Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of offline brand trust and perceived internet confidence on online shopping intention in the integrated multi‐channel context

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the influences of consumer trust and perceived internet confidence on consumer apparel shopping intention via the online retailer operated by a multi‐channel retailer.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 261 students in a large US Midwestern University participated in the paper‐based survey and provided usable responses. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses.Findings – Consumer trust in an online retailer was a significant predictor of perceived internet confidence and search intention for product information via the online retailer. Search intention for product information via the online store and perceived internet confidence were significant and strong predictors of consumers' behavioral intention toward the online retailer.Research limitations/implications – Limitations of the present study include sampling, which prevents the generalization of the results to all multi‐channel shoppers.Practical implications – The findings of .
Co‐managing online privacy: a call for joint ownership

Argues that online privacy rights of consumers are not absolute rights but joint ownership privileges they share with online marketers. Consumers can voluntarily transfer these privileges to online marketers under certain mutually agreeable conditions. Accordingly, online marketers can facilitate, motivate and compensate such transfers by designing various innovative personalization strategies that, rather than jeopardize the privacy privileges of consumers, would benefit them. Technology and society can progress only through such partnerships. Cites two consistently successful net companies, Dell and eBay, as examples of such partnered personalizations.
A Study of the Combined Role of Viruses, Mycoplasmas and Bacteria in Adult Pneumonia

Between October, 1966 and April, 1967, 312 patients with a provisional diagnosis of pneumonia and 154 control patients without respiratory disease admitted to the Philadelphia General Hospital were studied for the purpose of determining whether or not viral infections preceded the onset of bacterial pneumonia. Of the 312 patients in the former group, only 193 were considered ultimately to have had pneumonia. Of these 193 infections, 106 were thought to have been caused by pneumococcus, 12 by Kl. pneumoniae, ten by other bacteria, and one by adenovirus type 3. In 65 patients, many of whom received treatment before hospitalization, a causal agent could not be assigned. Herpes simplex virus was isolated from 5% of cases of pneumonia and 1.4% of controls. Significant rises in antibody to influenza A and to Mycoplasma pneumoniae were detected, with one exception, only in patients with pneumonia and not in controls; but the differences were not significant statistically. Five of six patients with influenza A infection had bacterial pneumonia. The results fail to demonstrate a close association of the endemic respiratory viruses under study with bacterial pneumonia and indicate the need for development of additional virologic and serologic techniques.
Lunatic Fringe Controls T Cell Differentiation through Modulating Notch Signaling1

T cells differentiate from bone marrow-derived stem cells by expressing developmental stage-specific genes. We here searched arrays of genes that are highly expressed in mature CD4−CD8+ (CD8 single-positive (SP)) T cells but little in CD4+CD8+ (double-positive (DP)) cells by cDNA subtraction. Lunatic fringe (Lfng), a modulator of Notch signaling, was identified to be little expressed in DP cells and highly expressed in CD8SP T cell as well as in CD4−CD8− (double-negative (DN)) and mature CD4+CD8− (CD4SP) T cells. Thus, we examined whether such change of expression of Lfng plays a role in T cell development. We found that overexpression of Lfng in Jurkat T cells strengthened Notch signaling by reporter gene assay, indicating that Lfng is a positive regulator for Notch signaling in T cells. The enforced expression of Lfng in thymocytes enhanced the development of immature CD8SP cells but decreased mature CD4SP and CD8SP cells. In contrast, the down-regulation of Lfng in thymocytes suppressed DP cells development due to the defective transition from CD44+CD25− stage to subsequent stage in DN cells. The overexpression of Lfng in fetal liver-derived hemopoietic stem cells enhanced T cell development, whereas its down-regulation suppressed it. These results suggested that the physiological high expression of Lfng in DN cells contributes to enhance T cell differentiation through strengthening Notch signaling. Shutting down the expression of Lfng in DP cells may have a physiological role in promoting DP cells differentiation toward mature SP cells.
Analisis Hubungan antara Strong Boards dan External Governance terhadap Accounting Restatement

This study aimed at identifying the relationship between the existence of strong boards and external governance to accounting restatement. The strong boards were characterized and identified by board independence, audit independence, and board size. External governance is identified by B-Index that found by Gompers, Ishii, and Metrick (2003). The strong boards, was measured based on good corporate governance codes developed by KNKG (2006). Data are taken from annual report from 2003 until 2006 manufacturing companies listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange. The result shows that there is a positif relationship between strong boards and external governance to accounting restatement for large firm (measured by total assets). However, the study also found that there is negative relationship between strong boards and external governance to accounting restatement for small firm as measured by total assets. Keyword: strong boards, external governance, accounting restatement, B-Index, board independence
Fusion classification technique used to detect downy and Powdery Mildew grape leaf diseases

Grape constitutes one of the most widely grown fruit crop in the India. Manual observation of experts is used in practice for detection of leaf diseases, which takes more time for further control action. Without accurate disease diagnosis, proper control actions cannot be taken at appropriate time. This is where modern agriculture technique is required to detect and prevent the leaf from different diseases. This paper aims to introduce a new approach for detection of grape leaf diseases using image processing, which will minimize the loss and increase its profit due to automation. In this system, classification is done using Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) classifies separately. A new classifier is proposed using fusion classification technique which ensembles classifiers from SVM and ANN to regenerate base classifier for grape leaf disease detection. Based on detection of disease the proper mixture of fungicides will be provided to the grape farmers.
Natural interspecific and intraspecific horizontal transfer of parthenogenesis–inducing Wolbachia in Trichogramma wasps

The intracellular bacterium Wolbachia is one of the most common symbionts in arthropods and, because of its manipulative effects on host reproduction, is assumed to be an important factor in several evolutionary processes. These bacteria are mainly vertically transmitted from mother to daughter through the egg cytoplasm, and horizontal transmission is generally assumed to be rare. Here, we show natural inter– and intraspecific horizontal transfer of parthenogenesis–inducing Wolbachia between parasitoid wasps of the genus Trichogramma. Horizontal transfer was observed when infected and uninfected larvae shared the same host egg. This is the first report, to our knowledge, on interspecific horizontal transfer of Wolbachia between closely related sympatric species. Some originally uninfected immature wasps acquired Wolbachia while inside the host egg, but not all of these newly infected females exhibited the parthenogenesis phenotype. In general, intraspecific horizontal transfer was more successful than interspecific transfer. Wolbachia underwent vertical transmission in the new species but the infection tended to be lost within several generations. Our results have important implications for understanding the evolution of Wolbachia–host associations.
Measuring and building the South African weather service (SAWS) brand equity.

The SAWS is interested in demonstrating the economic and social benefits of the products or services it provides to the public, industries and other organisations. It is also important for the organisation to carry out ongoing performance assessment of public and commercial weather services to ensure that these services are efficient and effectively meeting the public's and customer's needs and contribute to longer term commercial and societal objectives. Some other National Weather Services has developed "Service Charters" which detail their pledge of performance to the user communities, specifically, customers and the general public. These service charters provide a brief overview of the services provided, a commitment of performance against specific targets and a commitments to consult and identify a means by which the customers and the public may register their concern. As a result the service charters has become an important component of the Weather Services branding measurement strategy. The acceptance of the SAWS products or services by the public and other weather users depends on a number of factors. Scientific accuracy is just one of those factors. Also the health of the SAWS depends on the perceptions from full spectrum of weather users ranging from individual citizens, media, aviation,
Unique appendages associated with spores of Bacillus cereus isolates

Electron microscopic observations revealed the presence of a new type of large appendage on the spores of two Bacillus cereus strains isolated from phylloplanes. The appendages were thin and sword‐like in shape, having the sizes of 1.5 to 2.8 μm in length and 0.03 to 0.6 μm in width. There were no core or sheath structures in these appendages. The number of appendages on a spore ranged from three to more than twenty, radiating from the swelling on one end of the exosporium. These appendages gave a unique octopus‐ or jellyfish‐like feature to the spores.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Shareholder Reaction: The Environmental Awareness of Investors

This study examines whether shareholders are sensitive to corporations' environmental footprint. Specifically, I conduct an event study around the announcement of corporate news related to environment for all US publicly traded companies from 1980 to 2009. In keeping with the view that environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) generates new and competitive resources for firms, I find that companies reported to behave responsibly toward the environment experience a significant stock price increase, whereas firms that behave irresponsibly face a significant decrease. Extending this view of “environment-as-a-resource,” I posit that the value of environmental CSR depends on external and internal moderators. First, I argue that external pressure to behave responsibly towards the environment―which has increased dramatically over recent decades―exacerbates the punishment for eco-harmful behavior and reduces the reward for eco-friendly initiatives. This argument is supported by the data: over time, the .
Comparison of Competitive Gains of Some Cooperation Networks, Business and Productive Arrangements State of Goiás

Globalization has caused significant organizational changes in recent decades, increasing competition and the uncertainty of economic markets caused the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) opted for cooperation, joining forces and making possible improvements to reduce risks, threats and better seize opportunities to become more competitive through Business Cooperation Network (BCNs) and Local Production Arrangements (LPAs). In this scenario, the present study aims to study some BCNs and some clusters in the State of Goiás-Brazil, comparing the collective gains provided by both. This study aims to broaden the understanding of earnings and benefits provided by them.
Enhancing the experience of needs satisfaction through service engagement: A case of commercial fitness centers in Malaysia

The commercial fitness industry is booming in Malaysia and the competition that has built up means it is becoming more difficult to entice new members to fitness establishments. This research investigates the needs of those who are engaging with the services of these commercial fitness operators and analyses how this engagement plays a role in determining overall satisfaction with service. The Scale of Service Quality for Recreational Sport (SSQRS) was used for data collection and reveals that members are drawn more to interaction, outcome, physical environment quality and the engagement they receive from a gym membership more than to the programs that are offered. This study's findings contribute to the development of marketing strategies to support sustainable growth of the fitness industry.
Out-of-band emission reduction and a unified framework for precoded OFDM

OFDM has been regarded as a promising candidate for use in cognitive radio systems with dynamic spectrum reuse capability. However, conventional OFDM has significant OOBE, which can cause severe interference to systems operating in adjacent frequency bands. In addition to conventional techniques such as spectral shaping filtering, guard band insertion, and time domain windowing, new OOBE reduction techniques, including cancellation carrier and spectral precoding, have been proposed in recent years. This article reviews various OOBE reduction techniques and proposes a generalized low-complexity OOBE reduction framework for discrete Fourier transform precoded OFDM. With the allocation of explicit frequency domain cancellation subcarriers and data domain cancellation symbols, the proposed framework enables various configurations to achieve significant OOBE reduction with low implementation complexity, and provides flexibility in balancing OOBE reduction and other performance metrics such as peak-to-average power ratio.
The complex roles of NADPH oxidases in fungal infection

NADPH oxidases play key roles in immunity and inflammation that go beyond the production of microbicidal reactive oxygen species (ROS). The past decade has brought a new appreciation for the diversity of roles played by ROS in signalling associated with inflammation and immunity. NADPH oxidase activity affects disease outcome during infections by human pathogenic fungi, an important group of emerging and opportunistic pathogens that includes Candida, Aspergillus and Cryptococcus species. Here we review how alternative roles of NADPH oxidase activity impact fungal infection and how ROS signalling affects fungal physiology. Particular attention is paid to roles for NADPH oxidase in immune migration, immunoregulation in pulmonary infection, neutrophil extracellular trap formation, autophagy and inflammasome activity. These recent advances highlight the power and versatility of spatiotemporally controlled redox regulation in the context of infection, and point to a need to understand the molecular consequences of NADPH oxidase activity in the cell.
Effects of excitotoxic lesions of the rat prefrontal cortex on CREB regulation and presynaptic markers of dopamine and amino acid function in the nucleus accumbens

The present study investigated the effects of excitotoxic lesions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) on dopamine (DA) and excitatory amino acid (EAA) function in the nucleus accumbens core using in vivo microdialysis in freely moving rats. As a postsynaptic marker of neuronal function, the nuclear levels of the transcriptional factor CREB and its active phosphorylated form, CREB‐P, were measured in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and in the core and shell subregions of the nucleus accumbens of sham and lesioned animals. PFC‐lesioned animals exhibited a greater locomotor response to novelty and amphetamine administration (125–500 μg/kg i.v.). No change was observed in extracellular levels of glutamate or saturable d‐aspartate binding (a marker for the high‐affinity EAA transporter) in the nucleus accumbens of PFC‐lesioned animals. Extracellular levels of DA were comparable in sham and lesioned animals under tonic conditions, however, following amphetamine administration, DA efflux was significantly attenuated in lesioned animals. No correlation was observed between microdialysate levels of amino acids and the attenuated dopaminergic response to amphetamine in lesioned animals. Further, no effect of the lesion was found on nuclear CREB protein in saline‐ and amphetamine‐treated rats. The density of CREB‐P immunoreactive nuclei, while remaining unchanged in the VTA, increased in the nucleus accumbens shell following amphetamine treatment in lesioned animals. The results show that an important modulatory role of the PFC on the behavioural response to novelty and amphetamine is associated with the level of immediate‐early gene regulation rather than levels of extracellular DA and amino acids in the ventral striatum.
How do bees prevent hive infections? The antimicrobial properties of propolis

Propolis is a waxlike resin produced by honeybees from substances collected from plants, which are mixed with beeswax and other compounds of bee metabolism. Its chemical composition depends on the specific local flora at the site of collection and also of climatic characteristics, resulting in a striking diversity of constituents. Propolis is a mixture of balsams and resins, waxes, essential oils, pollen, and other substances which is used by bees in the construction, repair and protection of their hives, mainly due to its mechanical properties and antimicrobial activity. Because of the broad spectrum of biological activities and medicinal properties, propolis has been used by man since ancient times. Nowadays it is still used in traditional and alternative medicine, but also in the modern biocosmetic industry and in health foods. The renewed interest in this natural product is due to its antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, antiviral, and other properties. Here we review the current knowledge about propolis diversity (geographic, compositional), its biological activities with emphasis to antimicrobial activity, and its potential therapeutic applications. Propolis ecological functions are also discussed.
Nucleotide sequence of rice waxy gene.

Rice waxy gene codes for the starch granule-bound starch synthase (EC 2.4.1.11) (1). To characterize its molecular structure, a rice {Oryza sativa subsp. japonica Hengfeng cultivar) genomic library was constructed in XEMBL-3 vector. Two overlapping genomic clones containing waxy gene sequence were screened and identified from this library by using maize waxy gene DNA as probe (kindly provided by Dr N.Fedoroff). The nucleotide sequences of rice waxy gene and its 5' and 3' flanking regions (5499 bp) are presented here. Alignment of nucleotide sequence of waxy gene from rice with that of maize (2) and barley (3) revealed the presence of 13 introns and 14 exons. The fulllength of waxy preprotein is 609 amino acid residues. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Echinacea-Induced Macrophage Activation

Public interest in Echinacea is growing rapidly. Unfortunately, there is little scientific evidence to support claims of efficacy of this widely used botanical, and little information about potential mechanism of action. This study examines the ability of Echinacea to upregulate macrophage function and begins to elucidate the mechanism of Echinacea-induced macrophage activation. Murine peritoneal macrophages were cultured with E. purpurea extracts enriched for plant polysaccharide (EP). ELISA was used to measure cytokine production. MAPKs were blocked using specific inhibitors, and Western blotting used to identify phosphorylated proteins involved in signal transduction. To examine in vivo efficacy, EP was administered orally and Listeria monocytogenes given i.v. Mice were sacrificed three days post-infection to determine bacterial load in the spleen. We demonstrate that an endotoxin-free EP extract activates the innate immune response, stimulating production of IL-6, TNF, IL-12, and NO from macrophages in vitro. Along with evidence of enhanced macrophage function, we found that oral EP reduces bacterial burden during infection by Listeria monocytogenes, demonstrating its efficacy in vivo. EP initiates a signaling cascade within macrophages through both TLR4-dependent and -independent mechanisms, involving ERK, p38 and JNK, and ultimately the activation of NF-κB.
Social media and consumer choice

Social media are becoming increasingly important for consumer decisions. This holds true in particular for vacation decision-making, as an example of a high-involvement decision. The research focuses upon the relation between the information people search regarding aspects or properties of choice options and the types of social media used for finding it. The social media classification framework used is based on two dimensions: first, domain-specific social media versus domain-independent social media; second, large opportunities for self-disclosure versus limited or no opportunities for self-disclosure. Based on this framework, predictions are made about the relation between social media used and information sought. It was found that domain-specific social media with limited opportunities for self-disclosure, like Tripadvisor, are more frequently used for search-determined sub-decisions than for experience-determined sub-decisions. For domain-independent social media with large opportunities for self-disclosure, like Twitter and Facebook, it was found that they are used with equal frequency for both types of sub-decision. These findings are relevant for multichannel management in marketing. As regards the valence of the information obtained from different social media, we found a preponderant use of positive/mixed messages and comments, and almost no use of negative information. A practical implication of this finding is that ‘webcare’ should be focused less on complaints and more on leveraging positive aspects that are reported in social media for choices that have comparable characteristics, such as vacations. If a relatively large number of aspects play a role in a product choice process, tracking and use of positive information should be emphasised, while negative experiences should be more important for products characterised by a very limited number of relevant product choice aspects.
The Arabidopsis AMP1 Gene Encodes a Putative Glutamate Carboxypeptidase

Arabidopsis amp1 mutants show pleiotropic phenotypes, including altered shoot apical meristems, increased cell proliferation, polycotyly, constitutive photomorphogenesis, early flowering time, increased levels of endogenous cytokinin, and increased cyclin cycD3 expression. We have isolated the AMP1 gene by map-based cloning. The AMP1 cDNA encodes a 706;–amino acid polypeptide with significant similarity to glutamate carboxypeptidases. The AMP1 mRNA was expressed in all tissues examined, with higher expression in roots, stems, inflorescences, and siliques. Microarray analysis identified four mRNA species with altered expression in two alleles of amp1, including upregulation of CYP78A5, which has been shown to mark the shoot apical meristem boundary. The similarity of the AMP1 protein to glutamate carboxypeptidases, and in particular to N-acetyl α-linked acidic dipeptidases, suggests that the AMP1 gene product modulates the level of a small signaling molecule that acts to regulate a number of aspects of plant development, in particular the size of the apical meristem.