Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Empirical Study of Social E-commerce Platform on Users' Intention: Take WeChat E-commerce Group as an Example

Social e-commerce is an important e-commerce platform that has developed along with social network platforms. Recently, social e-commerce platforms have become popular shopping channels for young people due to their sociability and interactivity. To understand what affects users’ intention to social e-commerce and knowledge sharing in the social platform, we conduct an empirical study in the WeChat e-commerce group, a typical social platform. In this paper, the research model is integrated according to social support theory and expectation confirmation models. In our empirical study, we design an online questionnaire based on a mature scale and 217 valid samples are collected. To further verify the proposed hypotheses, reliability and validity analysis, and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) are adopted. The results prove that social support has a great influence on social e-commerce, and at the same time, as the intermediary variable between social support and user intention, satisfaction and expectation confirmation will ultimately affect users’ social e-commerce and knowledge-sharing intention positively. According to the experimental results, several management suggestions are provided.
Gossip consensus

Gossip-based consensus protocols have been recently proposed to confront the challenges faced by state machine replication in large geographically distributed systems. It is unclear, however, to which extent consensus and gossip communication fit together. On the one hand, gossip communication has been shown to scale to large settings and efficiently handle participant failures and message losses. On the other hand, gossip may slow down consensus. Moreover, gossip's inherent redundancy may be unnecessary since consensus naturally accounts for participant failures and message losses. This paper investigates the suitability of gossip as a communication building block for consensus. We answer three questions: How much overhead does classic gossip introduce in consensus? Can we design consensus-friendly gossip protocols? Would more efficient gossip protocols still maintain the same reliability properties of classic gossip?
OneOS: a distributed operating system for the internet of things

Existing Internet of Things (IoT) platforms introduce various framework-specific APIs for building user applications, which causes technology fragmentation within the IoT ecosystem and incur engineering costs. I seek to adopt standard POSIX APIs in an IoT platform, to provide an environment much like a distributed operating system (OS). Building a distributed OS for IoT systems poses several challenges due to the high degree of heterogeneity and dynamism, lack of application semantics, and novel security requirements. I propose a system called OneOS, which addresses the challenges of building a distributed OS for the Internet of Things.
An Online Recruitment System for Economic Experiments

In this paper we introduce the Online Recruitment System for Economic Experiments (ORSEE). With this software experimenters have a free, convenient and very powerful tool to organize their experiments and sessions in a standardized way. Additionally, ORSEE provides subject pool statistics, a laboratory calendar, and tools for scientific exchange. A test system has been installed in order to visually support the reader while reading the paper.
Beyond @CloudFunction: Powerful Code Annotations to Capture Serverless Runtime Patterns

Simplicity in elastically scalable application development is a key concern addressed by the serverless computing paradigm, in particular the code-level Function-as-a-Service (FaaS). Various FaaSification frameworks demonstrated that marking code methods to streamline their offloading as cloud functions offers a simple bridge to software engineering habits. As application complexity increases, more complex runtime patterns with background activities, such as keeping containerised cloud functions warm to ensure the absence of cold starts, usually require giving up on simplicity and instead investing efforts into orchestrating infrastructure. By bringing infrastructure-as-code concepts into the function source via powerful code annotations, typical orchestration patterns can be simplified again. We evaluate this idea and demonstrate its practical feasibility with FaaS Fusion, an annotations library and transpiler framework for JavaScript.
Simplified models for truck dynamic response to road inputs

The quarter-car model has been one of the work horse tools for elementary analysis of passenger car response to road roughness. It is the analysis method by which a measure of roughness, the International Roughness Index, is extracted from road profiles. This model is used as well to predict ride vibrations, suspension motions, and wheel dynamic loads of passenger cars. A comparable simplified model for trucks has been sought to provide a fast, familiar, and easy tool for predicting truck ride and dynamic wheel load response to road roughness. This paper examines the factors that must be considered in developing a simplified dynamic model for truck response to road roughness inputs. The factors that dominate analysis of ride quality differ from those most relevant to dynamic wheel loads. Experimental evidence from the literature is used to identify the relevant dynamic modes that must be included in a simplified model for each type of analysis. An appropriate model is suggested for analysis of truck dynamic wheel loads.
A Method of Building Chinese Sentiment Lexicon Based on Semantics

A method was proposed to build a Chinese sentiment lexicon based on semantics. Sentiment intensity of the word was automatically calculated by decomposing it into multiple English semantic units (Esu). A lexicon proofreading method was used to optimize the sentiment intensity of words. The proposed lexicon was applied to the task of sentiment analysis, in which the method of support vector machine was used to build the sentiment classifier. The experiment results shown that the built sentiment lexicon was more effective than the general polar sentiment lexicon.
Authentication and securing personal information in an untrusted internet

A large number of user PCs are currently infected with different types of malicious software including spyware, keyloggers, and rootkits. In general, any Internet-connected end-host cannot be fully trusted. In addition to this compromised host problem, attacks exploiting usability drawbacks of web services and security tools when used by everyday users, and semantic attacks such as phishing are commonly observed. In the given untrusted environment, traditional threat models which assume trusted end-hosts need to be re-evaluated. We propose a number of techniques to improve the trustworthiness of the web considering the current untrusted environment. To understand what is expected from regular users for performing sensitive online tasks, we review security requirements of six Canadian online banks, and identified an emerging gap between these requirements and usability. Instead of requiring users to follow an extensive list of security best-practices for online banking, we propose the Mobile Password Authentication (MP-Auth) protocol. Using a trusted personal device (e.g., cellphone) in conjunction with a PC, MP-Auth protects a user's long-term login credentials, and offers transaction integrity assuming the user PC is untrustworthy and the user is unaware of phishing attacks. MP-Auth's security largely depends on user-chosen passwords, which are generally weak. To assist users in generating strong but usable passwords, we propose an Object-based Password (ObPwd) scheme which creates text passwords from user-selected objects, e.g., photos or music files. As part of the compromised host problem, we further assume that sensitive identity numbers (e.g., Social Insurance Number) will eventually be breached. To reduce the value of compromised credential information to attackers in such a scenario, we propose the use of localized ID numbers that are valid only for a particular relying party. A similar localization approach for banking PINs to prevent exploitation of compromised PINs from intermediate banking switches is also proposed.
Gut transcriptome reveals differential gene expression and enriched pathways linked to immune activation in response to weaning in pigs

Weaning represents one of the most critical periods in pig production associated with increase in disease risk, reduction in performance and economic loss. Physiological changes faced by piglets during the weaning period have been well characterised, however little is currently known about the underlying molecular pathways involved in these processes. As pig meat remains one of the most consumed sources of protein worldwide, understanding how these changes are mediated is critical to improve pig production and consequently sustainable food production globally. In this study, we evaluated the effect of weaning on transcriptomic changes in the colon of healthy piglets over time using an RNA-sequencing approach. The findings revealed a complex and coordinated response to weaning with the majority of genes found to be rapidly differentially expressed within one day post weaning. Multiple genes and pathways affected by weaning in the colon were associated with immune regulation, cell signalling and bacterial defence. NOD-like receptors, Toll-like receptor and JAK-STAT signalling pathways were amongst the pathways significantly enriched. Immune activation was evidenced by the enrichment of pathways involved in interferon response, cytokines interactions, oxidoreductase activities and response to microbial invasion. Biosynthesis of amino acids, in particular arginine, was also amongst the most enriched KEGG pathways in weaned pigs, reinforcing the critical role of arginine in gut homeostasis under stress conditions. Overall, transcriptomic and physiological results suggest that pigs going through the weaning transition undergo a transient period of inflammatory state with a temporary breakdown of barrier functions in the gut. These findings could provide valuable tools to monitor host response post weaning, and may be of particular relevance for the investigation and development of intervention strategies aimed to reduce antibiotic use and improve pig health and performance.
Major Factors That Influence Employment Decisions of Generation X Consulting Enginers

Abstract: This article reports on research findings and implications for practice based on a study of the factors influencing employment decisions of Generation X consulting engineers. The recruitment of young engineers has traditionally been troublesome for small engineering consulting firms. Although much has been written about Generation X, there has been an absence of rigorous examination of Generation X engineers and virtually nothing of Generation X engineers in small consulting engineering firms. In addition, there is little empirically based guidance provided for small consulting engineering firms desiring to recruit and retain Generation X engineers; therefore, this study was undertaken to examine the perspective of Generation X consulting engineers in making their initial employment decision to work in a small consulting engineering firm in lieu of other potential job opportunities. The study was empirically based and used a rigorous approach that resulted in several themes derived from factors that influenced employment decisions. The article is organized to provide an overview of the recruiting problem faced by small consulting engineering firms, briefly describe the research approach, present findings of the research, and synthesize practical guidance for practicing engineering managers faced with recruiting, managing, and retaining Generation X engineers.
A recombinant SARS-CoV-2 RBD antigen expressed in insect cells elicits immunogenicity and confirms safety in animal models

COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of vaccines against its etiologic agent, SARS-CoV-2. However, the emergence of new variants of the virus requires new immunization strategies in addition to the current vaccines approved for human administration. In the present report, the immunological and safety evaluation in mice and hamsters of a subunit vaccine based on the RBD sub-domain with two adjuvants of oil origin is described. The RBD protein was expressed in insect cells and purified by chromatography until >95% purity. The protein was shown to have the appropriate folding as determined by ELISA and flow cytometry binding assays to its receptor, as well as by its detection by hamster immune anti-S1 sera under non-reducing conditions. In immunization assays in mice and hamsters, the purified RBD formulated with adjuvants based on oil-water emulsifications and squalene was able to stimulate specific neutralizing antibodies and confirm the secretion of IFN-γ after stimulating spleen cells with the purified RBD. The vaccine candidate was shown to be safe, as demonstrated by the histopathological analysis in lungs, liver and kidney. These results demonstrate the potential of the purified RBD administered with adjuvants through an intramuscular route, to be evaluated in a challenge against SARS-CoV-2 and determine its ability to confer protection against infection.
Balanced Budget Requirements Revisited

We test the effect of balanced budget requirements (BBRs) on budget outcomes using data published in audited financial statements. With a focus on the General Fund, we find states frequently reported deficits in their adopted budgets and relied on sizeable and favorable expenditure variances to close budget gaps before the end of the budget period. Empirical analysis shows that technical or strict BBRs procedures did not increase the likelihood that a state would report a balanced budget. We corroborate our findings using fund balance data. If technical or strict BBRs are effective, states would report higher fund balances, all else equal. Results show that states that adopted political BBRs reported lower fund balances. More importantly, the adoption of strict or technical BBRs did not lead to higher fund balances.
Generation and analysis of ES cells expressing individual isoforms of AML1/Runx1 gene in a constitutive and regulatable manner

AIvIL1 long splice isoform regulates transcription of many hematopoietic specific genes and may act as both transcriptional activator and repressor. The AMLI short isoform which lacks the transactivation domain can bind DNA but is not capable of activating transcription; suggesting that it acts in a dominant-negative manner. Thus, if the long AMLI isoform induces differentiation of hematopoietic progenitors, the short isoform may promote their self-renewal. This hypothesis may be tested using an engineered ES cell differentiation system overexpressing individual AMLI isoforms. Therefore, we aimed here to generate ES cell lines overexpressing individual AIvIL1 isoforms constitutively or in a regulatable fashion in order to test their biological functions. Both, long and short AIv1IL1 isoforms demonstrated cytotoxic effect when overexpressed constitutively in ES cells. In order to overcome the toxicity problem, these isoforms have been expressed conditionally in an inducible fashion using the tetracycline gene expression system. Different experimental designs were tried to conditionally overexpress the isoforms in ES cells. Finally, the AMLI isoforms were targeted into the HPRT homing site of Ainvl5 ES cells which harbour both regulatory and responsive elements of the tetracycline gene expression system. Since AMLI isoforms were linked to a fluorescent EGFP reporter the expression of AMLI could be readily monitored following induction with doxycycline. Upon doxycycline induction reduction in size and number of undifferentiated colonies was observed that has not been associated with obvious apoptotic events. AMLI induction has also been initiated during the putative haemangioblast differentiation stage. However, no obvious deviation in clonogenic haematopoietic activity has been observed in induced and non-induced differentiating embryoid bodies.
Analysis of the impulse radiating antenna

A procedure is developed for analyzing the radiation on the impulse radiating antenna. High- and low-frequency asymptotes for the radiation on axis are developed, and comparison to a wire-grid model run under the Nuclear Electromagnetics Code is favorable. These preliminary results indicate no late-timing ringing of the radiated waveform. <<ETX>>
Net Present Value and Payback Period for Building Integrated Photovoltaic Projects in Malaysia

Photovoltaic systems (PV) offer a clean, alternative energy source that is very suitable in the Malaysian climate, and consistent with the peak production and high demand in power in Malaysia. However, the application of PV systems in Malaysia is still low. The objective of this research is to determine the total cost, price/kWp system, net present value (NPV), and payback period for PV project in Malaysia. All seven projects were selected and used for the analysis and named as Project 1 to 7. The findings from this research indicate that all seven projects show a negative NPV value and payback period is more than thirty eight years. Four projects even get payback period of more than fifty years. However, an interesting projection on the price reduction shows that a positive NPV is achievable if the price/kWp system reduced to RM11,000 and RM4,000 for government subsidized and non- subsidized projects respectively. The estimation on payback period is between four to eight years with the price reduction of 85% to 50% respectively from the current market price. Global warming, climate change, environment pollution and demand for energy represent critically issues with a wide array of potential environmental disasters affecting people health and safety. These issues are opening up new opportunities for utilization of renewable energy resources like solar photovoltaic system (PV). PV system has been widely applied in many countries such as German, Spain, Japan, US, UK and Australia but interestingly the application is rather low in Malaysia. Al though Malaysia is a tropical country and located in the equator with sunlight all year round, the development of PV is still in small scale and at the beginning stage. This study is designed to find out the capital costs needed to install a PV system in Malaysia, and serve as a guideline for public when considering a PV system.
Abscisic Acid Improves Linoleic Acid Accumulation Possibly by Promoting Expression of EgFAD2 and Other Fatty Acid Biosynthesis Genes in Oil Palm Mesocarp

Abscisic acid plays an important role in fruit development. However, the effect of ABA on fatty acid biosynthesis in oil palm is still unknown. In this study, ABA treatments (CK, A1–A4) were applied to oil palm fruit at 16 WAP (weeks after pollination), and fatty acids in the mesocarp at 24 WAP were analyzed by GC-MS. Results showed that linoleic acid content under treatment A2 (20 μM ABA) was significantly higher (slightly increased by 8.33%) than the control. Therefore, mesocarp samples of A2, and the control at 16, 20, and 24 WAP was sampled for RNA-Seq. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that 43 genes were differentially expressed in the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, of which expression of EgFAD2 (unigene 105050201) under 20 μM ABA treatment was 1.84-fold higher than in the control at 20 WAP. Further sequence analysis found that unigene 105050201 had more ABA-responsive elements (ABRE), complete conserved domains, and a C-terminal signaling motif among two FAD2 copies. Furthermore, WGCNA and correlation analysis showed co-expression of EgFAD2 (unigene 105050201) with transcription factors (TFs) (WRI1, AP2-EREBP, bZIP, bHLH, C2C2-Dof, MYB, NAC, and WRKY), ABA signaling genes (PYR, PP2C, SnRK, and ABI5), and other genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis (FATA, FATB, LACS, SAD, Oleosins, and so on). These results indicated that ABA treatment promoted the expression of FAD2 and other genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis, which possibly resulted in the accumulation of linoleic acid. This study will be helpful for understanding the possible mechanisms through which ABA affects fatty acid biosynthesis and their accumulation in the mesocarp of oil palm.
Impacts of Logging-Associated Compaction on Forest Soils: A Meta-Analysis

Soil compaction associated with mechanized wood harvesting can long-lastingly disturb forest soils, ecosystem function, and productivity. Sustainable forest management requires precise and deep knowledge of logging operation impacts on forest soils, which can be attained by meta-analysis studies covering representative forest datasets. We performed a meta-analysis on the impact of logging-associated compaction on forest soils microbial biomass carbon (MBC), bulk density, total porosity, and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) affected by two management factors (machine weight and passage frequency), two soil factors (texture and depth), and the time passed since the compaction event. Compaction significantly decreased soil MBC by −29.5% only in subsoils (>30 cm). Overall, compaction increased soil bulk density by 8.9% and reduced total porosity and Ksat by −10.1 and −40.2%, respectively. The most striking finding of this meta-analysis is that the greatest disturbance to soil bulk density, total porosity, and Ksat occurs after very frequent (>20) machine passages. This contradicts the existing claims that most damage to forest soils happens after a few machine passages. Furthermore, the analyzed physical variables did not recover to the normal level within a period of 3–6 years. Thus, altering these physical properties can disturb forest ecosystem function and productivity, because they play important roles in water and air supply as well as in biogeochemical cycling in forest ecosystems. To minimize the impact, we recommend the selection of suitable logging machines and decreasing the frequency of machine passages as well as logging out of rainy seasons especially in clayey soils. It is also very important to minimize total skid trail coverage for sustainable forest management.
A Motivational-Developmental Free Response Assessment Through a Bifactor Lens

The Motivational-Developmental Assessment (MDA) measures a university student’s motivational and developmental attributes by utilizing overlapping constructs measured across four writing prompts. The MDA’s format may lead to the violation of the local item independence (LII) assumption for unidimensional item response theory (IRT) scoring models, or the uncorrelated errors assumption for scoring models in classical test theory (CTT) due to the measurement of overlapping constructs within a prompt. This assumption violation is known as a testlet effect, which can be viewed as a method effect. The application of a unidimensional IRT or CTT model to score the MDA can result in imprecise parameter estimates when this effect is ignored. To control for this effect in the MDA responses, we first examined the presence of local dependence via a restricted bifactor model and Yen’s Q3 statistic. Second, we applied bifactor models to account for the testlet effect in the responses, as this effect is modeled as an additional latent variable in a factor model. Results support the presence of local dependence in two of the four MDA prompts, and the use of the restricted bifactor model to account for the testlet effect in the responses. Modeling the testlet effect through the restricted bifactor model supports a scoring inference in a validation argument framework. Implications are discussed.