Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Systemic problems related to multiple stakeholders in technology adoption and use in organizations : a systems thinking perspective.

Understanding and creating the conditions under which information systems will be embraced by human organizations (thinking systems) remain high-priority research issues. Despite numerous benefits associated with information technology (IT), implementing an information system (IS) in organizational environment is challenging. The literature reports numerous IS project failures. During IS implementation, several factors impede technology’s widespread adoption and use in organizations. These organizational problems often result from such barriers or ‘systemic problems’. The proposed work is based on the argument that addressing ‘systemic problems’ can reduce barriers to organizational progress. Most of the IS/IT adoption theories (e.g. TAM, UTAUT, TAM2 and TAM3) highlight factors related to system users, completely ignoring the other stakeholders who are affected by the adoption process. The purpose of this study is to apply an holistic or systems thinking approach to identify systemic problems in information technology adoption and use within an organizational context by considering the complete stakeholder set as a ‘system of stakeholders’. It involves the study of a web portal implementation project in an Australian university referred to as Aus-Uni. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews of different stakeholders across Aus-Uni and were fundamentally classified into the two categories of ‘involved’ and ‘affected’. Their relevant comments and experiences have been analysed using the lens of a systems thinking-based framework of Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH). The interpretive approach, based on structured-case study method, and the technique of practising CSH have been used as a data gathering framework for this case study. The study’s findings contribute towards identifying information needs and systemic problem scenarios, related to multiple stakeholders in the context of the web portal project. However, its insights may allow broader applications. The roles which these stakeholders play have been classified under the categories prescribed by the CSH methodology of boundary critique. This generated ‘system of stakeholders’ was further analysed to explore problem scenarios as subsystems to this ‘system of stakeholders’. Each problem scenario
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease - An Empirical Analysis of Customer Voice and Firm Intervention on Twitter

Firms are increasingly engaging with customers on social media. Despite this heightened interest, guidance for effective engagement is lacking. In this study, we investigate customers' compliments and complaints and firms' service interventions on social media. We develop a dynamic choice model that explicitly accounts for the evolutions of both customers' voicing decisions and their relationships with the firm. Voices are driven by both the customers' underlying relationships and other factors such as redress seeking. We estimate the model using a unique data set of customer voices and service interventions on Twitter. We find that redress seeking is a major driver of customer complaints, and although service intervention improves relationships, it also encourages more complaints later. Because of this dual effect, firms are likely to underestimate the returns on service intervention if measured using only voices. Furthermore, we find an "error-correction" effect in certain situations, where customers compliment or complain when others voice the opposite opinions. Finally, we characterize the distinct voicing tendencies in different relationship states, and show that uncovering the underlying relationship states enables effective targeting. We are among the first to analyze individual customer level voice dynamics and to evaluate the effects of service intervention on social media.
The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family: structures, suggested functions and expression in normal and malignant tissues.

The human CEA family has been fully characterized. It comprises 29 genes of which 18 are expressed; 7 belonging to the CEA subgroup and 11 to the pregnancy specific glycoprotein subgroup. CEA is an important tumor marker for colorectal and some other carcinomas. The CEA subgroup members are cell membrane associated and show a complex expression pattern in normal and cancerous tissues with notably CEA showing a selective epithelial expression. Several CEA subgroup members possess cell adhesion properties and the primordial member, biliary glycoprotein, seems to function in signal transduction or regulation of signal transduction possibly in association with other CEA sub-family members. A modified ITAM/ITIM motif is identified in the cytoplasmatic domain of BGP. A role of CEA in innate immunity is envisioned.
Motivational Interviewing in Dialysis Adherence Study (MIDAS).

OBJECTIVE To examine the feasibility and efficacy of a staff-delivered motivational interviewing technique on treatment, diet, medication, and fluid adherence in adult patients receiving outpatient hemodialysis. DESIGN A pre-post design was used for this pilot study. SAMPLE/SETTING Twenty-nine participants were recruited from a non-profit, free-standing hemodialysis clinic in the central United States. METHODS Prior to and after the three-month motivational interviewing intervention, three months of adherence data and the Health Care Climate Questionnaire (HCCQ) were collected. RESULTS Motivational interviewing appeared to influence dialysis attendance, frequency of shortened treatments, and phosphorous and albumin levels favorably while less favorably impacting interdialytic weight gain. Changes in the HCCQ scores were not statistically significant from pre- to post-intervention, though the trend was in the direction of improvement in autonomy support, a main component of motivational interviewing. Patients and staff found the approach acceptable. CONCLUSIONS Motivational interviewing shows promise as an intervention to improve adherence in adults undergoing hemodialysis.
What Is Process Standardization

Standards and standardization have played an important role in the evolution of information and communication technology. In parts of the literature on standardization and especially among practitioners we see a new theme emerge: business process standards. While there seems to be a consensus on the desirability of process standards, the concept has not yet been fully developed, and there is even less of a clear definition let alone a systematic understanding of the how and why of its value impact than with data and communication standards. In this paper, we suggest a process standardization construct and the associated value dimensions and report on a process standardization effort in a large multinational services firm that reveals how the theoretical considerations translate into concrete business value.
Synthesis by native chemical ligation and crystal structure of human CCL2

The protein human CC chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2, also known as monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 or MCP‐1) has been synthesized using a combination of solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) and native chemical ligation (NCL). The thioester‐peptide segment was synthesized using the sulfonamide safety‐catch linker and 9‐fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) SPPS, and pseudoproline dipeptides were used to facilitate the synthesis of both CCL2 fragments. After assembly of the full‐length peptide chain by NCL, a glutathione redox buffer was used to fold and oxidize the CCL2 protein. Synthetic human CCL2 binds to and activates the CCR2 receptor on THP‐1 cells, as expected. CCL2 was crystallized and the structure was determined by X‐ray diffraction at 1.9‐Å resolution. The structure of the synthetic protein is very similar to that of a previously reported structure of recombinant human CCL2, although the crystal form is different. The functional CCL2 dimer for the crystal structure reported here is formed around a crystallographic twofold axis. The dimer interface involves residues Val9‐Thr10‐Cys11, which form an intersubunit antiparallel β‐sheet. Comparison of the CCL2 dimers in different crystal forms indicates a significant flexibility of the quaternary structure. To our knowledge, this is one of the first crystal structures of a protein prepared using the sulfonamide safety‐catch linker and NCL. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 94: 350–359, 2010.
Snowfall Detection in a Foggy Scene

In this paper, we propose the method for recognizing the degree of snowfall automatically even if most of backgrounds are covered with snow and the visibility is low by fog. When it snows heavily, fog often occurs simultaneously. Moreover, falling snow grains have low contrast to the background covered with white snow. In order to deal with these situations, the proposed method makes an input image clear by fog removal. We propose the novel fog removal method which can be applied to not only the usual scene but also the heavy snowy scene. This method can remove the influence of fog without depending on the grade of visibility because the degree of fog removal is changed dynamically. The degree of snowfall is estimated from the quantity of falling snow grains, which are extracted from the difference between the present defogged image and the background image created by the three-dimensional median. Experiments conducted under various degrees of snowfall have shown the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Constitutive promoter modules for PCR‐based gene modification in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Initial steps in investigating gene function often include deleting and overexpressing the gene of interest and identifying the subcellular location of the gene product. To facilitate these procedures, a number of new PCR modules, which contain selectable markers and in some cases other genetic elements (e.g promoter elements, epitope tags, and reporter genes) have been developed. These modules are used as PCR substrates to create products that can be targeted to specified locations in the yeast genome, thus modifying that genomic locus. We describe here a series of plasmids that contain a truncated version of the strong ADH1 promoter with and without amino‐terminal 3HA and GST tags. Because these plasmids contain the same vector sequences as the GAL1 promoter plasmids, a constitutive and an inducible promoter can now be integrated with a minimal number of primers. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A social support and social strain measure for minority adolescent mothers: a confirmatory factor analytic study.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to examine the validity and structure of the Social Support Network Questionnaire (SSNQ), an interview for identifying the positive and negative aspects of individuals' social networks. METHODS The sample consisted of 536 pregnant and parenting, African-American and Latina adolescents. Participants were recruited from an alternative school for pregnant and parenting adolescents in a large Midwestern city. RESULTS Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed the presence of three factors: perceived availability, satisfaction and social strain. All three factors demonstrated adequate internal consistency. Perceived availability and social strain were uncorrelated, implying that they are distinct dimensions. Social strain was the most consistent predictor of psychological well-being. Further, strain in relationships with the young women's male partners added unique variance to the prediction of both anxiety and depression. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that the SSNQ may be a useful tool in assessing both positive and negative aspects of pregnant and parenting adolescent mothers' social support networks.
The Impact of Arbitrage on Market Liquidity

Theory predicts that arbitrage improves financial market liquidity when arbitrage opportunities arise as a result of temporary demand shocks and worsens liquidity when arbitrage opportunities arise as a result of differences in information. In this paper, I study the impact of arbitrage in Depositary Receipts (DRs) on market liquidity, using tick-by-tick data from the U.S. and five different home markets from 1996 to 2013. My analysis suggests that around 70% of the arbitrage opportunities in DRs arise as a result of demand shocks. Consistent with theory, I then show that an increase in arbitrage activity is associated with a reduction in market order imbalance and an improvement in liquidity. My results are robust to different proxies for arbitrage activity, different methodologies, and to instrumental variable tests. Overall, these findings indicate that arbitrageurs tend to trade against market order imbalance and thus enhance market integration and liquidity.
Linezolid Therapy of Vancomycin-ResistantEnterococcus faecium Experimental Endocarditis

ABSTRACT We compared the activities of linezolid (25 mg/kg of body weight, administered intraperitoneally every 8 h) and of vancomycin (25 mg/kg of body weight, administered intraperitoneally every 8 h) in a rat model of vanA vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium experimental endocarditis. Results were expressed as median log10 CFU per gram of vegetation after 3 days of treatment. The median log10 CFU per gram of vegetation was 10.1 among 7 untreated control animals, 10.2 among 9 vancomycin-treated animals, and 7.9 among 10 linezolid-treated animals. Linezolid treatment was more active (P < 0.05) than vancomycin treatment or no treatment.
Cardiac vanilloid receptor 1‐expressing afferent nerves and their role in the cardiogenic sympathetic reflex in rats

Myocardial ischaemia causes the release of metabolites such as bradykinin, which stimulates cardiac sensory receptors to evoke a sympathoexcitatory reflex. However, the molecular identity of the afferent neurons and fibres mediating this reflex response is not clear. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the cardiogenic sympathoexcitatory reflex is mediated by capsaicin‐sensitive afferent fibres. Enhanced immunofluorescence labelling revealed that vanilloid receptor 1 (VR1)‐containing afferent nerve fibres were present on the epicardial surface of the rat heart. Resiniferatoxin (RTX), a potent analogue of capsaicin, was used to deplete capsaicin‐sensitive afferent fibres in rats. Depletion of these fibres was confirmed by a substantial reduction of VR1 immunoreactivity in the epicardium and dorsal root ganglia. The thermal sensitivity was also diminished in RTX‐treated rats. Renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) and blood pressure were recorded in anaesthetized rats during epicardial application of bradykinin or capsaicin. In vehicle‐treated rats, epicardial bradykinin (10 μg ml−1) or capsaicin (10 μg ml−1) application produced a significant increase in RSNA and arterial blood pressure. The RSNA and blood pressure responses caused by bradykinin and capsaicin were completely abolished in RTX‐treated rats. Furthermore, epicardial application of iodo‐RTX, a highly specific antagonist of VR1 receptors, blocked capsaicin‐ but not bradykinin‐induced sympathoexcitatory responses. Thus, these data provide important histological and functional evidence that the heart is innervated by VR1‐expressing afferent nerves and these afferent nerves are essential for the cardiogenic sympathoexcitatory reflex during myocardial ischaemia.
Supplementary Material — Scalable and Secure Sharing of Personal Health Records in Cloud Computing using Attribute-based Encryption

The YWRL’s revocable KP-ABE scheme [1] is based on the GPSW KP-ABE scheme [2]. There are eight algorithms in total, where the first four are the same with those in the GPSW scheme. Setup(1). This algorithm takes as input a security parameter κ and an attribute universe U = 1, 2, . , N . It defines two multiplicative cyclic groups G1 and GT with prime order p, g1 as a generator of G1, and an admissible bilinear map e : G1 ×G1 → GT . The system master key MK and public key PK are generated as:
Switching Response Improvement of a High Speed On/Off Solenoid Valve by Using a 3 Power Source Type Valve Driving Circuit

High speed on/off solenoid valves have often been used for pressure control or flow control in hydraulic servo systems for automobiles or construction machines. These systems require faster valve switching speed to improve control preciseness. The authors have designed and manufactured an electronic valve driving circuit with fast response characteristics by using a 3 power source. In experiments using a hydraulic system incorporating the new valve driving circuit, the new circuit shortened the switching delay time from 5 ms to 1.55 ms. Also, the hydraulic system with the new circuit showed excellent position tracking control performances.
Detection of leaf diseases and classification using digital image processing

In this paper, image processing techniques are used to detect the plant leaf diseases. The objective of this work is to implement image analysis & classification techniques for detection of leaf diseases and classification. The proposed framework consists of four parts. They are (1) Image preprocessing (2) Segmentation of the leaf using K-means clustering to determine the diseased areas (3) feature extraction & (4) Classification of diseases. Texture features are extracted using statistical Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) features and classification is done using Support Vector Machine (SVM).
Motion planning for the Snakeboard

This paper provides an analytical solution to the motion-planning problem for the Snakeboard. Given a desired planar trajectory in the fiber space, an explicit solution is computed for the controllable inputs in the base space that locomote the Snakeboard along a given trajectory. The motion-planning problem or gait generation problem is solved for the generalized Snakeboard where the orientation of the wheels is not coupled, as well as for several special configurations of the Snakeboard.
Optimally functional fluorescein isothiocyanate‐labelled fibrinogen for quantitative studies of binding to activated platelets and platelet aggregation

Dynamic and quantitative studies of the binding of fibrinogen (Fg) to its receptor, GPIIb–IIIa, on activated platelets, leading to platelet aggregation, are best studied with fluorescently‐labelled Fg by flow cytometry. Due to conflicting reports on the functionality of FITC‐labelled Fg, we have developed a reproducible and ‘mild’ labelling of fibrinogen with FITC‐celite at pH 7.4–8.5 for direct and dynamic studies of specific Fg binding to activated platelets evaluated for native platelet‐rich plasma, for washed platelets, and for activated, fixed platelets. We have demonstrated the equivalence of FITC‐labelled and unlabelled Fg for binding to activated GPIIb–IIIa receptors, and in the rate and extent of mediating platelet aggregation. We found that FITC‐Fg labelled at pH ≥9 had reduced to absent specific binding to activated platelets, whether using soluble FITC or FITC‐celite. The FITC‐labelled Fg must be diluted 3‐fold with unlabelled Fg when evaluating maximal Fg binding to activated platelets in order to prevent autoquenching of the FITC‐Fg which leads to underestimation of Fg levels. The dissociation constant (KD) of Fg on stable preparations of activated, fixed platelets, determined with FITC‐Fg binding to platelets by flow cytometry, was in the range reported for 125I‐labelled Fg, 70–255 nm with Bmax = 10 000–25 000 Fg per platelet (n = 20). The FITC‐Fg was used to monitor Fg binding to activated platelets directly in plasma, as well as to evaluate platelet subpopulations which maximally bind Fg according to the concentration of ADP used as activator. It is expected that this ‘mildly’ labelled FITC‐Fg will stimulate further studies of platelet activation directly in native anticoagulated blood/plasma, for both basic and clinical research.
Minimum Energy Demand Locomotion on Space Station

The energy of a space station is a precious resource, and the minimization of energy consumption of a space manipulator is crucial to maintain its normal functionalities. This paper first presents novel gaits for space manipulators by equipping a new gripping mechanism. With the use of wheels locomotion, lower energy demand gaits can be achieved. With the use of the proposed gaits, we further develop a global path planning algorithm for space manipulators which can plan a moving path on a space station with a minimum total energy demand. Different from existing approaches, we emphasize both the use of the proposed low energy demand gaits and the gaits composition during the path planning process. To evaluate the performance of the proposed gaits and path planning algorithm, numerous simulations are performed. Results show that the energy demand of both the proposed gaits and the resultant moving path is also minimum.
The nonprofit human service sector : understanding an organization's capacity to innovate

This qualitative study was designed to understand how a nonprofit human service organization (NHSO) understands, perceives, and engages in innovation strategies in a turbulent environment. This study also examined how environmental factors influence an organization's capacity to innovate. These concepts are relevant for further exploration because the NHSO sector typically operates in a turbulent environment and has multiple stakeholders that mandate change and innovation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine staff and board members from three NHSOs located in a New England city. Political economy and resource dependency theories provided a framework to the research questions and analysis. These interviews were transcribed and analyzed for common elements and themes. Emergent themes centered on the staff and board members' (1) micro-view of innovation and (2) stability, as well as internal and external systems that they perceived to support the innovation process, including (3) leadership development, (4) role clarity, (5) organizational commitment, (6) demands on staff, (7) and relationships as leverage.
Correlation between stratum corneum/water-partition coefficient and amounts of flufenamic acid penetrated into the stratum corneum.

The stratum corneum of various donors differs in particular in the composition of the lipoidal phase. Considering the drug amounts penetrating into the stratum corneum a simple methodology to correlate these differences in the stratum corneum composition with the drug amounts detectable within the stratum corneum is desirable. Penetration experiments investigating several incubation times were carried out with three different skin flaps using the Saarbruecken penetration model and the lipophilic model drug flufenamic acid. The drug amounts within the stratum corneum were obtained with the tape-stripping technique, while the drug amounts present in the deeper skin layers were achieved by cryosectioning. The stratum corneum/water-partition coefficient was determined with the same three skin flaps to characterize the lipoidal stratum corneum phase in general, and the differences were attributed to the different amounts of ceramides and sterols. In addition, for the lipophilic drug flufenamic acid, a direct linear correlation was found between the stratum corneum/water-partition coefficients and the drug amounts penetrated into the stratum corneum for all investigated time intervals (correlation coefficients of r(30 min) = 0.998, r(60 min) = 0.998 and r(180 min) = 0.987). In contrast to the stratum corneum/water-partition coefficients, the determination of a corresponding relationship for the stratum corneum and the deeper skin layers failed due to the reason that steady-state conditions could not be achieved for the deeper skin layers during the investigated time intervals. In summary, the stratum corneum/water-partition coefficients offer the possibility to predict drug amounts within the stratum corneum of different donor skin flaps without a time consuming determination of the lipid composition of the stratum corneum.