Internet banking acceptance model: Cross-market examination

This article proposes a revised technology acceptance model to measure consumers’ acceptance of Internet banking, the Internet Banking Acceptance Model (IBAM). Data was collected from 618 university students in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. The results suggest the importance of attitude, such that attitude and behavioral intentions emerge as a single factor, denoted as “attitudinal intentions” (AI). Structural equation modeling confirms the fit of the model, in which perceived usefulness and trust fully mediate the impact of subjective norms and perceived manageability on AI. The invariance analysis demonstrates the psychometric equivalence of the IBAM measurements between the two country groups. At the structural level, the influence of trust and system usefulness on AI vary between the two countries, emphasizing the potential role of cultures in IS adoption. The IBAM is robust and parsimonious, explaining over 80% of AI

Immunohistochemistry-guided management of colon-like CUP in a 20-year-old female: a case report

Cancer of unknown primary site (CUP) is characterized by metastatic disease without an identifiable primary tumor, even after extensive evaluation. It accounts for approximately 2% of all cancers and is most commonly diagnosed in older adults, with the highest incidence in patients aged 60-75 years. Diagnosis involves clinical, pathological, and imaging evaluations, including PET and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, to determine tumor lineage and guide treatment. We present a case of a 20-year-old female with a right inguinal mass. Initial evaluation revealed metastatic adenocarcinoma with no primary tumor identified. The patient’s history included a prior breast fibroadenoma excision, and comprehensive diagnostic work-up, including PET scan, was unremarkable. Immunohistochemistry results were consistent with colon-like CUP, and the patient underwent excision of the inguinal node followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with the FOLFOX regimen. CUP treatment and prognosis vary by tumor subtype, with colon-like CUP typically managed using colorectal cancer-specific therapies. This case underscores the importance of IHC in guiding treatment for CUP and highlights the role of site-specific therapy in improving patient outcomes. Further studies are needed to validate treatment strategies in younger patients with CUP.

Rare occurrence of adenocarcinoma in an endocervical polyp: diagnostic and clinical challenges

Endocervical polyps, typically benign, are frequently discovered during routine gynecological examinations, although they may present with abnormal uterine bleeding or increased vaginal discharge. Malignant transformation within these polyps is rare, with an estimated incidence ranging from 0.0% to 1.7%. We present a case of a 38-year-old premenopausal woman who exhibited secondary infertility and abnormal uterine bleeding, eventually diagnosed with invasive adenocarcinoma within an endocervical polyp. Diagnostic evaluations including histopathology and imaging confirmed deep infiltrating endometriosis and uterine adenomyosis. Following multidisciplinary consultation, the patient underwent a cone biopsy, which revealed chronic cervicitis. Ultimately, a hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. The final histopathology revealed leiomyoma and endometriosis, with no malignancy beyond the polyp. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges associated with malignancies within cervical polyps and underscores the importance of excising and thoroughly examining such polyps, even when cytological findings are negative

Unveiling ovarian carcinosarcoma: a rare case report

Ovarian carcinosarcoma (OCS), also known as malignant mixed Müllerian tumor, is a rare and highly aggressive neoplasm, accounting for only 1-4% of all ovarian cancers. Characterised by both high-grade epithelial and mesenchymal components, it typically presents at an advanced stage, contributing to poor prognosis and low survival rates. A 36-year-old multiparous woman presented with progressive abdominal distention, pain, and gastrointestinal complaints. Her CA-125 levels were elevated (834 U/ml) and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) findings revealed a large abdominopelvic mass. Histopathological examination confirmed OCS, with immunohistochemistry (IHC) showing positivity for pan-cytokeratin (PanCK) and S100, and negativity for WT1 on trucut biopsy. The patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin, followed by interval debulking surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Despite limited data on OCS, the case highlights the importance of cytoreductive surgery, optimal chemotherapy regimens, and emerging molecular-targeted therapies such as poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and bevacizumab. Further research, including OCS-specific trials, is necessary to refine treatment approaches

Communication practices in the US and Syria

This study highlights Syrian communication practices using comparative tests with the United States communication as a baseline. Additionally, theoretical findings on individualism and collectivism theory are extended to include findings from Syria. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance was used to test culture’s effect in demographically similar (in age, SES, and education) student convenience samples, with the covariate communication adaptability, on dependent variables: empathy, social confirmation, social composure, friendships, non-verbal immediacy, social self-efficacy, and general self-efficacy. Results indicated that Syrians possess more empathy, social confirmation, and perceived general self-efficacy in comparison to U.S. citizens who have greater social composure, friendships, non-verbal immediacy and social self-efficacy. These results indicate that Syrians have the strength of self-efficacy to succeed in intercultural relationships while U.S. Americans have the assets of warmth and sociability to enable successful interactions with Syrian

From family successors to successful business leaders:A qualitative study of how high-quality relationships develop in family businesses

Little attention has been given to the role of interpersonal relationships in building the leadership skills of next-generation successors, with most literature focusing on the development of their business and technical skills. Drawing on Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, we qualitatively explore how high-quality relationships develop between next-generation leaders and family and non-family stakeholders and how they impact leadership development. Findings from interviews with 24 next-generation leaders of family businesses in India show that high-quality relationships develop through mutual respect, trust, early affiliation with the business, mentoring, and mutual obligation. By exploring how high-quality relationships develop between next-generation family business leaders and family and non-family stakeholders, we contribute to a finer-grained understanding of successful intergenerational succession in family businesses. We also contribute to LMX theory by considering networks of relationships (and not just dyadic relationships) and by identifying two antecedents that are specific to family businesses (early affiliation with the business and mentoring) to the previously identified ones (trust, mutual respect, and mutual obligation)

Technological elites, the meritocracy, and postracial myths in Silicon Valley

Entre as modernas elites tecnológicas digitais, os mitos da meritocracia e da façanha intelectual são usados como marcadores de raça e gênero por uma supremacia branca masculina que consolida recursos de forma desproporcional em relação a pessoas não brancas, principalmente negros, latinos e indígenas. Os investimentos em mitos meritocráticos suprimem os questionamentos de racismo e discriminação, mesmo quando os produtos das elites digitais são infundidos com marcadores de raça, classe e gênero. As lutas históricas por inclusão social, política e econômica de negros, mulheres e outras classes desprotegidas têm implicado no reconhecimento da exclusão sistêmica, do trabalho forçado e da privação de direitos estruturais, além de compromissos com políticas públicas dos EUA, como as ações afirmativas, que foram igualmente fundamentais para reformas políticas voltadas para participação e oportunidades econômicas. A ascensão da tecnocracia digital tem sido, em muitos aspectos, antitética a esses esforços no sentido de reconhecer raça e gênero como fatores cruciais para inclusão e oportunidades tecnocráticas. Este artigo explora algumas das formas pelas quais os discursos das elites tecnocráticas do Vale do Silício reforçam os investimentos no pós racialismo como um pretexto para a re-consolidação do capital em oposição às políticas públicas que prometem acabar com práticas discriminatórias no mundo do trabalho. Por meio de uma análise cuidadosa do surgimento de empresas de tecnologias digitais e de uma discussão sobre como as elites tecnológicas trabalham para mascarar tudo, como inscrições algorítmicas e genéticas de raça incorporadas em seus produtos, mostramos como as elites digitais omitem a sua responsabilidade por suas reinscrições pós raciais de (in)visibilidades raciais. A partir do uso de análise histórica e crítica do discurso, o artigo revela como os mitos de uma meritocracia digital baseados em um “daltonismo racial” tecnocrático emergem como chave para a manutenção de exclusões de gênero e raça.Palavras-chave: Tecnologia. Raça. Gênero.Among modern digital technology elites, myths of meritocracy and intellectual prowess are used as racial and gender markers of white male supremacy that disproportionately consolidate resources away from people of color, particularly African Americans, Latino/as and Native Americans. Investments in meritocratic myths suppress interrogations of racism and discrimination even as the products of digital elites are infused with racial, class, and gender markers. Longstanding struggles for social, political, and economic inclusion for African Americans, women, and other legally protected classes have been predicated upon the recognition of systemic exclusion, forced labor, and structural disenfranchisement, and commitments to US public policies like affirmative action have, likewise, been fundamental to political reforms geared to economic opportunity and participation. The rise of the digital technocracy has, in many ways, been antithetical to these sustained efforts to recognize race and gender as salient factors structuring technocratic opportunity and inclusion. This paper explores some of the ways in which discourses of Silicon Valley technocratic elites bolster investments in post-racialism as a pretext for re-consolidations of capital, in opposition to public policy commitments to end discriminatory labor practices. Through a careful analysis of the rise of digital technology companies, and a discussion of how technology elites work to mask everything from algorithmic to genetic inscriptions of race embedded in their products, we show how digital elites elide responsibility for their post-racial re-inscriptions of racial visibilities (and invisibilities). Using historical and critical discourse analysis, the paper reveals how myths of a digital meritocracy premised on a technocratic colorblindness emerge key to perpetuating gender and racial exclusions.Keywords: Technology. Race. Gender

Experimental analysis and theoretical modeling of forced mechanical response of nitinol stent for popliteal segment of femoral region

M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2012.Includes bibliographical references.Stents are small, wire-mesh struts that are placed into arteries after an angioplasty procedure. The purpose of a stent is to help keep the portion of the blood vessel that has been treated with angioplasty open after the procedure. Stents have been used to help substantially reduce the restenosis associated with angioplasty procedures. Two broad categories of stents are self-expanding and balloon expanding. Balloon expandable stents have been available for several years, but the application of shape memory alloys to the manufacture of stents is relatively new. The differences between the two stents stem mainly from the material of construction. Self-expanding stents are investigated in this study. In particular, the mechanical response of a bare stent made of a shape memory alloy (SMA), Nitinol is investigated here. The Nitinol stent is investigated experimentally and using finite element methodology (FEM). The Guidant Absolute Nitinol Stent is experimentally tested for various uniaxial tensile loading conditions. In addition the stent specimen was subject to compressive, and crush loads as well. The stent geometry was rendered using computer aided design (CAD) software, Solidworks. Several different lengths of the stent were created, but only 7.30, 10.87, 14.42 mm stents were subject to the same uniaxial tensile, and compression loads. The crush test was not simulated. In addition three modifications to the Absolute stent geometry were also created and tested for the same uniaxial tensile loads. Results from the simulation were validated against the experimentally acquired results. Comparison of the simulation and experimental results reveals that the load-strain relationship from the different simulated lengths is similar to that found experimentally. The simulation represented the elastic region of the Nitinol stent under tensile loading well. The experimental results showed a steeper elastic region, which was accounted for by the increased length of the stent. The load-strain curve comparison reveals that the load at which the Nitinol undergoes phase transformation is 0.9 N from experiment and approximately 0.7 N from the simulations. The model correctly predicted the locations of concentrated stress, in turn, accurately identifying the regions that would be expected to suffer structural failure. Moreover, the geometry modifications reveal a dependence of the stiffness of the stent on the number, location, and length of the bridge elements