Social media revenge: A typology of online consumer revenge

The main purpose of this study is to present a detailed typology of online revenge behaviors that identifies the differential factors affecting this behavior in terms of triggers, channels, and emotional outcomes across two countries: Jordan and Britain. Based on a qualitative approach from a sample of Jordanian and British customers who had previously committed acts of online revenge (N = 73), this study identified four main types of online avengers: materialistic, ego-defending, aggressive, and rebellious. The findings show that British consumers were motivated by core service malfunction failures and employee failures. In contrast, Jordanian consumers’ acts of revenge were triggered by wasta service failures and contract breach failures. Moreover, Jordanian consumers tended to employ more aggressive and sometimes illegal ways to get revenge, whereas British consumers often used social media platforms and review websites. The findings have implications for the prevalence of online consumer revenge acts and for extending theoretical understanding of why and how consumers employ the Internet for revenge after a service failure in addition to how to respond to each avenger

Determining Cost-Effective Policy for Visibility of Overhead Guide Signs on Highways

Overhead guide sign visibility on highway, can be achieved either by illumination or by using retroreflective sheeting. Two surveys were sent to all U.S. departments of transportation, to determine the states’ policies for increasing overhead guide sign visibility. Results showed that 57% of states currently illuminate guide signs, and the most used retroreflective sheeting by states that do not illuminate signs is Diamond Grade for legend and High Intensity for background. Based on cost analysis, the LED light source and the High Intensity (types III and IV) retroreflective sheeting are the most cost-effective methods for increasing guide signs visibility

Indoor environment propagation review

A survey of indoor propagation characteristics is presented, including different models for path loss, shadowing and fast fading mechanisms, different channel parameters including signal strength, power delay, coherence bandwidth, Doppler spread and angle of arrival. The concepts of MIMO channels are also covered. The study also explores many types of deterministic channel modelling, such as Finite Difference Time Domain, Finite Integration Method, Ray tracing and the Dominant path model. Electromagnetic properties of building materials, including frequency dependence, are also investigated and several models for propagation through buildings are reviewed

Combining machine learning and metaheuristics algorithms for classification method PROAFTN

© Crown 2019. The supervised learning classification algorithms are one of the most well known successful techniques for ambient assisted living environments. However the usual supervised learning classification approaches face issues that limit their application especially in dealing with the knowledge interpretation and with very large unbalanced labeled data set. To address these issues fuzzy classification method PROAFTN was proposed. PROAFTN is part of learning algorithms and enables to determine the fuzzy resemblance measures by generalizing the concordance and discordance indexes used in outranking methods. The main goal of this chapter is to show how the combined meta-heuristics with inductive learning techniques can improve performances of the PROAFTN classifier. The improved PROAFTN classifier is described and compared to well known classifiers, in terms of their learning methodology and classification accuracy. Through this chapter we have shown the ability of the metaheuristics when embedded to PROAFTN method to solve efficiency the classification problems

Nitrate Pathways, Processes, and Timing in an Agricultural Karst System: Development and Application of a Numerical Model

An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2019 American Geophysical Union.Nitrogen (N) contamination within agricultural‐karst landscapes and aquifers is widely reported; however, the complex hydrological pathways of karst make N fate difficult to ascertain. We developed a hydrologic and N numerical model for agricultural‐karst, including simulation of soil, epikarst, phreatic, and quick flow pathways as well as biochemical processes such as nitrification, mineralization, and denitrification. We tested the model on four years of nitrate (NO3−) data collected from a phreatic conduit and an overlying surface channel in the Cane Run watershed, Kentucky, USA. Model results indicate that slow to moderate flow pathways (phreatic and epikarst) dominate the N load and account for nearly 90% of downstream NO3− delivery. Further, quick flow pathways dilute NO3− concentrations relative to background aquifer levels. Net denitrification distributed across soil, epikarst, and phreatic water removes approximately 36% of the N inputs to the system at rates comparable to nonkarst systems. Evidence is provided by numerical modeling that NO3− accumulation via evapotranspiration in the soil followed by leaching through the epikarst acts as a control on spring NO3− concentration and loading. Compared to a fluvial‐dominated immature karst system, mature‐karst systems behave as natural detention basins for NO3−, temporarily delaying NO3− delivery to downstream waters and maintaining elevated NO3− concentrations for days to weeks after hydrologic activity ends. This study shows the efficacy of numerical modeling to elucidate complex pathways, processes, and timing of N in karst systems

The Overlap of Lung Tissue Transcriptome of Smoke Exposed Mice with Human Smoking and COPD

© 2018, The Author(s). Genome-wide mRNA profiling in lung tissue from human and animal models can provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While 6 months of smoke exposure are widely used, shorter durations were also reported. The overlap of short term and long-term smoke exposure in mice is currently not well understood, and their representation of the human condition is uncertain. Lung tissue gene expression profiles of six murine smoking experiments (n = 48) were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and analyzed to identify the murine smoking signature. The “human smoking” gene signature containing 386 genes was previously published in the lung eQTL study (n = 1,111). A signature of mild COPD containing 7 genes was also identified in the same study. The lung tissue gene signature of “severe COPD” (n = 70) contained 4,071 genes and was previously published. We detected 3,723 differentially expressed genes in the 6 month-exposure mice datasets (FDR <0.1). Of those, 184 genes (representing 48% of human smoking) and 1,003 (representing 27% of human COPD) were shared with the human smoking-related genes and the COPD severity-related genes, respectively. There was 4-fold over-representation of human and murine smoking-related genes (P = 6.7 × 10−26) and a 1.4 fold in the severe COPD -related genes (P = 2.3 × 10−12). There was no significant enrichment of the mice and human smoking-related genes in mild COPD signature. These data suggest that murine smoke models are strongly representative of molecular processes of human smoking but less of COPD

Can blended learning and the flipped classroom improve student learning and satisfaction in Saudi Arabia?

Abstract Objectives: To evaluate student academic performance and perception towards blended learning and flipped classrooms in comparison to traditional teaching. Methods: This study was conducted during the hematology block on year three students. Five lectures were delivered online only. Asynchronous discussion boards were created where students could interact with colleagues and instructors. A flipped classroom was introduced with application exercises. Summative assessment results were compared with previous year results as a historical control for statistical significance. Student feedback regarding their blended learning experience was collected. Results: A total of 127 responses were obtained. Approximately 22.8% students felt all lectures should be delivered through didactic lecturing, while almost 35% felt that 20% of total lectures should be given online. Students expressed satisfaction with blended learning as a new and effective learning approach. The majority of students reported blended learning was helpful for exam preparation and concept clarification. However, a comparison of grades did not show a statistically significant increase in the academic performance of students taught via the blended learning method. Conclusions: Learning experiences can be enriched by adopting a blended method of instruction at various stages of undergraduate and postgraduate education. Our results suggest that blended learning, a relatively new concept in Saudi Arabia, shows promising results with higher student satisfaction. Flipped classrooms replace passive lecturing with active student-centered learning that enhances critical thinking and application, including information retention

Genetic regulation of gene expression of MIF family members in lung tissue.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a cytokine found to be associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, there is no consensus on how MIF levels differ in COPD compared to control conditions and there are no reports on MIF expression in lung tissue. Here we studied gene expression of members of the MIF family MIF, D-Dopachrome Tautomerase (DDT) and DDT-like (DDTL) in a lung tissue dataset with 1087 subjects and identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) regulating their gene expression. We found higher MIF and DDT expression in COPD patients compared to non-COPD subjects and found 71 SNPs significantly influencing gene expression of MIF and DDTL. Furthermore, the platform used to measure MIF (microarray or RNAseq) was found to influence the splice variants detected and subsequently the direction of the SNP effects on MIF expression. Among the SNPs found to regulate MIF expression, the major LD block identified was linked to rs5844572, a SNP previously found to be associated with lower diffusion capacity in COPD. This suggests that MIF may be contributing to the pathogenesis of COPD, as SNPs that influence MIF expression are also associated with symptoms of COPD. Our study shows that MIF levels are affected not only by disease but also by genetic diversity (i.e. SNPs). Since none of our significant eSNPs for MIF or DDTL have been described in GWAS for COPD or lung function, MIF expression in COPD patients is more likely a consequence of disease-related factors rather than a cause of the disease

The Overlap of Lung Tissue Transcriptome of Smoke Exposed Mice with Human Smoking and COPD

Genome-wide mRNA profiling in lung tissue from human and animal models can provide novel insights into the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While 6 months of smoke exposure are widely used, shorter durations were also reported. The overlap of short term and long-term smoke exposure in mice is currently not well understood, and their representation of the human condition is uncertain. Lung tissue gene expression profiles of six murine smoking experiments (n = 48) were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and analyzed to identify the murine smoking signature. The 'human smoking' gene signature containing 386 genes was previously published in the lung eQTL study (n = 1,111). A signature of mild COPD containing 7 genes was also identified in the same study. The lung tissue gene signature of 'severe COPD' (n = 70) contained 4,071 genes and was previously published. We detected 3,723 differentially expressed genes in the 6 month-exposure mice datasets (FDR <0.1). Of those, 184 genes (representing 48% of human smoking) and 1,003 (representing 27% of human COPD) were shared with the human smoking-related genes and the COPD severity-related genes, respectively. There was 4-fold over-representation of human and murine smoking-related genes (P = 6.7 × 10-26) and a 1.4 fold in the severe COPD -related genes (P = 2.3 × 10-12). There was no significant enrichment of the mice and human smoking-related genes in mild COPD signature. These data suggest that murine smoke models are strongly representative of molecular processes of human smoking but less of COPD

Non prescribed sale of antibiotics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Cross Sectional Study

Background Antibiotics sales without medical prescriptions are increasingly recognized as sources of antimicrobial misuse that can exacerbate the global burden of antibiotic resistance. We aimed to determine the percentage of pharmacies who sell antibiotics without medical prescriptions, examining the potential associated risks of such practice in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by simulation of different clinical scenarios. Methods A cross sectional study of a quasi-random sample of pharmacies stratified by the five regions of Riyadh. Each pharmacy was visited once by two investigators who simulated having a relative with a specific clinical illness (sore throat, acute bronchitis, otitis media, acute sinusitis, diarrhea, and urinary tract infection (UTI) in childbearing aged women). Results A total of 327 pharmacies were visited. Antibiotics were dispensed without a medical prescription in 244 (77.6%) of 327, of which 231 (95%) were dispensed without a patient request. Simulated cases of sore throat and diarrhea resulted in an antibiotic being dispensed in (90%) of encounters, followed by UTI (75%), acute bronchitis (73%), otitis media (51%) and acute sinusitis (40%). Metronidazole (89%) and ciprofloxacin (86%) were commonly given for diarrhea and UTI, respectively, whereas amoxicillin/clavulanate was dispensed (51%) for the other simulated cases. None of the pharmacists asked about antibiotic allergy history or provided information about drug interactions. Only 23% asked about pregnancy status when dispensing antibiotics for UTI-simulated cases. Conclusions We observed that an antibiotic could be obtained in Riyadh without a medical prescription or an evidence-based indication with associated potential clinical risks. Strict enforcement and adherence to existing regulations are warranted