of sociodemographic characteristics, pain severity, and depression. A depression by neuroticism interaction was not observed, suggesting that associations between neuroticism and cognitive-affective pain constructs remained stable across varying levels of current depression. These findings represent an early but important step towards the clarification of complex associations between trait neuroticism, current depression, and tendencies toward catastrophic and anxiety-provoking appraisals of pain among persons seeking treatment for chronic pain.
Concentrated Ownership and Firm Responses to a Crisis: Evidence from Thailand

This paper uses a unique and comprehensive dataset of Thai listed firms during 1995-2000 to examine whether concentrated ownership is associated with the effective or inadequate corporate governance. Rather than testing the relation between ownership structure and firm value in which the results are questionable and diverse, this study explores an impact of concentrated ownership on a critical corporate decision during crisis situations. We find that the ownership characteristics of Thai firms that are commonly shared with other emerging markets, seem not to be associated with effective corporate governance, but with the exploitation of private benefits. The results appear to contradict the hypothesis that concentrated ownership is beneficial to firms in crisis. In contrast, we present the evidence that controlling shareholders are entrenched when they employ control-enhancing mechanisms and participate in management. Hence, they are able to oppose some actions that are efficient in response to a crisis but hurt their interests.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ACCOMMODATION ENTERPRISES IN KELANTAN: AN OBSERVATION

This article is based on a study of a number of small accommodation enterprises in a tourist destination. It focuses on issues that are related to problems faced by entrepreneurs or owner-managers in developing or enhancing their business enterprises. Among the issues discussed are the training of owner-managers, their informal or formal qualifications before starting business, and the use of formal or informal capitals to construct their enterprises. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews. A number of owner-managers were identified and interviewed, based on a selected list of small accommodation enterprises. Results indicate that there are two underlying factors which, combined together, have resulted in the inception of these enterprises. The first refers to the economic and practical resources needed by owner-managers to operate their business, such as capital and training. The second factor relates to influential factors shaping the businesses, which are the cultural beliefs that conform to the religious faith of the local people. This article explains how such factors have influenced the way tourism enterprises operate in the destination.
Practical applications of semiconductor reliability modeling

A practical methodology for modeling the reliability of deep submicron (<;90 nm) semiconductor microcircuits provides timely and needed information for the integration of commercial off the shelf (COTS) electronics in airborne and high reliability applications. Designing and assuring customer confidence in airborne high reliability applications becomes more challenging as electronics technologies develop rapidly and commercial application demands drive the increasing use of faster, more integrated, higher density commercial off the shelf (COTS) electronics. Use of COTS electronics provides advantages of greater computational power, with higher manufacturing volumes driving better quality control. COTS also introduce the new problem of life-limited semiconductors [1]. Outdated reliability assessment methods do not address these issues or adequately support reliable aerospace system design [2]. The Semiconductor Reliability project, launched in April 2013 by the Aerospace Vehicle Systems Institute (AVSI) under the Authority for Expenditure (AFE) 83, developed a practical approach to modeling the random and wearout failure mechanisms of deep sub-micron (<;90 nm) microcircuits. Unlike prior physics of failure approaches, the methodology was kept simple and was implemented in a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is provided free of charge to R&M practitioners to help promote understanding and common usage of the methodology. Recipients of the spreadsheet are expected to provide feedback to the AVSI team in return. The project also encourages microcircuit device suppliers to provide reliability information in some form, either by using the spreadsheet or directly providing the cumulative defect fraction (CDF) of their product in the application environments. When microcircuit device suppliers provide test data results for their products, the spreadsheet is used to scale the results from test to usage environments. The methodology developed by AVSI differs from traditional Arrhenius methods in that scaling is not only based on temperature but also on voltage, current and frequency. Models of time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB), hot carrier injection (HCI), negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) and electromigration (EM) are used to gain an accurate reliability assessment for technologies sensitive to these mechanisms. This paper describes the AVSI reliability research project, the semiconductor microcircuit reliability models, and provides examples of the applications of these models to support reliable avionics systems design.
Probing the Structure of Rotavirus NSP4: a Short Sequence at the Extreme C Terminus Mediates Binding to the Inner Capsid Particle

ABSTRACT The rotavirus nonstructural glycoprotein NSP4 functions as the receptor for the inner capsid particle (ICP) which buds into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum during virus maturation. The structure of the cytoplasmic domain of NSP4 from rotavirus strain SA11 has been investigated by using limited proteolysis and mass spectrometry. Digestion with trypsin and V8 protease reveals a C-terminal protease-sensitive region that is 28 amino acids long. The minimal sequence requirements for receptor function have been defined by constructing fusions with glutathione S-transferase and assessing their ability to bind ICPs. These experiments demonstrate that 17 to 20 amino acids from the extreme C terminus are necessary and sufficient for ICP binding and that this binding is cooperative. These observations are consistent with a model for the structure of the NSP4 cytoplasmic region in which four flexible regions of 28 amino acids are presented by a protease-resistant coiled-coil tetramerization domain, with only the last ∼20 amino acids of each peptide interacting with the surface binding sites on the ICP.
Influence of the Surface on the Atmospheric Circulation of Mars: Study with a General Circulation Model

Der Mars verfugt im Vergleich zur Erde, bei der 3/4 der Oberflache mit Ozeanen bedeckt ist uber eine wesentlich rauere Oberflache mit hoheren Bergen und tieferen Schluchten sowie eine flachere planetare Grenzschicht. Der Einfluss der Oberflache auf die Atmosphare sollte deshalb auf Mars wesentlich starker ausgepragt sein als auf der Erde. Die wichtigste vertikale Kopplung geschieht dabei durch oberflachennah erzeugte atmospharische Wellen. Sie transportieren mechanische Energie, Impuls und Warme. Mit zunehmender Hohe wachsen die Amplituden der Wellen, bis sie schlieslich brechen und dabei Energie und Impuls an den zonalen Grundstrom abgeben und somit den globalen Transport beeinflussen. In dieser Arbeit werden verschiedene physikalische Mechanismen der oberflachennahen Wellenerzeugung erforscht. Numerische Experimente mit dem am MPS entwickelten allgemeinen Zirkulationsmodell der Marsatmosphare MAOAM zeigen die Abhangigkeit der mittleren zonalen Zirkulation von der Beschaffenheit der Oberflache. Planetare Wellen unterschiedlicher Skalenlange werden sowohl durch Stromung uber die Orographie als auch durch inhomogene Reaktionen von Oberflache und unteren Atmospharenschichten auf die Sonneneinstrahlung erzeugt. Der Tagesgang der Absorption solarer Energie durch die Atmosphare und insbesondere der Oberflache regt thermische Gezeiten an. Die horizontale und vertikale Ausbreitung dieser grosskaligen Storungen werden durch die selektiven Transmissionseigenschaften der Atmosphare bestimmt und dementsprechend Wellenimpuls- und Energie verteilt. Schwerpunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Untersuchung der Einflusse von Orographie sowie von Inhomogenitaten der thermischen Tragheit und Albedo der Marsoberflache auf den polaren Nacht-Jet mit Hilfe numerischer Simulationen. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Beobachtungen des Thermal Emission Spectrometer auf Mars Global Surveyor (MGS-TES) verglichen.
ANTECEDENTS OF EXECUTIVE SELECTIONS: ADDITIONAL EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE.

This study examines profitability, risk, and replacement context (the disposition of the incumbent CEO) as antecedents of outside succession. Our evidence implies that profit and risk are directly related to the likelihood of selecting an outside successor. Also, when the incumbent CEO is dismissed, the likelihood of selecting an outside successor is increased.
The Ica Communication Audit: Process, Status, Critique

The International Communication Association (ICA) Communication audit provides an organization with advance information that may prevent major breakdowns. The ICA Communication Audit process, including goals, products, instruments, audit logistics and timetable, feedback of results and follow-up, and costs are presented as is the current status of the Audit, including audits conducted to date. The authors then make an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the ICA Communication Audit.
Efficacy of Topiramate and Valproate in Chronic Migraine

Objectives:The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of sodium valproate and topiramate in treating chronic migraine. Methods:Forty-nine patients with chronic migraine were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups of treatment: 750 mg/day valproate or 75 mg/day topiramate. Efficacy variables were number of days with headache over a 30-day period and changes in Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) scores at 3 months. Results:At baseline the 2 groups had similar numbers of days with headache and mean MIDAS scores. At the end of the treatment period, a significant reduction in 30-day headache frequency with respect to baseline (P < 0.00001) and a significant reduction in MIDAS scores (P < 0.00001) were recorded in both groups. There were no significant differences in beneficial effects between the 2 drugs. Discussion:Valproate and topiramate seem to be able to manage successfully chronic migraine without substantial differences in efficacy and tolerability. This affords clear practical advantages-in the event of failure of or intolerance for one treatment, the patient may be switched to the other.
Breastfeeding intention and early post-partum practices among overweight and obese women in Ontario: a selective population-based cohort study

Objective: To explore the relationship between overweight and obesity and breastfeeding behaviors, a cohort study was conducted among 22,131 women who delivered in Ontario hospitals between April 1 2008 and March 31 2010. Methods: Data regarding maternal characteristics, maternal body mass index (BMI), infant characteristics, and breastfeeding practices were obtained through the Better Outcomes Registry & Network birth records Database. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to determine the rates of three outcome measures - intention to breastfeed, exclusive breastfeeding in hospital, and exclusive breastfeeding upon discharge from hospital – between non-obese, overweight and obese patients. Results: While overweight mothers have similar intentions to breastfeed compared to non-overweight mothers (OR 1.03 (0.87–1.21), obese mothers were less likely to intend to breastfeed (OR 0.84 (0.70–0.99). Overweight and obese mothers were less likely to exclusively breastfeed in hospital compared to non-overweight mothers (aOR 0.67 (0.60–0.75) and 0.67 (0.60–0.75), respectively), and overweight and obese mothers were less likely to exclusively breastfeed on discharge (aOR 0.68 (0.61–0.76) and 0.68 (0.61–0.76), respectively). Conclusions: This study highlights that while overweight and obese women may benefit more from exclusive breastfeeding compared to non-overweight women, they are less likely to exclusively breastfeed in the immediate post-partum period.
Organic chemistry as a language and the implications of chemical linguistics for structural and retrosynthetic analyses.

Methods of computational linguistics are used to demonstrate that a natural language such as English and organic chemistry have the same structure in terms of the frequency of, respectively, text fragments and molecular fragments. This quantitative correspondence suggests that it is possible to extend the methods of computational corpus linguistics to the analysis of organic molecules. It is shown that within organic molecules bonds that have highest information content are the ones that 1) define repeat/symmetry subunits and 2) in asymmetric molecules, define the loci of potential retrosynthetic disconnections. Linguistics-based analysis appears well-suited to the analysis of complex structural and reactivity patterns within organic molecules.
Evaluating the effect of machine and routing flexibility on flexible manufacturing system performance

The present market conditions require manufacturing systems to expand their actions under the dynamic and uncertain production environment. To deal with such conditions, new technologies support increased manufacturing flexibility and automation. Machine and routing flexibility are the most common flexibility types employed in manufacturing systems. This paper presents a framework based on Taguchi experimental design for evaluating the effects of varying levels of machine and routing flexibility on the performance of an FMS. The system performance measures considered are makespan, average waiting time (AWT), and average utilisation (AUR). Other factors that will affect the system performance are also investigated, such as number of parts and control rules. Results of simulation study indicate that number of parts and routing flexibility are the two most important factors influencing the FMS performance; however, there are some optimal combinations of factors that represent the best system performance under the given set of operating conditions.
Thymoma in dogs: 23 cases (1980-1991).

Medical records of 23 dogs in which thymoma was diagnosed between Jan 1, 1980 and Dec 31, 1991 were reviewed. All thymomas were located in the cranial mediastinum. Eleven dogs had megaesophagus, and myasthenia gravis was confirmed in 7 of these 11. One dog developed clinical signs of myasthenia gravis after removal of the thymoma. Concurrent, nonthymic neoplasms were found in 5 dogs, and 2 had hypercalcemia. Three dogs developed third-degree atrioventricular heart block, 1 of which had generalized myositis involving the cardiac muscle. None of the dogs had evidence of distant metastasis. Histologically, the predominant tumor types were differentiated epithelial type (9/23) and lymphocyte-rich type (6/23). Clear cells (large cells with nonstaining cytoplasm) comprised > or = 50% of the cell population in tumors from 5 dogs. Mast cells were detected histologically in 85% of the thymomas evaluated. Sixteen dogs were treated, and in 15 of these, surgery was the primary means of treatment. Six of the 9 dogs with megaesophagus that underwent surgery died or were euthanized within 1 week of diagnosis; whereas only 1 of the 4 dogs without megaesophagus that underwent surgery died within 1 week of diagnosis. Two dogs underwent surgery and received adjuvant chemotherapy. One dog died of complications associated with chemotherapy. One dog was treated with chemotherapy alone and survived 14 months. Seven dogs did not undergo treatment; 4 of these were euthanatized immediately after the mass was first discovered. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)