Challenges and opportunities of e-fulfilment operations in the Gulf Cooperation Council

Electronic commerce (EC) in scholarship and practice has been richly discussed. Consumers’ fulfilment is considered a potential factor for firms. EC involves different processes, from inbound to outbound, which have to maintain consistency of flow within the booming e-commerce market. As a result, the variety of tools employed has increased, such as omnichannel marketing and the use of smart phones. Logistics is considered one of the major stages that can support the process of EC and achieve consumers’ fulfilment. This thesis explores the issues of electronic commerce fulfilment (ECF) in the five Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.The extent of ECF in the GCC online market is little known, as is how logistics activities operate, how ECF models are assembled and why. Whether or not logistics activity is considered in a firm’s strategy also remains a question for research. Therefore, this thesis investigates pure-player (PP) and multichannel (MC) firms and involves logistics service providers (LSPs) in the five GCC countries. A wide range of consumers from small and large cities across the five countries also contributed to obtaining information required to achieve the study’s objective and contribute to knowledge. This study adopted a qualitative and inductive approach in using semi-structured interviews to collect data. Fifty-three participants (owners, managers, logistics managers, and consumers) were interviewed to provide an objective study aimed at making e-commerce better and more efficient.This study finds logistics models are not considered a priority in a firm’s strategy plan and cultural factors greatly affect e-fulfilment, such as when using another language during communication and delivery processes. Communication between firms and providers is also considered to be unclear. Furthermore, the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment is still not a target for most LSPs. Hence, policy plays an essential role, such as in banning the entry of lorries to a city or applying employment conditions when hiring citizen drivers, and has an effect on ECF. Mistrust emerged as a factor in the limited options for payment. For example, the cash on delivery (COD) method is strongly preferred by most consumers. Innovative solutions have not been provided as required by global LSPs, particularly in the cultural context, although some provision has been made, such as in the case of women not being allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia with imprecise postal system and delivery needs to be pre-arranged. Telephone numbers and shipment tracking are still not clear for firms and consumers, as telephone numbers are often incorrect, telephones are not answered and tracking is not available or is imprecise. As a result, the findings reveal eight themes grouped into three categories: logistics activity, purchasing methods and cultural effects and also proposes new models for ECF

Homozygosity at variant MLH1 can lead to secondary mutation in NF1, neurofibromatosis type I and early onset leukemia

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Heterozygous germ-line variants of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes predispose individuals to hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer. Several independent reports have shown that individuals constitutionally homozygous for MMR allelic variants develop early onset hematological malignancies often associated to features of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) syndrome. The genetic mechanism of NF1 associated to MMR gene deficiency is not fully known. We report here that a child with this form of NF1 displays a heterozygous NF1 gene mutation (c.3721C > T), in addition to a homozygous MLH1 gene mutation (c.676C > T) leading to a truncated MLH1 protein (p.R226X). The parents did not display NF1 features nor the NF1 mutation. This new NF1 gene mutation is recurrent and predicts a truncated neurofibromin (p.R1241X) lacking its GTPase activating function, as well as all C-terminally located functional domains. Our findings suggest that NF1 disease observed in individuals homozygous for deleterious MMR variants may be due to a concomitant NF1 gene mutation. The presence of both homozygous MLH1 and heterozygous NF1 mutation in the child studied here also provides a mechanistic explanation for early onset malignancies that are observed in affected individuals. It also provides a model for cooperation between genetic alterations in human carcinogenesis. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The Effectiveness of Robot-Assisted, Task-Specific Ankle Training in Improving Deficits Across the Three Domains of the ICF in Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Cerebral Palsy (CP) is considered to be the leading cause of motor disability among children. Children with CP present with multiple physical impairments including decreased strength and range of motion (ROM), increased spasticity, and poor balance and coordination. These impairments often lead to limitations in ankle motor control that impacts balance and gait function, which puts children at a higher risk for developing other problems. In recent studies, robotic devices have been developed to address poor motor control of the upper and lower extremities. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which the robot-assisted, taskspecific ankle trainer improve deficits across the three domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in children with CP. Method: This is a quasi-experimental, single group, repeated measure design with four time-testing points through a set training session/protocol. A convenience sample of 5 children with CP were enrolled in the study. All children received 6-weeks of ankle robot training that included two 45-60 minute sessions per week, for a total of 12 sessions. Data from Tardieu Scale of spasticity, Boyd and Graham selective motor control, Pediatric Balance Scale, goniometer, hand held dynamometer, gait mat analysis, accelerometer, LIFE-H for children questionnaires, ultrasound, and robotic evaluation were collected at the different time points (1 week and 1 month pre training and 1 week and 1 month post training). Descriptive statistics and repeated measure (ANOVA) were used with SPSS software for data analysis. Results: All participants showed improvement in 1. Body Function and Structures (ROM, tone, strength, balance, ankle control and performance, and muscle architecture), 2. Activity (gait and activity counts) and 3. Participations over the course of the study. Conclusion: The results revealed the potential of robot-assisted, task-specific ankle training to improve motor performance and capacity at the body function, activity and participation level. Training appeared to have a lasting impact as most gains were maintained one month following training

Detecting Arabic Offensive Language in Microblogs Using Domain-Specific Word Embeddings and Deep Learning

In recent years, social media networks are emerging as a key player by providing platforms for opinions expression, communication, and content distribution. However, users often take advantage of perceived anonymity on social media platforms to share offensive or hateful content. Thus, offensive language has grown as a significant issue with the increase in online communication and the popularity of social media platforms. This problem has attracted significant attention for devising methods for detecting offensive content and preventing its spread on online social networks. Therefore, this paper aims to develop an effective Arabic offensive language detection model by employing deep learning and semantic and contextual features. This paper proposes a deep learning approach that utilizes the bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) model and domain-specific word embeddings extracted from an Arabic offensive dataset. The detection approach was evaluated on an Arabic dataset collected from Twitter. The results showed the highest performance accuracy of 0.93% with the BiLSTM model trained using a combination of domain-specific and agnostic-domain word embeddings

Solutions of Some Difference Equations Systems and Periodicity

In this article, analysis and investigation have been conducted on the periodic nature as well as the type of the solutions of the subsequent schemes of rational difference equations with a nonzero real numbers initial conditions

Severe depression and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Scotland: a 20-year national cohort study

BackgroundUnderstanding cause of death in people with depression could inform approaches to reducing premature mortality.AimTo describe all-cause and cause-specific mortality for people with severe depression in Scotland, by sex, relative to the general population.MethodWe performed a retrospective cohort study, using psychiatric hospital admission data linked to death data, to identify adults (≥18 years old) with severe depression and ascertain cause-specific deaths, during 2000–2019. We estimated relative all-cause and cause-specific mortality for people with severe depression using standardised mortality ratios (SMRs), stratified by sex using the whole Scottish population as the standard.ResultsOf 28 808 people with severe depression, 7903 (27.4%) died during a median follow-up of 8.7 years. All-cause relative mortality was over three times higher than expected (SMR, both sexes combined: 3.26, 95% CI 3.19–3.34). Circulatory disease was the leading cause of death, and, among natural causes of death, excess relative mortality was highest for circulatory diseases (SMR 2.51, 2.40–2.66), respiratory diseases (SMR 3.79, 3.56–4.01) and ‘other’ causes (SMR 4.10, 3.89–4.30). Among circulatory disease subtypes, excess death was highest for cerebrovascular disease. Both males and females with severe depression had higher all-cause and cause-specific mortality than the general population. Suicide had the highest SMR among both males (SMR 12.44, 95% CI 11.33–13.54) and females (22.86, 95% CI 20.35–25.36).ConclusionPeople with severe depression have markedly higher all-cause mortality than the general population in Scotland, with relative mortality varying by cause of death. Effective interventions are needed to reduce premature mortality for people with severe depression.<br/

Genes required to maintain telomeres in the absence of telomerase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In the absence of telomerase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae telomeres erode leading to senescence. Rare cells can survive after this stage as they can elongate their telomeres utilizing homologous recombination. Two different types of survivors can be easily distinguished by Southern blot. Type I survivor cells, elongate the telomere by amplifying Y elements and require RAD51, RAD54, RAD55 and RAD57 for establishment. Type II survivors elongate their telomere by amplifying TG1-3 repeats, however, they require the following genes to be established: RAD50, MRE11 and XRS2, RAD59, SGS1 and KU80 in some cases. Both types require the gene RAD52. In this study several candidate genes were deleted individually in diploid type II survivor strains. The main aim of this work was to see if these genes were required for type II telomere maintenance. Most of these genes are not required for type II telomere maintenance at least until ~150 generations after deleting these genes. The exceptions were KU80 and RPB9. Ku80Δ strains switched to a new survivor type that is similar to type I and continued for the long term. RPB9 was required for two independent type II survivor strains to survive, whereas the third type II strain did not require this gene at ~150 generations after deleting the gene. After many generations (~ 350), this strain switched to type I. At long term propagation (~500 generations) after deletion of the candidate genes, all type II strains displayed telomere shortening until the propagation was stopped. However, Rad50Δ strains switched to type I after long term. Finally, the absence of the candidate genes did not affect the sensitivity of type II survivor strains to temperature. On the other hand, type II survivor strains with some genes deleted displayed sensitivity to UV

Genes required to maintain telomeres in the absence of telomerase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In the absence of telomerase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae telomeres erode leading to senescence. Rare cells can survive after this stage as they can elongate their telomeres utilizing homologous recombination. Two different types of survivors can be easily distinguished by Southern blot. Type I survivor cells, elongate the telomere by amplifying Y elements and require RAD51, RAD54, RAD55 and RAD57 for establishment. Type II survivors elongate their telomere by amplifying TG1-3 repeats, however, they require the following genes to be established: RAD50, MRE11 and XRS2, RAD59, SGS1 and KU80 in some cases. Both types require the gene RAD52. In this study several candidate genes were deleted individually in diploid type II survivor strains. The main aim of this work was to see if these genes were required for type II telomere maintenance. Most of these genes are not required for type II telomere maintenance at least until ~150 generations after deleting these genes. The exceptions were KU80 and RPB9. Ku80Δ strains switched to a new survivor type that is similar to type I and continued for the long term. RPB9 was required for two independent type II survivor strains to survive, whereas the third type II strain did not require this gene at ~150 generations after deleting the gene. After many generations (~ 350), this strain switched to type I. At long term propagation (~500 generations) after deletion of the candidate genes, all type II strains displayed telomere shortening until the propagation was stopped. However, Rad50Δ strains switched to type I after long term. Finally, the absence of the candidate genes did not affect the sensitivity of type II survivor strains to temperature. On the other hand, type II survivor strains with some genes deleted displayed sensitivity to UV

Homozygosity at variant MLH1 can lead to secondary mutation in NF1, neurofibromatosis type I and early onset leukemia

Heterozygous germ-line variants of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes predispose individuals to hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer. Several independent reports have shown that individuals constitutionally homozygous for MMR allelic variants develop early onset hematological malignancies often associated to features of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) syndrome. The genetic mechanism of NF1 associated to MMR gene deficiency is not fully known. We report here that a child with this form of NF1 displays a heterozygous NF1 gene mutation (c.3721C > T), in addition to a homozygous MLH1 gene mutation (c.676C > T) leading to a truncated MLH1 protein (p.R226X). The parents did not display NF1 features nor the NF1 mutation. This new NF1 gene mutation is recurrent and predicts a truncated neurofibromin (p.R1241X) lacking its GTPase activating function, as well as all C-terminally located functional domains. Our findings suggest that NF1 disease observed in individuals homozygous for deleterious MMR variants may be due to a concomitant NF1 gene mutation. The presence of both homozygous MLH1 and heterozygous NF1 mutation in the child studied here also provides a mechanistic explanation for early onset malignancies that are observed in affected individuals. It also provides a model for cooperation between genetic alterations in human carcinogenesis. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved