Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF CONSUMER INNOVATIVENESS ON ADOPTION OF LOCATION-BASED SERVICES

This study applies the view of domain specific innovativeness (DSI) to examine the relationships between consumer innovativeness, lifestyle, knowledge, exploratory buying behavior tendencies, and the intentions to adopt location-based services (LBS). It is found that consumers with different levels of innovativeness toward LBS have different lifestyles and adoption intentions for LBS. Specifically, innovators have higher willingness to adopt LBS, and they tend to be leaders, price-oriented, and stylish. Consumers’ knowledge of LBS partially mediates the relationship between their innovativeness toward LBS and the intentions to adopt the service. However, consumers’ exploratory buying behavior tendencies do not play the mediating role between consumer innovativeness toward LBS and the intentions to adopt the service. The study not only explains the role of consumer innovativeness as the antecedent of LBS adoption, but suggests that the characteristics of consumer personality could be more important than expected in the adoption of LBS.
Molecular analysis of the composition of the bifidobacterial and lactobacillus microflora of humans

The bifidobacterial and lactobacillus populations of fecal samples collected from two human subjects during a 12-month period were studied. The total numbers of bifidobacteria were stable throughout the study period in both subjects, but lactobacillus numbers were less constant. Analysis of the composition of the bifidobacterial populations by using ribotyping or pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to differentiate between bacterial strains demonstrated major differences between the subjects. Subject 1 harbored five strains of bifidobacteria throughout the 12-month period, and one strain was numerically predominant. In contrast, subject 2 harbored a more complex bifidobacterial population (five to six strains per sample) whose composition fluctuated throughout the 12 months. One lactobacillus strain was numerically predominant throughout the study in both subjects. Strains of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli common to both subjects were not detected.
Threshold dose dependence in phenobarbital promotion of rat hepatocarcinogenesis initiated by diethylnitrosamine.

The dose-response of phenobarbital (PB) promotion of hepatocarcinogenesis in rats was investigated. Male F344 rats were given 1, 4, 16, 75, 300 or 1200 p.p.m. PB solutions given ad libitum as their drinking water for 39 weeks following initiation with a single i.p. injection of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) (100 mg/kg). At week 40, the incidence of hepatic tumors was increased clearly in the DEN + PB groups given 300 p.p.m. PB or above, as compared to that in the group given DEN only. Linear dose-response curves for numbers and sizes of enzyme-altered hepatic foci (gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase or placental glutathione S-transferase positive foci) were obtained in the dose range 16-1200 p.p.m. PB. The minimum promoting dose level of PB for enzyme-altered foci, estimated from dose-response curves by the Logit model, was calculated to be 15-23 p.p.m. Thus while dose dependence was demonstrated over a large range, a threshold was evident at low doses.
A silicon model of the Hirudo swim oscillator

Discusses using VLSI-based technology for recreating living neuronal circuits. The authors describe a study in which one subunit of the oscillatory network of the leech Hirudo medicinalis was reconstructed on a cell-by-cell, synapse-by-synapse basis using dedicated IC-based neural elements. The network consists of 11 cells in which 34 distinct multicellular oscillators are embedded. In functional tests, the circuit displayed rhythms and waveforms that closely resembled those of its living counterparts. In parametric tests, the network displayed remarkable robustness over a broad range of intracellular and synaptic parameters. From these tests, analysis of the network imparted insights into its design and function. The comprehensive nature of the neuronal element's design and the efficiency afforded by very-large-scale-integrated (VLSI) technology has greatly facilitated the endeavour of modeling neuronal networks and processes in analog electronic circuitry.
Direct and indirect effects of pulsatile shear stress on the smooth muscle cell.

BACKGROUND Anastomotic intimal hyperplasia is still an unsolved problem after small caliber prosthetic bypass grafting. Oscillatory turbulent flow occurs at the end to side anastomosis, and produces various effects on smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and endothelial cells (ECs), which compose intimal hyperplasia. We examined the influences of pulsatile oscillating shear stress on smooth muscle cells mitogenic activity induced by sheared endothelial cells. METHODS 1) Smooth muscle cells were cultured under three different pulsatile shear conditions (mean: 0, 6, and 60 dyne/cm2). 2) Endothelial cells were cultured under both static and sheared condition (mean: 60 dyne/cm2). Using the conditioned media from each well, SMCs were cultured under static and sheared conditions (60 dyne/cm2). Four groups of SMCs were devised by combining the two types of media and the two culture conditions. SMC colony spreading distances were measured as an index of combined migration and proliferation activity. An MTT assay and a cell counting assay were used to determine the proliferation activities of SMCs. RESULTS 1) SMC spreading activity was suppressed by shear stress. SMC proliferative activity was stimulated by pulsatile turbulent shear stress. 2) SMC spreading activity was stimulated by mitogens derived from ECs under shear stress. However, this augmented SMC spreading activity was attenuated under sheared conditions. The mitogens derived from ECs under pulsatile shear stress had no effects on SMC proliferation activity. CONCLUSIONS Pulsatile oscillating shear stress attenuates SMC migration activity induced by EC-denve mitogens and stimulates SMC proliferative activity.
Factors Determine Small Businesses (SBS) Success in Kuwait

The current study is set out to identify factors that determine Small Businesses (SBs) success in Kuwait. SBs success reduces the risk of failure and ensures SBs role in creating job opportunities and achieving sustainable economic development. The article used a questionnaire survey to identify the factors affecting SBs success in Kuwait. Questionnaires were distributed to 300 small businesses in services, industry, retail, and other industries. Owners, managers, managers? owners and others within the small businesses were requested to express their opinion on a set of internal and external factors expected to determine SBs success in Kuwait. 240 took part in the survey, resulting in 80% usable response rate. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the most important internal and external factors that determine SBs success. Kruskal Wallis test was performed to detect possible variations in the participants? opinions regarding the importance of the factors due to their characteristics. The results of the analysis revealed that internal factors such as entrepreneur? s experience, marketing factors as sales promotion, quality of the product/ service offered by SBs, financial incentives offered by the organization to its personnel and hard work are the most important factors that determine SBs success in Kuwait. The participants further indicated that the academic qualifications of the entrepreneur and academic qualifications of the SBs personnel are the least important factors that impact SBs success. As for the external factors, the participants pointed to business location, attractive legal and regulatory framework and availability of trained employees as the most important external factors to the success of SBs in Kuwait.
CrossTalk proposal: The intermittent hypoxia attending severe obstructive sleep apnoea does lead to alterations in brain structure and function

First, oversimplification or excessive focus on selected aspects of cognition have led to a plethora of studies that cannot be cross-compared due to their discrepant methodologies. Small sample sizes, and either no or only partially matched control groups accounting for co-existing morbidities and confounders, along with the inability to estimate disease duration, may also play a major role in the signal-to-noise ratio of the putative associations. Notwithstanding, associative findings have emerged whereby deficits in short-term memory, verbal fluency, problem solving, attention, and/or perception were frequently (albeit not always) reported, and correlated with the severity of hypoxaemia (Quan et al. 2011; Bucks et al. 2012; Kielb et al.
High litter moisture alone is sufficient to cause footpad dermatitis in growing turkeys

1. Four randomised block experiments were conducted to determine the role of litter moisture, excreta and alternative bedding materials on the development of footpad dermatitis in growing turkeys. 2. Adding water to the litter increased external and histopathological scores independently of the presence of excreta. Fully developed lesions were induced by the application of water to dry litter in 2 to 4 d. 3. Footpad lesions were associated with discomfort during walking in one experiment and body weight was lower in birds on wet compared with dry litter. 4. Footpad lesions had virtually healed 15 d after transfer of the turkeys from wet to dry litter although histopathology assessment showed some residual tissue repair. 5. Long barley straw was associated with high footpad scores on wet and dry treatments. The footpad scores for turkeys on reprocessed cardboard chips were similarly high whereas scores were similar on paper litter and wood shavings whether dry or wet. 6. It was concluded that high litter moisture alone was sufficient to cause footpad dermatitis in young turkeys and that footpad dermatitis should be minimised by the maintenance of dry litter.
Hydroelectric generating unit vibration fault diagnosis via BP neural network based on particle swarm optimization

In order to improve the correct rate, this paper puts forward a method of the vibration fault diagnosis of hydroelectric generating unit by neural network based on particle swarm optimization (PSO). Some fault characteristics through the feature extraction are selected as the inputs of neural network for training, then the fault diagnosis is accomplished via the trained and optimized neural network. The experimental result shows that this method gains good classification result, and it has a more rapid convergence speed and higher diagnosis precision than BP neural network model, which provides a new way in the field of fault diagnosis of hydroelectric generating unit.
In Vitro Hypothermia Enhances Platelet GPIIb‐IIIa Activation and P‐Selectin Expression

Background A clinical bleeding diathesis is associated with hypothermia. Inhibition of platelet reactivity is the purported cause of this coagulopathy despite inconsistent evidence to support this hypothesis. To clarify the effect of temperature on intrinsic platelet function, platelet GPIIb‐IIIa activation and P‐selectin expression were assesed under normothermic and hypothermic conditions in vitro. Methods Blood was obtained by venipuncture from healthy volunteers. Platelet activation was assessed by aggregometry and by cytometric analysis of platelet binding of fibrinogen, PAC‐1, and P‐selectin antibodies. Measurements were made at normothermia (37 [degree sign]C), moderate hypothermia (33 [degree sign]C), and profound hypothermia (22 [degree sign]C) after stimulating samples with adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, or thrombin receptor activating peptide. Results Agonist‐induced platelet aggregation and fibrinogen binding were significantly greater at 22 [degree sign]C and 33 [degree sign]C than at 37 [degree sign]C. Platelet fibrinogen binding values to 20 [micro sign]M ADP were 23,400, 14,300, and 9,700 molecules/platelet at 22 [degree sign]C, 33 [degree sign]C, and 37 [degree sign]C, respectively. The aggregation responses of platelets that were cooled and rewarmed were indistinguishable from those of platelets maintained at 37 [degree sign]C throughout the study. Platelet binding of PAC‐1 and P‐selectin antibodies was greater under hypothermic conditions. Conclusions Aggregation, fibrinogen binding, PAC‐1 binding, and P‐selectin antibody binding studies showed that platelet GPIIb‐IIIa activation and [Greek small letter alpha]‐granule release were enhanced at hypothermic temperatures. Thus hypothermia appears to increase the ability of platelets to respond to activating stimuli. The coagulopathy associated with hypothermia is not likely to be the result of an intrinsic defect in platelet function.
Revocation and Security Based Ownership Deduplication of Convergent Key Creating in Cloud

2 ABSTRACT: Data deduplication is a technique for decreasing the amount of storage space for an organization needs to save its data. In many organizations, the storage systems have duplicate copies of many pieces of data and its information. For example, an equivalent file may be saved in several places by many users, or two or more files that aren't equivalent may still include much of the same data. Deduplication remove these extra copies by saving just one copy of the data and changing the other copies with pointers that lead back to the original copy. In this paper first attempt to conventionally address the problem of resolve dynamic and reliable key management in deduplication. In the baseline approach each user holds a separate master key for encrypting the convergent keys and redistributes them to the cloud. And we propose a method Deckey, a new construction in which users are not need to manage any keys on their own. Security analyses establish that Deckey is secure in terms of the exposition specified in the proposed security model. As a proof of concept, we implement Deckey using the Ramp secret sharing scheme and determine that Deckey acquire limited overhead on realistic environments.
Excretion of benzoic acid derivatives in urine of sheep given intraruminal infusions of 3-phenylpropionic and cyclohexanecarboxylic acids

The quantitative relationship between the urinary excretion of benzoic acid (BA)and the uptake of 3-phenylpropionic (PPA) and cyclohexanecarboxylic (CHCA) acids was assessed.PPA and CHCA are produced in the rumen by microbial fermentation of lignocellulosic feeds and metabolized, after absorption, to BA which is excreted in the urine mainly as its glycine conjugate hippuric acid (HA). Four sheep nourished by intragastric infusions of all nutrients weregiven continuous ruminal infusions of PPA (8,16 or 24 mmol/d) either alone or with CHCA (8 or 16 mmol/d) in a factorial experiment. The treatments were allocated to ten consecutive 6 d periods, with a control being repeated at periods 1, 5 and 10. PPA and CHCA ruminal absorption rates, estimated using the liquid-phase marker Cr-EDTA, were 0·78 (SD 0·29)/h and 0·88 (SD 0·28)/h respectively. For the control, HA excretion was only 0·22 (SD 0·33) mmol/d and free BA was absent. For the other treatments, both HA and free BA were present and HA accounted for 0·85 (SD 0·05) of total BA. The urinary excretion of total BA showed a significant linear correlation (r = 0·997, P<0·001) with the amounts of PPA and CHCA infused. The urinary recovery of infused PPA and CHCA as total BA was 0·79 (SE 0·01). Faecal excretion of BA and its precursors was negligible. Results of this study show that urinary total BA is a potential estimator of the absorption of PPA + CHCA produced in the rumen
Engagement in Trauma-Specific CBT for Youth Post-9/11

Treatment participation was examined among youth enrolled in an evaluation of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for trauma following the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster. Staff at nine agencies serving a predominantly low-income, ethnically diverse population were trained to deliver CBT and structured engagement strategies. A total of 445 youth ages 5 to 19 were eligible for CBT, and 417 (94%) received at least one treatment session. Pretreatment and treatment show rates and overall dose were examined. Treatment participation rates were higher than those typically reported in community studies of children’s mental health services. Regression analyses indicated variability across sites in treatment show rates with the highest rates at sites where services were delivered in schools. However, sites, demographic factors, and trauma symptoms accounted for a small amount of variance in treatment participation overall. The study suggests that structured engagement strategies, linked to evidence-based treatments, may improve treatment participation for youth.
Effect of heavy metals in recycled water used for household laundry on quality of cloth and washing machine

AbstractRecycled water for washing clothes saves significant amount of potable water and hence has a great potential for sustainable urban-water management. To date, there has been no official acceptance and very rare practice of use of recycled water for household laundry. This study investigates the effects of critical heavy metals (Pb, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn) on cloth quality and corrosive/scaling of washing machine to evaluate the feasibility of using recycled water for household laundry. The experimental data can be used for future recycled-water-quality guidelines. Five representative cloth materials namely polyester, satin, polycotton, denim and organic cotton were selected for washing in tap water and synthetic recycled water which contained different concentrations of heavy metals. Cloth durability, surface morphology and textile colour of washed cloth samples were measured to investigate the effects of heavy metals on quality of fabric. Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) was used as the indicator for p.
Breast Cancer Classification: Comparative Performance Analysis of Image Shape-Based Features and Microarray Gene Expression Data

Recently, there has been greater attention to the use of classifier systems in medical diagnosis. Medical diagnostic tools provide automated procedures for objective decisions by making use of quantitative measures and machine learning techniques. These tools are effective and helpful for medical experts to diagnose diseases. One of such diseases is breast cancer which is the second largest cause of cancer deaths among women. To build an intelligent tool, it is very important to have an effective set of features. Two types of feature sets have been commonly implemented for the purpose of breast cancer diagnosis: image shape-based features and microarray gene expression data. Both types of feature sets have been widely implemented; however, there has been no work that directly compared the classification performance of these two feature sets. In this paper, we intensively review related works that used both types of feature sets and we also review the implemented machine learning algorithms. Moreover, we run extensive experiments to compare the classification performance of the aforementioned feature sets. Our results show that the image shape-based features are more discriminative for breast cancer classification when tested with ten-fold cross validation. To check the robustness of the best performing feature set, we further examine it with five-fold cross validation and with a variety of generative classification algorithms.
Gene expression and functional characterization of melatonin receptors in the spinal cord of the rat: implications for pain modulation

Abstract: Recently, a species‐dependent distribution of melatonin binding sites have been found in lamina I–V and lamina X of the spinal cord. In order to learn more about the function of spinal melatonin receptors, we investigated (i) the gene expression for melatonin receptor subtypes in lumbar and thoracal spinal cord tissue by means of the reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) technique, and (ii) the electrophysiological and pharmacological properties of melatonin receptors heterologously expressed in Xenopus oocytes after injection of spinal cord mRNA by means of the voltage clamp technique. Because ample evidence indicates an antinociceptive effect of melatonin, (iii) the role of spinal melatonin receptors for maintaining mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia was studied in a rat model for postoperative pain. The RT‐PCR data revealed that transcripts for MT1 and MT2 melatonin receptors are present in the dorsal and ventral horn of lumbar and thoracal spinal cord tissue. Injection of mRNA from lumbar spinal cord tissue into Xenopus oocytes led to the functional reconstitution of melatonin receptors which activate calcium‐dependent chloride inward currents. Melatonin responses were abolished by simultaneous administration of the antagonists, 2‐phenylmelatonin and luzindole and were unaffected by the MT2 antagonist 4‐phenyl‐2‐propionamidotetralin. Intrathecal administration of different melatonin doses (10–100 nmol) did not inhibit mechanical or thermal hyperalgesia. However, intrathecal application of a low dose of morphine together with melatonin caused a brief antinociceptive effect suggesting an enhanced morphine analgesia by melatonin. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated for the first time the presence of transcripts of MT1 and MT2 receptors located in the dorsal and ventral horn of the spinal cord. Furthermore, spinal melatonin enhanced the antinociceptive effect of morphine indicating that melatonin acts as a neuromodulator in the spinal cord.
Surgery plus chemotherapy compared with surgery alone for localized squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus: a Japan Clinical Oncology Group Study--JCOG9204.

PURPOSE We performed a multicenter randomized controlled trial to determine whether postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy improves outcome in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma undergoing radical surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients undergoing transthoracic esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy between July 1992 and January 1997 at 17 institutions were randomly assigned to receive surgery alone or surgery plus chemotherapy including two courses of cisplatin (80 mg/m2 of body-surface area x 1 day) and fluorouracil (800 mg/m2 x 5 days) within 2 months after surgery. Adaptive stratification factors were institution and lymph node status (pN0 versus pN1). The primary end point was disease-free survival. RESULTS Of the 242 patients, 122 were assigned to surgery alone, and 120 to surgery plus chemotherapy. In the surgery plus chemotherapy group, 91 patients (75%) received both full courses of chemotherapy; grade 3 or 4 hematologic or nonhematologic toxicities were limited. The 5-year disease-free survival rate was 45% with surgery alone, and 55% with surgery plus chemotherapy (one-sided log-rank, P =.037). The 5-year overall survival rate was 52% and 61%, respectively (P =.13). Risk reduction by postoperative chemotherapy was remarkable in the subgroup with lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSION Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin and fluorouracil is better able to prevent relapse in patients with esophageal cancer than surgery alone.
Vidarabine and 2-Deoxycoformycin as Antileukemic Agents Against Monocytic Leukemia

Although 2″-deoxycoformycin (dCF) has been reported in clinical trials to be less effective against myeloid than lymphoid malignancies, it may be useful for treating monocytic leukemia with the aid of 2″-deoxyadenosine (dAd) analogs. In the presence of 10 μM dAd, the concentration of dCF required to inhibit the viability of monocytoid leukemia cells was much lower than that required on normal or non-monocytoid malignant cells in primary culture. Among the dAd analogs, 9-β-D-arabinofuranosyladenine (AraA) was also effective in combination with dCF. Although dCF alone slightly but significantly prolonged the survival of mice inoculated with U937 monocytic leukemia cells, combined treatment with dCF and AraA markedly prolonged the survival. These results suggest that the combination of dCF and AraA may be useful for the clinical treatment of acute monocytic leukemia.