National culture and on-line trust: a study of internet Egyptian users

This research-in-progress investigates cultural issues in e-commerce trust. An experiential survey was conducted with three hundred and seventy Egyptian Internet users, exploring two book-seller web sites. Structure equation modeling analysis suggested that, for the target sample, perceived reputation and perceived familiarity with an Internet store have significant effect on building trust for that store. The paper discusses the importance of these two factors within the Egyptian culture

Interval type‑2 fuzzy aggregation operator in decision making and its application

Type-2 fuzzy sets (T2FSs) can deal with higher modeling and uncertainties which exist in the real-world application, specifically in the control systems. Particularly the climate changes are always uncertain and thus, the type-2 fuzzy controller is an effective system to handle those situations. Polyhouse is a methodology used to cultivate the plants. It breaks the seasonal hurdle of the formulation and it is also suitable for the conflictive climate conditions. Controlling and directing internal parameters of the polyhouse play an essential role in the growth of the plant. Among those, humidity is an important element when one deals with the growth of the plant in polyhouse. It affects the weather, as well as the global change of the climate and hence, the inner climate of the polyhouse will be disturbed. In this paper, operational laws for triangular interval type-2 fuzzy numbers and derived triangular interval type-2 weighted geometric (TIT2WG) operator with their desired mathematical properties using Dombi triangular norms. Also, humidity control is analyzed using interval type-2 fuzzy controller (IT2FC) with the use of derived aggregation operator which is the aim of the paper. Further stability of the system has been analyzed by applying four different defuzzification methods and the method is recommended which gives a better response

Pleomorphic adenoma of the nasal septum : a case report

Polypoid nasal lesions are commonly encountered in clinical practice and all should be examined histologically. The authors report a case of pleomorphic adenoma arising in the nasal septum in salivary-type tissue. The interest of this case is both in the relative rarity of the condition, and also in its being the first such report in local practice.peer-reviewe

Developing Speaking Skill through Group Discussion

           This research aims at investigating effectiveness of group discussion in developing speaking skill of grade VIII students at SMPN 9 Palu. This is a quasi-experimental research design. Its samples were 48 students of VIII C and VIII D which were selected purposively. Its data were collected through pretest and posttest and analyzed statistically. The pretest was conducted to find out the students’ speaking skill before treatments. Mean scores of the pretest are 36.98 for the experimental class and 56.25 for the control class. The posttest was administered to measure their speaking skill after the treatments. Mean scores of the posttest are 75.52 for the experimental class and 72.4 for the control class. By applying degree of freedom (df) 46 and 0.08 of significance level, results of this research indicate that its t-counted value is 5.9 (high) and its t-table value is 2.0129 (low), so that the research hypothesis is accepted. In other words, using group discussion can develop students’ speaking skill.Keywords: Speaking Skill, Group DiscussionAbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki efektivitas kelompok diskusi dalam mengembangkan keterampilan berbicara siswa kelas VIII pada SMPN 9 Palu. Ini adalah rancangan penelitian eksperimental semu. Sampelnya adalah 48 siswa kelas VIII C dan VIII D yang dipilih secara purposif. Data dikumpulkan melalui pretest dan posttest dan dianalisis secara statistik.. Pretest dilakukan untuk menemukan keterampilan berbicaranya sebelum perlakuan. Nilai rata-rata pretest adalah 36.98 untuk kelas eksperimental dan 56,25 untuk kelas kontrol. Posttest diberikan untuk mengukur keterampilan berbicara mereka setelah perlakuan. Nilai rata-rata posttest itu adalah 75,52 untuk kelas eksperimental dan 72,4 untuk kelas kontrol. Dengan menerapkan derajat kebebasan (df) 46 dan 0,08 dari tingkat signifikansi, hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa nilai t-counted-nya adalah 5,9 (tinggi) dan nilai t-tabel-nya adalah 2,0129 (rendah), sehingga hipotesis penelitian itu diterima. Dengan kata lain, menggunakan diskusi kelompok dapat mengembangkan keterampilan berbicara siswa. Katakunci: Keterampilan Berbicara, Kelompok Diskusi

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli infection inhibits colonic thiamin pyrophosphate uptake via transcriptional mechanism.

Colonocytes possess a specific carrier-mediated uptake process for the microbiota-generated thiamin (vitamin B1) pyrophosphate (TPP) that involves the TPP transporter (TPPT; product of the SLC44A4 gene). Little is known about the effect of exogenous factors (including enteric pathogens) on the colonic TPP uptake process. Our aim in this study was to investigate the effect of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection on colonic uptake of TPP. We used human-derived colonic epithelial NCM460 cells and mice in our investigation. The results showed that infecting NCM460 cells with live EHEC (but not with heat-killed EHEC, EHEC culture supernatant, or with non-pathogenic E. Coli) to lead to a significant inhibition in carrier-mediated TPP uptake, as well as in level of expression of the TPPT protein and mRNA. Similarly, infecting mice with EHEC led to a significant inhibition in colonic TPP uptake and in level of expression of TPPT protein and mRNA. The inhibitory effect of EHEC on TPP uptake by NCM460 was found to be associated with reduction in the rate of transcription of the SLC44A4 gene as indicated by the significant reduction in the activity of the SLC44A4 promoter transfected into EHEC infected cells. The latter was also associated with a marked reduction in the level of expression of the transcription factors CREB-1 and ELF3, which are known to drive the activity of the SLC44A4 promoter. Finally, blocking the ERK1/2 and NF-kB signaling pathways in NCM460 cells significantly reversed the level of EHEC inhibition in TPP uptake and TPPT expression. Collectively, these findings show, for the first time, that EHEC infection significantly inhibit colonic uptake of TPP, and that this effect appears to be exerted at the level of SLC44A4 transcription and involves the ERK1/2 and NF-kB signaling pathways

Alternative industrial development paths for Indonesia: SAM and CGE analyses

In this article, we examine the economy-wide effects of three alternative growth paths for Indonesia's industrial sector using SAM (social accounting matrix) multiplier analysis and CGE (computable general equilibrium) modeling. The context of the analysis is the immediate post-crisis period — most likely to be in the next millennium — represented in our study by a modified benchmark data set for 1995. Special attention is given to the overall income and equity effects, considering that egalitarian growth has become a particularly important development objective in Indonesia. The results of SAM multiplier analysis indicate relatively strong macro-linkages from agricultural demand-led (ADL) industrialization, yielding a significantly larger increase in real GDP compared to that arising from industrial development oriented to either food processing or light manufacturing. The simulation results based on CGE modeling, which take account of nonlinearities and supply constraints that are ignored in SAM analysis, bear out the dominant influence of demand linkages in showing that ADL industrialization is associated with a larger GDP increase than the two industrial-led development paths.Social accounting., Indonesia., Industrialization.,