Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Price Thresholds in a Promotion Intensive Retail Environment: Implications on Consumer Purchase Behaviour and Managerial Insights

How do consumers behave when they are confronted with price promotions at the retail level? Do they buy as much as they can and stock for future? Do they postpone their purchases in anticipation of further price cuts? Do they decide not to buy at all? What do these responses mean to the retailer? Does he maximize his sales? Does he maximize his profits? Does he lose? In this article, Banerjee and Divakar examine the behaviour of the consumers in a promotion intensive retail environment. Based on their findings, they draw implications for promotion management in the retailing context.
The importance of accurate site location for skinfold measurement

Abstract We assessed the importance of accurate site location for skinfold measurement in ten healthy males in a cross-sectional quantitative study. Nine measurements, in a 1-cm grid pattern, centred on each of eight ISAK-specified skinfold sites, were taken three times at each grid point by each of two ISAK Level 4 practitioners using Harpenden skinfold callipers. The presence of significant systematic discrepancy between reliability measures of different skinfold sites and grid points for each of the two testers was determined using P-values. Effect sizes were calculated to show the magnitude of effects. Skinfolds taken at the eight peripheral grid points were generally different from the skinfolds taken at a central ISAK grid point and there was an effect by direction away from the central ISAK point (anterior, posterior, superior or inferior). The subscapular skinfold had the least number of differences (three) and the abdominal had the most (eight). All other skinfold sites showed some variation with most care needed in marking the biceps and triceps skinfold sites. Adherence to identifying, marking, and measuring at the defined site is essential.
The reliability of commuter rail service in the City of Cape Town : a grounded theory approach for identifying the factors affecting the provision of a reliable commuter rail service

CITATION: Zincume, P. N. , Ryan, T. & Shaw, C. 2018. The reliability of commuter rail service in the city of cape town : a grounded theory approach for identifying the factors affecting the provision of a reliable commuter rail service. In SAIIE29 Proceedings, 24-26 October 2018, Spier, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Developing cloud and shared data capabilities to support primary school students in creating mobile applications that affect their communities

As technology and society become further intertwined, it is imperative that we democratize the creation of technology and educate people to be capable of harnessing the full power of computational thinking. As such, developing meaningful tools and curricula for incremental learning of computational thinking concepts starting in primary education is an important endeavor [1]. My work focuses on making Cloud technology, one of the most powerful new computer science concepts, understandable and usable by anyone without the need for extensive computer science training. I used MIT App Inventor, a blocks-based mobile application development tool for teaching computational thinking to young students, as the platform for my research. I developed CloudDB, a set of coding blocks for MIT App Inventor that allows users to store, retrieve, and share various types of data in tag-value pairs on a Redis server for their mobile applications. I created middle and high school level curricula based on CloudDB along with assessment tools to evaluate my materials and the extent to which young students can understand and utilize the concepts around shared data. Finally, I ran one of those workshops with middle school students in the MIT area. My findings indicate that teaching shared data as a core computational thinking concept is entirely feasible to students as young as middle school level. Students are capable of inferring and extrapolating other use cases and potential problems with the Cloud, such as storage limits and security concerns. When given the context of solving a problem in their lives, they are very driven and able to design and create complex independent mobile application projects using MIT App Inventor and CloudDB. Thesis Supervisor: Harold Abelson Title: Class of 1922 Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
Regulation of Mitotic Spindle Disassembly by an Environmental Stress-Sensing Pathway in Budding Yeast

Timely spindle disassembly is essential for coordination of mitotic exit with cytokinesis. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the microtubule-associated protein She1 functions in one of at least three parallel pathways that promote spindle disassembly. She1 phosphorylation by the Aurora kinase Ipl1 facilitates a role for She1 in late anaphase, when She1 contributes to microtubule depolymerization and shrinkage of spindle halves. By examining the genetic interactions of known spindle disassembly genes, we identified three genes in the environmental stress-sensing HOG (high-osmolarity glycerol response) pathway, SHO1, PBS2, and HOG1, and found they are necessary for proper localization of She1 to the anaphase spindle and for proper spindle disassembly. HOG pathway mutants exhibited spindle disassembly defects, as well as mislocalization of anillin-related proteins Boi1 and Boi2 from the bud neck. Moreover, Boi2, but not Boi1, plays a role in spindle disassembly that places Boi2 in a pathway with Sho1, Pbs2, and Hog1. Together, our data identify a process by which cells monitor events at the spindle and bud neck and describe a novel role for the HOG pathway in mitotic signaling.
Glucuronidation of 3′-Azido-3′-Deoxythymidine (Zidovudine) by Human Liver Microsomes: Relevance to Clinical Pharmacokinetic Interactions with Atovaquone, Fluconazole, Methadone, and Valproic Acid

ABSTRACT Zidovudine (3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine [AZT]), an antiviral nucleoside analog effective in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection, is primarily metabolized to an inactive glucuronide form, GAZT, via uridine-5′-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes. UGT enzymes exist as different isoforms, each exhibiting substrate specificity. Published clinical studies have shown that atovaquone, fluconazole, methadone, and valproic acid decreased GAZT formation, presumably due to UGT inhibition. The effect of these drugs on AZT glucuronidation was assessed in vitro by using human hepatic microsomes to begin understanding in vitro-in vivo correlations for UGT metabolism. The concentrations of each drug studied were equal to those reported with the usual clinical doses and at concentrations at least 10 times higher than would be expected with these doses. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to assess the respective metabolism and formation of AZT and GAZT. All four drugs exhibited concentration-dependent inhibition of AZT glucuronidation. The respective concentrations of atovaquone and methadone which caused 50% inhibition of GAZT were >100 and 8 μg/ml, well above their usual clinical concentrations. Fluconazole and valproic acid exhibited 50% inhibition of GAZT at 50 and 100 μg/ml, which are within the clinical ranges of 10 to 100 and 50 to 100 μg/ml, respectively. These data suggest that inhibition of AZT glucuronidation may be more clinically significant with concomitant fluconazole and valproic acid. Factors such as inter- and intraindividual pharmacokinetic variability and changes in AZT intracellular concentrations should be considered as other mechanisms responsible for changes in AZT pharmacokinetics with concomitant therapies.
Cooperation between herpes simplex virus type 1-encoded ICP0 and Tat to support transcription of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 long terminal repeat in vivo can occur in the absence of the TAR binding site

Expression of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) provirus can be stimulated by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection; the stimulation occurs at the level of transcriptional activation of the HIV long terminal repeat (LTR) and is mediated by both cellular and HSV-1-encoded transactivators. We have shown in this study that HSV-1 immediate-early gene ICP0 cooperates effectively with the HIV-1-encoded transactivator, Tat, in the stimulation of HIV-1 LTR-directed transcription. The cooperation between ICP0 and Tat is specific for the HIV-1 LTR and was not observed with other promoters (e.g., ICP0) that can be transactivated by ICP0 but not by Tat. Analyses of HIV-1 LTR deletion mutants have shown that ICP0 not only transactivates an HIV-1 LTR mutant that is unresponsive to NF-kappaB and Tat-mediated transactivation, such as the HIV-1 LTR with the enhancer deleted (-83 LTR) and TAR deleted (+20 to +81), but also restores responsiveness to Tat. ICP0 also showed cooperation with Gal4-Tat fusion protein-mediated transactivation of Gal4-HIV-1 LTR with TAR deleted. Enhancement of the transcriptional activation of ICP0 by Tat requires both the cysteine-rich and core domains of Tat and is inhibited by RO5-3335. ICP0 stimulates transcription of not only the HIV-1 LTR but also the TAR-defective HIV-1 provirus. We suggest that ICP0 can (i) recruit Tat to the vicinity of the HIV-1 promoter, thereby providing an alternative binding site for Tat, and (ii) substitute for the enhancer-binding proteins that are required for efficient Tat transactivation in T cells.
Animal Studies on Medicinal Herbs: Predictability, Dose Conversion and Potential Value

Animal studies testing medicinal herbs are often misinterpreted by both translational researchers and clinicians due to a lack of information regarding their predictability, human dose equivalent and potential value. The most common mistake is to design or translate an animal study on a milligram per kilogram basis. This can lead to underestimation of the toxicity and/or overestimation of the amount needed for human therapy. Instead, allometric scaling, which involves body surface area, should be used. While the differences in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic phases between species will inevitably lead to some degree of error in extrapolation of results regardless of the conversion method used, correct design and interpretation of animal studies can provide information that is not able to be provided by in vitro studies, computer modeling or even traditional use. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The MAP kinase‐activated protein kinase 2 (MK2) contributes to the Shiga toxin‐induced inflammatory response

Infection with Shiga toxin (STx)‐producing bacteria can progress to a toxemic, extraintestinal injury cascade known as haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the leading cause of acute renal failure in children. Mounting evidence suggests that STx activates stress response pathways in susceptible cells and has implicated the p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. More importantly, some of the pathology associated with HUS is believed to be a result of a STx‐induced inflammatory response. From a siRNA screen of the human kinome adapted to a high‐throughput format, we found that knock‐down of the MAPK‐activated protein kinase 2 (MK2), a downstream target of the p38 MAPK, protected against Shiga toxicity. Further characterization of the in vitro role of MK2 revealed that STx activates the p38‐MK2 stress response pathway in both p38‐ and MK2‐dependent manners in two distinct cell lines. MK2 activation was specific to damage to the ribosome by an enzymatically active toxin and did not result from translational inhibition per se. Genetic and chemical inhibition of MK2 significantly decreased the inflammatory response to STx. These findings suggest that MK2 inhibition might play a valuable role in decreasing the immuopathological component of STx‐mediated disease.
Activation of p 53-Dependent Growth Suppression in Human Cells by Mutations in PTEN or PIK 3 CA

In an effort to identify genes whose expression is regulated by activated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling, we performed microarray analysis and subsequent quantitative reverse transcriptionPCR on an isogenic set of PTEN gene-targeted human cancer cells. Numerous p53 effectors were upregulated following PTEN deletion, including p21, GDF15, PIG3, NOXA, and PLK2. Stable depletion of p53 led to reversion of the gene expression program. Western blots revealed that p53 was stabilized in HCT116 PTEN / cells via an Akt1-dependent and p14-independent mechanism. Stable depletion of PTEN in untransformed human fibroblasts and epithelial cells also led to upregulation of p53 and senescence-like growth arrest. Simultaneous depletion of p53 rescued this phenotype, enabling PTEN-depleted cells to continue proliferating. Next, we tested whether oncogenic PIK3CA, like inactivated PTEN, could activate p53. Retroviral expression of oncogenic human PIK3CA in MCF10A cells led to activation of p53 and upregulation of p53-regulated genes. Stable depletion of p53 reversed these PIK3CA-induced expression changes and synergized with oncogenic PIK3CA in inducing anchorage-independent growth. Finally, targeted deletion of an endogenous allele of oncogenic, but not wild-type, PIK3CA in a human cancer cell line led to a reduction in p53 levels and a decrease in the expression of p53-regulated genes. These studies demonstrate that activation of PI3K signaling by mutations in PTEN or PIK3CA can lead to activation of p53-mediated growth suppression in human cells, indicating that p53 can function as a brake on phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-triphosphate-induced mitogenesis during human cancer pathogenesis.
Modélisation de la combustion et des polluants dans la ligne d'échappement d'un moteur

L'objectif de ce travail de these est le developpement d'un modele numerique predictif pour la simulation des phenomenes de postoxydation dans la ligne d’echappement d’un moteur a combustion interne. Le modele a ete ecrit pour reproduire le processus d'auto inflammation des hydrocarbures durant la postoxydation, mais egalement l'evolution des polluants et des produits de combustion en general. Ceci a necessite de mettre au point un schema cinetique detaille qui tienne compte de la chimie a basse temperature des hydrocarbures et de l'influence sur cette chimie des differentes especes majeures presentes dans les gaz brules a postoxyder. Ces especes sont le CO2, le H2O et le N2, qui agissent comme diluants, mais egalement des polluants tels que le CO ou les NOx. Ces derniers, meme en faibles concentrations, peuvent avoir un effet important sur l’oxydation des hydrocarbures qui doit aussi etre prise en compte dans le modele chimique.Afin de considerer, en plus de la chimie, et les phenomenes physiques de la postoxydation, tels que la turbulence et les effets de melange, ce schema cinetique a ete couple a un modele de combustion turbulente adapte a l'utilisation dans un code CFD 3D moteur. Ce couplage a ete effectue via une tabulation a priori de la chimie, methode qui permet de reduire considerablement le temps de calcul, tout en decrivant l'ensemble des phenomenes lies a la chimie detaillee. Une technique de tabulation de la cinetique chimique a donc ete developpee et implantee dans un code CFD. Une configuration permettant de representer les phenomenes caracteristiques de la postoxydation dans la ligne d'echappement d'un moteur a combustion interne a ete simulee. Les resultats permettent de mieux apprehender ces phenomenes et de proposer des solutions technologiques visant a leur optimisation
The influence of coproduction’s factors and corporate image toward attitudinal loyalty: Islamic financial banking services delivery in Malaysia

Islamic banking system has become mainstream with the increasing popularity and demand of its products and services, including that of non-Muslims and even among the Western market. This paper aims to attempt to explore the factors that influence the co-production of services as well consumer attitudinal loyalty based on consumers’ perception of Islamic financial banking services. It also tests how co-production and customer loyalty as well as corporate image relate to each other. The present study is set up in the context of Islamic financial banking service industry in Malaysia. ,The data were collected using the survey method. Convenience sampling was used to collect 502 usable responses via self-administered questionnaires. ,The hierarchical regression results show that communication and commitment have a significant influence on co-production of services, but competence has an insignificant relationship. Co-production and corporate image have a significant influence on the consumer attitudinal loyalty, whereas corporate image has significant influence on consumer commitment. The study findings show that the co-production fully mediates the relationship between the communication and attitudinal loyalty, whereas it partially mediates the relationship between commitment and attitudinal loyalty. ,Further research is required to determine other additional and broader range of constructs. Further testing is therefore required before any generalization of these results can be undertaken, and it would be useful to conduct future studies in other types of industries. There are four segments of Islamic financial services customers, namely, religious conviction group, religious conviction and economic group, ethical observant group and economic rationality group. It is interesting to examine these segments related to the current study on how each segment influences the co-production process and loyalty among them. ,The sustainability of a service organization depends on understanding customers’ needs but it also relies on the involvement of its customers. Although similar to-production, value co-creation has been regarded as one of the most prioritized research topics in service and marketing; thus, future researchers might model the relationships based on this concept. Despite these, few studies have been conducted to understand the nature and implications of co-production concept in Islamic financial banking services. This study contributes to the knowledge, in particular, in the context of Islamic financial banking services, especially by integrating additional constructs in determining customers’ loyalty such as the corporate image. To a certain extent, it offers some important insights on the subject of co-production and customer loyalty that eventually will lead to value creation and sustainability of businesses.
Eléments de modélisation pour l'analyse d'images

Cet ouvrage decrit une methodologie et un savoir-faire pour la construction effective de modeles en analyse d'images. Les tâches d'imagerie y sont le plus souvent formalisees comme des problemes inverses solutionnes dans un cadre Bayesien. Ce livre est organise en 3 parties. Les 2 premieres decrivent les bases necessaires aux modeles developpes dans la troisieme partie sous la forme d' energie. Ces bases sont les splines et les champs aleatoires. La plupart des modeles sont issus de projets industriels auxquels l'auteur a participe en radiographie et en controle non destructif: suivi de lignes 3D, traitement de degradation en radiographie, reconstruction 3D et tomographie, mise en correspondance, apprentissage de deformations. De nombreuses illustrations graphiques accompagnent le texte montrant les performances des modeles proposes.
Effects of Matrine on Proliferation and Apoptosis in Gallbladder Carcinoma Cells (GBC‐SD)

Although matrine, a primary active component of dried Sophora flavescens root (ku shen), is known to induce apoptosis in a variety of tumor cells in vitro, the molecular mechanism of such apoptosis remains elusive. This analysis of the cell cycle and apoptosis in matrine‐treated human gallbladder carcinoma cells (GBC‐SD) showed that matrine can indeed inhibit cell proliferation and induce G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in a dose‐ and time‐dependent manner. An additional western blot analysis of matrine‐treated cells also showed caspase‐3 and Bcl‐2 activation, as well as cyclinE down‐regulation. Overall, the results indicate that matrine perturbs gallbladder cancer cell progression during the G1 phase by down‐regulating cyclinE and induces apoptosis by decreasing the expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl‐2 and increasing expression of the proapoptotic protein Bax. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Who’s pulling the strings?

Purpose Firms increasingly rely on content marketing to trigger user engagement in social media brand communities. The purpose of this paper is to examine how three generic types of marketer-generated content (affiliative, injunctive and utilitarian content) drive user engagement by considering distinct motivational paths and the role of users’ preference for intimate (vs broad) social networks. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct a field survey and a scenario experiment among social media users across different brands from three different product categories. They examine the impact of marketer-generated content on user engagement while considering the moderating role of network intimacy (i.e. the mutual confiding within a user’s social network in terms of small social circles) and the mediating role of user motivations (i.e. autonomous vs controlled motivation for community membership). Findings The findings show that affiliative content (i.e. content that highlights shared values) drives user engagement through autonomous motivation, and utilitarian content (i.e. content that highlights tangible benefits) drives user engagement through controlled motivation. Notably, injunctive content (i.e. content that demands specific user behavior) is not a promising instrument to increase user engagement in social media brand communities when not targeted correctly. Research limitations/implications The authors link three generic content types derived from literature on communal systems to user engagement, demonstrate the motivational underpinnings of their translation into engagement behavior and show that network intimacy can explain why the same content type can impact user engagement through two motivational paths. Practical implications The authors present three types of content that marketers can craft to trigger users to engage with a brand’s social media community and show when this content is most effective and why. By examining the moderating role of network intimacy, this research aims at providing targeting implications to social media marketers. Originality/value This research provides new insights on the effectiveness of marketer-generated content. The authors reveal two motivational paths that compete in explaining the overall effectiveness of different types of marketer-generated content to fuel user engagement. The authors further demonstrate that these relationships depend on the intimacy of a user’s circle of online friends.
The Key Challenges to Utilize Innovative Opportunities of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Surabaya, Indonesia

The world has entered into an era of disruptive innovation where transformation is needed. In the conceptual age, a business needs to have new experiences and create ideas. This paper aims to identify the most important challenges of Small Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in exploiting innovative opportunities. The main issue facing many SMEs - industrial and service with less than 50 employees, is how they can foster effective innovation. There are 118 questionnaires were distributed and gathered from SMEs in Surabaya, Indonesia. This research is using factor analysis which shows the six main challenges: lack of managerial training and experience, inadequate education and skills, national policy and regulatory environment, technological change, lack of market information, and lack of credit. Qualitative approach through interview is also used for interpretation of data. In conclusion, human capabilities and intelligence are not enough to compete but require technology and information to creatively transform.