Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scale Development and Construct Validity of Organizational Capital in Customer Relationship Management Context: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach

Abstract Effective usage and implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) or information technology requires some prerequisite organizational commitments and changes. Improving and deploying the organizational resources, such as top management support and employee training, which are collectively pursued under the umbrella term, that is, organizational capital, appears to be one of the important transformations that organizations need to undertake. Organizational capital is one of the key determinants in improving the results from CRM implementations. This article proposes organizational capital as a multidimensional construct. Further, this article attempts to develop a scale for measuring the organizational capital and test its factorial validity through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). To test the proposed theoretical model, primary data were used which was generated through a survey of some selected pharmaceutical companies in India. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and subsequently CFA. The results demonstrated that CFA of organizational capital showed an acceptable fit to the data and this construct is best represented by three constituent elements, that is, employee training, customer-centric management system (CMS), and customer relationship orientation (CRO) in current research context. This scale may be used in future research for measurement of this construct as a whole with contextual validity check. Further, implications for theory and practitioners are presented.
Characteristics and mechanism of enzyme secretion and increase in [Ca2+]i in Saikosaponin(I) stimulated rat pancreatic acinar cells.

AIM This investigation was to reveal the characteristics and mechanism of enzyme secretion and increase in [Ca2+]i stimulated by saikosaponin(I) (SA(I)) in rat pancreatic acini. METHODS Pancreatic acini were prepared from male Wistar rats. Isolated acinar cells were suspended in Eagle's MEM solution. After adding drugs, the incubation was performed at 37 degrees for a set period of time. Amylase of supernatant was assayed using starch-iodide reaction. Isolated acinar single cell was incubated with Fura-2/AM at 37 degrees, then cells were washed and resuspended in fresh solution and attached to the chamber. Cytoplasm [Ca2+]i of a single cell was expressed by fluorescence ratio F340/F380 recorded in a Nikon PI Ca2+ measurement system. RESULTS Rate course of amylase secretion stimulated by SA(I) in rat pancreatic acini appeared in bell-like shape. The peak amplitude increased depended on SA(I) concentration. The maximum rate responded to 1 x 10(-5)mol/L SA(I) was 13.1-fold of basal and the rate decreased to basal level at 30 min. CCK-8 receptor antagonist Bt(2)-cGMP markedly inhibited amylase secretion stimulated by SA(I) and the dose-effect relationship was similar to that by CCK-8. [Ca2+]i in a single acinar cell rose to the peak at 5 min after adding 5 x 10(-6)mol/L SA(I) and was 5.1-fold of basal level. In addition, there was a secondary increase after the initial peak. GDP could inhibit both the rate of amylase secretion and rising of [Ca2+]i stimulated by SA(I) in a single pancreatic acinar cell. CONCLUSION SA(I) is highly efficient in promoting the secretion of enzymes synthesized in rat pancreatic acini and raising intracellular [Ca2+]i. Signaling transduction pathway of SA(I) involves activating special membrane receptor and increase in cytoplasm [Ca2+]i sequentially.
Area Spectral and Energy Efficiency Analysis of Cellular Networks with Cell DTX

Cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) has been proposed as an effective solution to reduce energy consumption of cellular networks. In this paper, we investigate the impact of network traffic load on area spectral efficiency (ASE) and energy efficiency (EE) of cellular networks with cell DTX. Closed-form expressions of ASE and EE as functions of traffic load for cellular networks with cell DTX are derived. It is shown that ASE increases monotonically in traffic load, while EE depends on the power consumption of base stations in sleep mode. If this power consumption is larger than a percentage of the active-mode power consumption, EE increases monotonically with traffic load and is maximized when the network is fully loaded. Otherwise, EE first increases and then decreases in traffic load. In this case, ASE and EE are maximized with different loads. The percentage threshold only depends on the path loss exponent of radio propagation environment and is calculated to be 56.2% when the path loss exponent is 4.
Host Specificity Testing: Why Do We Do It and How We Can Do It Better

Host specificity testing is universally used in weed biological control to predict nontarget effects of potential agents. Despite this, there is some confusion regarding the role of host specificity testing in making such predictions. One possible role is as an assay of field host range. In this case, the ideal host specificity test will simulate conditions encountered in the field, and the result (the estimated field host range) will be judged according to how accurately it matches the realized field host range. An alternative approach is to separate the description of innate host specificity (which includes fundamental host range, the relative acceptability and suitability of hosts, the ability to learn, and time dependent effects) from the prediction of how it will be expressed in the post-release environment (in terms of field host range and relative attack). In this case, host specificity testing is used to describe properties of the insect, which are then used in combination with ecological information to predict where, when, and to what extent non-target attack would occur. I argue that the latter approach is more powerful because non-target effects under any particular environmental conditions are predicted, rather than being estimated by attempting to experimentally simulate the release environment. Here I discuss this more basic approach to host specificity testing in some detail in relation to the meaning of the terms host specificity and host range, and I point out the implications of this approach for the way that we conduct host specificity testing. My approach to host testing can be divided into three steps: (1) identification of aspects of life history that need to be host-specific if the insect is to be safe for release; (2) description of the fundamental host range of the organism; and (3) if non-target species are included within the fundamental host-range, prediction of whether they will be attacked under field conditions and the frequency and severity of such attacks.
Surface charge determines the lung inflammogenicity: A study with polystyrene nanoparticles

Abstract Surface functionalization is a routine process to improve the behavior of nanoparticles (NPs), but the induced surface properties, such as surface charge, can produce differential toxicity profiles. Here, we synthesized a library of covalently functionalized fluorescent polymeric NPs (F-PLNPs) to evaluate the role of surface charge on the acute inflammation and the localization in the lung. Guanidinium-, acetylated-, zwitterionic-, hydroxylated-, PEGylated-, carboxylated- and sulfated-F-PLNPs were synthesized from aminated-F-PLNP. The primary particle sizes were identical, but the hydrodynamic sizes ranged from 210 to 345 nm. Following surface functionalization, the F-PLNPs showed diverse zeta potentials from −41.2 to 31.0 mV, and each F-PLNP showed a single, narrow peak. Pharyngeal aspiration with these eight types of F-PLNPs into rats produced diverse acute lung inflammation, with zeta potentials of the F-PLNPs showing excellent correlation with acute pulmonary inflammation parameters including the percentage of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (R2 = 0.90, p < 0.0001) and the levels of interleukin-1β (R2 = 0.83, p < 0.0001) and of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-3 (R2 = 0.86, p < 0.0001). These results imply that surface charge is a key factor influencing lung inflammation by functionalized polymeric NPs, which further confirms and extends the surface charge paradigm that we reported for pristine metal oxide NPs. This demonstrates that the surface charge paradigm is a valuable tool to predict the toxicity of NPs.
Differential pollen placement on an Old World nectar bat increases pollination efficiency.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Plant species that share pollinators are potentially subject to non-adaptive interspecific pollen transfer, resulting in reduced reproductive success. Mechanisms that increase pollination efficiency between conspecific individuals are therefore highly beneficial. Many nocturnally flowering plant species in Thailand are pollinated by the nectar bat Eonycteris spelaea (Pteropodidae). This study tested the hypothesis that plant species within a community reduce interspecific pollen movement by placing pollen on different areas of the bat's body. METHODS Using flight cage trials, pollen transfer by E. spelaea was compared between conspecific versus heterospecific flowers across four bat-pollinated plant genera. Pollen from four locations on the bat's body was also quantified to determine if pollen placement varies by plant species. KEY RESULTS It was found that E. spelaea transfers significantly more pollen between conspecific than heterospecific flowers, and that diverse floral designs produce significantly different patterns of pollen deposition on E. spelaea. CONCLUSIONS In the Old World tropics, differential pollen placement is a mechanism that reduces competition among bat-pollinated plant species sharing a common pollinator.
Interaction with therapeutic soft contact lenses affects the intraocular efficacy of tropicamide and latanoprost in dogs.

Therapeutic soft contact lenses (TSCLs) are frequently used to support or protect the cornea during healing. Our aim was to quantitatively evaluate the efficacy of topical medications in TSCL-fitted dogs and determine whether it is affected by the presence of TSCLs. In Phase I, pupil diameter was measured in eyes treated with tropicamide and in eyes covered with TSCLs and then treated with tropicamide, with 1-week intervals between sessions. In Phase II, intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured in uncovered and TSCL-covered eyes treated with latanoprost, with 1-week intervals between sessions. Tropicamide caused significant mydriasis in both uncovered and TSCL-covered eyes (P = 0.005). On the other hand, latanoprost caused a significant decrease in IOP when applied to uncovered eyes (P = 0.002), but had no significant effect on IOP when applied to TSCL-covered eyes (P = 0.7). As we used the same dogs and identical TSCLs throughout the study, we conclude that the different outcomes of the two drugs are due to properties of the drugs themselves, or their formulations, affecting their interaction with the TSCLs. The clinical efficacy of topical drugs applied to TSCL-covered eyes may have to be determined for each drug and/or formulation.
Preemptive Opportunistic MAC Protocol in Distributed Cognitive Radio Networks

A preemptive opportunistic cognitive radio (CR) medium access control (MAC) protocol, which is called PO-MAC, is proposed for distributed CR networks. PO-MAC consists of three main phases: network initialization, reporting, and contention. The primary user (PU) channel exclusively assigned to each secondary user (SU) is sensed during the sensing period, and the sensing result is then reported to all other SUs without collisions during the reporting phase. Using the sensing results, SUs can preempt and make use of free channels via a contention method during the contention phase. It is demonstrated that PO-MAC outperforms existing CR MAC protocols in terms of the end-to-end delay and throughput performance. Further, it is shown that PO-MAC effectively operates when used in real-time services such as voice over Internet protocol.
Pour une semantique indexicale de la metaphore. Application a un corpus : internet dans les temoignages des utilisateurs.

Les analyses de la metaphore reposent generalement sur l'idee que ce phenomene implique, a quelque niveau que ce soit, un ecart ou une incompatibilite par rapport a une norme semantique ou bien a une representation du monde. Nous proposons, au contraire, de voir dans la metaphore un phenomene qui caracterise le mieux la dimension semantique de la langue. A partir a la fois d'une semantique fondeesur les rapports aux referents, et d'une observation de la metaphore dans le discours des utilisateurs d'internet, nous caracteriserons la langue non plus comme un systeme qui decoupe et classifie l'extralinguistique mais comme un systeme qui indexe des rapports aux manifestations phenomenologiques des referents. De la, il est possible de donner une definition de la metaphore en termes exclusivement discursifs, definition delestee des criteres definitoires habituels: la notion d'interdiscours decrite dans ce travail apparait alors comme fondamentale dans le processus metaphorique; la distinction discours / interdiscours sert d'ailleurs de base a une differenciation entre metaphores expressives (du fait des locuteurs) et metaphores intersubjectives (qui appartiennent a un ensemble de connaissances discursives relatif a un objet). La recherche porte donc a la fois sur une conception semantique indexicale des noms qui differe de la conception referentielle, et sur la specificite discursive de la metaphore percue comme un jugement ou une intentionnalite.
The Hookup: Collaborative Evaluation of a Youth Sexual Health Program Using Text Messaging Technology

Background The Hookup is a collaborative project reaching young people in California with valuable sexual and reproductive health information and linkage to local resources. Due to limited access to subscriber contact information, it has been a challenge to evaluate the program. Objective The aims of this study were to determine the feasibility of using text messaging (short message service, SMS) as an evaluation tool for an educational text message-based program and to evaluate the program itself. Methods All subscribers of The Hookup were sent four survey questions via SMS about age, gender, location, referral source and behavior change. An incentive was offered for completing the survey and an opt-out option was provided in the initial message. Results All existing subscribers of The Hookup (N=2477) received a request to complete the survey using the SMS application on their mobile phones. A total of 832 (33.6%) subscribers responded to the initial question and 481 (20%) answered all four questions. Of the responses, 85% were received in the first two hours of the initial request. Respondents who answered the question about behavior change, 90% reported having made some positive change since subscribing to Hookup, including getting tested for STDs and HIV. Conclusions The survey methodology initiated a high response rate from The Hookup subscribers. The survey was able to provide data about subscribers in a short time period at minimal cost. The results show potential for using mobile SMS applications to evaluate SMS campaigns. The findings also support using SMS to provide young people with sexual health prevention messaging and linkage to health services.
Contribution a la tomographie microonde : algorithmes de reconstruction quantitative et verifications experimentales

Ce memoire represente une contribution au developpement de la technique d'imagerie microonde active pour applications biomedicales, sur les plans algorithmique et experimental. L'objectif est ici la reconstruction de la permittivite complexe d'un objet biologique, a partir de mesures du champ diffracte dans un certain nombre de points proches de l'objet. Une configuration bidimensionnelle pour les milieux et une polarisation transverse magnetique pour les champs ont ete adoptes, de sorte que les problemes direct et inverse peuvent etre resolus a partir d'une equation integrale scalaire, discretisee a cet effet par une methode des moments. Le probleme inverse, qui est non lineaire et mal pose, est formule comme la minimisation de l'erreur quadratique moyenne par rapport aux mesures. Deux methodes de reconstruction sont presentees, celle du recuit simule, une methode d'optimisation globale, et celle de levenberg-marquardt, une methode locale de type gauss-newton, pour laquelle le choix du parametre de regularisation, par une methode empirique et par la methode de la validation croisee generalisee, est egalement etudie. Une procedure de calibration pour une camera microonde planaire a 2. 45 ghz a d'autre part ete mise en uvre afin d'obtenir des donnees reelles ayant une precision satisfaisante. Elle comprend une methode de calibration du recepteur, permettant de reduire ses erreurs systematiques et differentes methodes pour la determination du champ incident dans l'objet et de la permittivite complexe du milieu exterieur. La methode de levenberg-marquardt est finalement appliquee aux donnees reelles ainsi obtenues pour trois fantomes homogenes presentant des contrastes varies
EXPLORING FACTORS AFFECTING TRUST IN USE OF E-BANKING AMONG INDONESIAN GEN-Y

In line with technological developments, the interest of the community and customers in carrying out their financial transactions also changed. Customers prefer banking services electronically or digitally. Generation Y is the highest internet user group in Indonesia. With the potential number of smartphone users and internet users in Indonesia, several companies have begun to expand their business operations in the form of mobile to facilitate and adjust the needs of consumers with mobility, including in the banking industry. This study aims to determine what are the determinants that affect the Trust in the use of e-banking among Generation Y in Indonesia. The analysis technique used is SEM-PLS. In processing the data of e-banking users with age criteria of 21-40 years, researchers using WarpPLS 6.0 software. Based on the data obtained and processed, there are several factor in this research that is risk perceive significantly negative influence while social influences, task characteristic, and personal innovativeness has a significant positive effect. Furthermore, characteristic task is the biggest factor affecting the trust in using e-banking. This study has several limitations that can encourage further study. First, this research is still lacking in terms of the number of respondents and the distribution of questionnaires that represent per region in Indonesia. Second, this study model only explains trusts for using e-banking by 26%.
Characterization of the tumor suppressor gene WWOX in primary human oral squamous cell carcinomas

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm of the oral cavity, representing ˜90% of all oral carcinomas and accounting for 3–5% of all malignancies. The WWOX gene (WW‐domain containing oxidoreductase) is a candidate tumor suppressor gene located at 16q23.3–24.1, spanning the second most common fragile site, FRA16D. In this report, the role of the WWOX gene was investigated in 20 tumors and 10 normal oral mucosas, and we demonstrated an altered WWOX gene in 50% (10/20) of OSCCs. Using nested RT‐PCR, mRNA transcription was altered in 35% of the tumors, with the complete absence of transcripts in 2 samples as well as absence of exons 6–8 (2 tumors), exon 7 (1 tumor), exon 7 and exon 6–8 (1 tumor) and partial loss of exons 8 and 9 (1 tumor). To determine if the aberrant transcripts were translated, Western blots were performed in all samples; however, only the normal protein was detected. By immunohistochemistry, a reduction in Wwox protein expression was observed, affecting 40% of the tumors when compared with normal mucosa. In addition, a novel somatic mutation (S329F) was found. The presence of alterations in mRNA transcription correlated with the reduced expression of Wwox protein in the tumors. These results show that the WWOX gene is frequently altered in OSCC and may contribute to the carcinogenesis processes in oral cancer. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sleep in COPD Patients

An estimated 14 million Americans are afflicted with COPD and are at risk for significant abnormalities in gas exchange and ventilation that are exacerbated by sleep. In addition 10–15% of COPD patients concomitantly suffer from sleep apnea. The term “Overlap Syndrome” was originally coined by Flenley to describe the relationship between COPD and sleep apnea. Patients with overlap syndrome are characterized by having lower PaO2 during wakefulness, higher PaCO2, elevated pulmonary artery pressure and more significant episodes of nocturnal hypoxemia than sleep apnea patients without COPD. COPD and sleep apnea have long been individually recognized for having significantly detrimental affects on the respiratory physiology of patients. The mechanisms of both diseases compromise the gas exchange, oxygenation, and overall mortality and morbidity in the affected patients. While both of these diseases individually represent significant detriment to affected patients, the combination of these two diseases has been shown to have an even more profound affect on patients' oxygenation, gas exchange, and breathing patterns. As our understanding of the physiological processes of sleep develops, the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and obstructive lung disease has become progressively more apparent. Identification and appropriate management of these patients is particularly important because the 5 year survival of patients with overlap syndrome is lower than that of patients with sleep apnea alone as shown in prospective trials.
Mukhabarah as Sharia Financing Model in Beef Cattle Farm Entrepise

Financing constraints on beef cattle farm nowadays have received attention by the government through distributed various assistance programs and program loans through implementing banks. The existing financing schemes are all still conventional yet sharia-based. The purpose of this research is to formulate financing pattern for sharia beef cattle farm. A qualitative and descriptive approach is used to formulate the pattern by considering the profit-sharing practices of the beef cattle farmers. The results of this study have formulated a financing pattern that integrates government, implementing banks, beef cattle farmers group and cooperative as well as breeders as its members. This pattern of financing is very accommodating of local culture that develops in rural communities. It is expected to be an input, especially in formulating a business financing policy Sharia-based beef cattle breeding.