Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TRUST AND ITS RELATIONS TO COMMITMENT AND INVOLVEMENT IN WORK AND ORGANISATIONS

There are two perspectives on trust: personal and systems trust. This paper focuses on personal trust. The purpose of the paper is to analyse the relationship between personal trust in organisations on the one hand and organisational commitment and job and work involvement on the other hand. This is done against the background of four hypotheses. They refer to the difference between affective and instrumental commitment - stating that personal trust correlates with affective but not instrumental commitment – and to the difference between job and work involvement – stating that personal trust correlates with job but not work involvement. Opsomming Daar is twee perspektiewe oor vertroue: persoonlike en stelsel vertroue. Hierdie artikel fokus op persoonlike vertroue. Die doel van die artikel is om die verwantskap tussen persoonlike vertroue in organisasies aan die een kant en organisasie-verbintenis en pos – en werkbetrokkenheid aan die ander kant te ontleed. Dit word gedoen teen die agtergrond van vier hipotesese. Hulle verwys na die verskil tussen affektiewe en instrumentele verbintennisse – beklemtoning dat persoonlike vertroue korreleer met affektiewe maar nie instrumentele verbetenis – die verskil tussen pos en werkbetrokkenheid – beklemtoning dat persoonlike vertroue korreleer met pos maar nie werkbetrokkenheid.
Maps, Metaphors, and Meanings: Boundary Struggles and Village Forest Use on Private and State Land in Malawi

Recent studies have examined social and cultural perceptions of spatial relationships, with particular attention to contests over boundaries. Countermapping offers a technique to defend local rights in these contests. However, this approach may inadequately represent certain complex sociospatial ideas. Specifically, although recent studies emphasize contests over the legitimacy or location of boundaries, the case studies from Malawi in this article illustrate equally important nonterritorial struggles over the meanings - the de facto rules and practices - of boundaries. These struggles, embedded in local history and culture, involve efforts to "untie" resource rights from territorial claims. These strategies would be poorly represented or even obscured in mapping efforts focused on redrawing linear boundaries. This suggests a need to critically examine of the use of mapping and map metaphors in social analysis and practice.
The effects of group cohesiveness on decision performance in a simulated marketing environment

Abstract In this paper the authors report on the results of an experimental study on the effect of cohesiveness of members on the performance of groups, as measured by the profit attained on a computerized management decision-making game. The sample consisted of 95 undergraduate students divided into 24 groups who played the game over a period of nine weeks, making nine sets of decisions. The results of the study indicate that there is a positive relationship between cohesiveness and profit in a business simulation game. Probably the most significant finding was that groups were not adversely affected by groupthink as suggested by the inverted U cohesiveness-performance relationship by Janis.
PLATELET COUNT/SPLEEN DIAMETER RATIO: A NONINVASIVE PARAMETER TO PREDICT THE PRESENCE OF ESOPHAGEAL VARICES

Introduction: Variceal bleeding is one of the most dreaded complications of cirrhosis because of its attendant high mortality. The prevalence of varices in patients with cirrhosis is approximately 6080% and the risk of bleeding is 25-35%. Incidence of first variceal hemorrhage ranges from 20 to 40% within 2 years. Recurrent bleeding occurs in 30% to 40% of patients within the next 2 to 3 days and in up to 60 % within 1 week. Thus, prevention of esophageal variceal bleeding remains at the forefront of long-term management of cirrhotic patients. However, subjecting all patients with cirrhosis to screening endoscopy may not be cost effective. If patients at low or high risk of having esophageal varices (EV) could be identified from easily obtainable clinical variables, a more affordable approach for screening would be possible. The study was conducted to identify clinical, biochemical and ultrasonographic parameters associated with the presence of esophageal varices in patients with compensated cirrhosis. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study of patients aged 20-84 y/o admitted at the FEU-NRMF Medical Center and the Chinese General Hospital between January 2002 to July 2004 with a diagnosis of cirrhosis based on clinical, biochemical, and/or histopathological data. All patients underwent a complete biochemical work-up, gastroscopy and ultrasonographic measurement of spleen bipolar diameter. Platelet count/spleen diameter ratio was calculated for all patients, tabulated and analyzed. Results: 150 patients underwent blood extractions, ultrasound and upper endoscopy. The prevalence rate of EV was 46%. In the study, the authors found out that age, sex, protime, platelet/spleen diameter ratio, platelet count and spleen diameter were significantly different among patients with or without esophageal varices (NEV), although the platelet count/spleen diameter ratio was the only parameter which was independently associated with the presence of EV in a univariate analysis. A platelet count/spleen diameter ratio cut off value of <160 was highly predictive in the diagnosis EV with a sensitivity of 88.4% (95% CI, 77.9, 94.5) and specificity of 80.2% (95% CI 69.6, 88). Positive and negative predictive values were 79.2% (95% CI 68.2, 87.3) and 89% (95% CI 79, 94.8), respectively.
Racial Priming: Issues in Research Design and Interpretation

In a critique of Huber and Lapinski (in this volume) I argued that their 2006 study failed to find evidence of racial priming and that this failure stands out in the recent accumulation of studies that do find racial priming. I argued further that this failure to replicate is the result of deficiencies in Huber and Lapinski's research. Huber and Lapinski (in this volume) respond by claiming that they did find evidence of racial priming among a subgroup, that their research is sound, that my research is flawed, and that the relevant literature does not comment on the differences between implicit and explicit messages . I show that 1) Huber and Lapinski's results demonstrate that their study produced null findings, 2) these null findings are caused by flaws in their study, 3) my research withstands their criticism, and 4) the relevant literature is in fact relevant and highlights the extent to which their null results are anomalous. There are, however, several points of agreement: 1) racial predispositions shape policy views, 2) these predispositions can be primed by cues and messages, and 3) these predispositions are primed by implicit racial messages. What remains at issue is the impact of explicit racial messages.
Impact of Serological Methodology on Assessment of the Link between Chlamydia pneumoniae and Vascular Diseases

ABSTRACT We assessed the impact of five serologic tests on the link between Chlamydia pneumoniae and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). The results of the tests were inconsistent. Agreement among the five tests was generally poor. Detection of the link between C. pneumoniae and AAA depends on the serologic methodology chosen.
Different Phases of Breast Cancer Cells: Raman Study of Immortalized, Transformed, and Invasive Cells

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cause of cancer-associated death in women the world over, but if detected early it can be treated successfully. Therefore, it is important to diagnose this disease at an early stage and to understand the biochemical changes associated with cellular transformation and cancer progression. Deregulated lipid metabolism has been shown to contribute to cell transformation as well as cancer progression. In this study, we monitored the biomolecular changes associated with the transformation of a normal cell into an invasive cell associated with breast cancer using Raman microspectroscopy. We have utilized primary normal breast cells, and immortalized, transformed, non-invasive, and invasive breast cancer cells. The Raman spectra were acquired from all these cell lines under physiological conditions. The higher wavenumber (2800–3000 cm−1) and lower wavenumber (700–1800 cm−1) range of the Raman spectrum were analyzed and we observed increased lipid levels for invasive cells. The Raman spectral data were analyzed by principal component–linear discriminant analysis (PC-LDA), which resulted in the formation of distinct clusters for different cell types with a high degree of sensitivity. The subsequent testing of the PC-LDA analysis via the leave-one-out cross validation approach (LOOCV) yielded relatively high identification sensitivity. Additionally, the Raman spectroscopic results were confirmed through fluorescence staining tests with BODIPY and Nile Red biochemical assays. Furthermore, Raman maps from the above mentioned cells under fixed conditions were also acquired to visualize the distribution of biomolecules throughout the cell. The present study shows the suitability of Raman spectroscopy as a non-invasive, label-free, microspectroscopic technique, having the potential of probing changes in the biomolecular composition of living cells as well as fixed cells.
Member competence, group interaction, and group decision making: A longitudinal study.

The primary objective of this study was to examine the extent to which increased experience in working in a group would affect group versus individual problem solving. The duration and intensity of group involvement for subjects (over 30 hr) was extensive. In addition, the reward system provided a clear and direct tie between individual or group performance and a significant outcome (i.e., course grades). The decision-making task had a great deal in common with many of the aspects of group decision making in organizations. Results were overwhelming in favor of group decision making across time, given this type of task.
Global Bounded Consensus of Multiagent Systems With Nonidentical Nodes and Time Delays

This paper investigates the global bounded consensus problem of networked multiagent systems consisting of nonlinear nonidentical node dynamics with the communication time-delay topology. We derive globally bounded controlled consensus conditions for both delay-independent and delay-dependent conditions based on the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional method. The proposed consensus criteria ensure that all agents eventually move along the desired trajectory in the sense of boundedness. Meanwhile, the bounded consensus criteria can be viewed as an extension of the case of identical agent dynamics to the case of nonidentical agent dynamics. We finally demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results by means of a numerical simulation.
Stabilisation of Laryngeal AL Amyloidosis with Long Term Curcumin Therapy

Multiple myeloma (MM), smoldering myeloma (SMM), and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) represent a spectrum of plasma cell dyscrasias (PCDs). Immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis (AL) falls within the spectrum of these diseases and has a mortality rate of more than 80% within 2 years of diagnosis. Curcumin, derived from turmeric, has been shown to have a clinical benefit in some patients with PCDs. In addition to a clinical benefit in these patients, curcumin has been found to have a strong affinity for fibrillar amyloid proteins. We thus administered curcumin to a patient with laryngeal amyloidosis and smoldering myeloma and found that the patient has shown a lack of progression of his disease for a period of five years. This is in keeping with our previous findings of clinical benefits of curcumin in patients with plasma cell dyscrasias. We recommend further evaluation of curcumin in patients with primary AL amyloidosis.
Oropharyngeal dysphagia in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM): an evaluation of videofluoroscopy swallow study (VFSS) changes in relation to clinical symptoms and objective muscle scores.

OBJECTIVE To determine if objective, validated scores of muscle weakness and function [manual muscle testing (MMT), childhood myositis assessment scale (CMAS)] or scores of general disease activity or function [childhood health assessment questionnaire and physician global assessment of disease activity visual analogue scale (VAS)], can predict children at risk of swallow abnormalities in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) measured by videofluoroscopic swallow studies (VFSS). METHODS Patients were referred for speech and language dysphagia assessment upon diagnosis of JDM or flare of disease. VFSS was used to document a swallow score indicating severity of swallow dysfunction. Clinical symptoms, examination findings and objective scores of disease activity were analysed. Any correlation was looked for using chi-squared Fisher exact test and linear regression models. RESULTS Fourteen patients with inflammatory myopathy (age 2-16 years) had clinical assessments and VFSS. VFSS was abnormal in 11 children (79%). Only two children were asymptomatic at assessment, but both had swallow dysfunction, including aspiration, on VFSS. In contrast, three of the symptomatic children had a normal VFSS. No relationship was found between objective disease severity scores and VFSS swallow score. CONCLUSIONS This study failed to show any correlation between swallow score and objective measures of muscle strength and function (MMT/CMAS) or general disease activity and function [physician VAS/childhood health assessment questionnaire (CHAQ)]. In the absence of a more accurate assessment method to determine which children with active JDM are most at risk of swallow dysfunction and aspiration, all children with active dermatomyositis should be referred for speech and language assessment and VFSS.
Assessing the Generalizability of the Near Repeat Phenomenon

The “near repeat” phenomenon suggests that when a crime occurs in a given area, the surrounding area may exhibit an increased risk for subsequent crime in the days following the original incident. The present study assesses the extent to which near repeats generalize across three different crimes, including shootings, robbery, and auto theft. A series of near repeat models was estimated to further specify the temporal proximity of near repeats for each crime type under investigation. Results showed that a near repeat pattern exists across crime types; however, each crime type has a unique spatiotemporal pattern. Implications for police strategies, such as geographical profiling and future research connecting near repeat patterns to repeat offenders, are discussed.
Stochastic Model of Evolutionary and Immunological Multi-Agent Systems: Mutually Exclusive Actions

The mathematical model of the biologically inspired, memetic, agent-based computation systems EMAS and iEMAS conformed to BDI standard is presented. The state of the systems and their dynamics are expressed as stationary Markov chains. Such an approach allows to better understand their complex behavior as well as their limitations.
Expelling Future Threats: Some Observations on the Magical World of Vitamins

The chapter focuses on the consumption motives and marketing strategies of a specific category of contemporary magical substances, that is, the expanding range of vitamin (and mineral) products. The consumption of these products—located ambiguously in the demarcation of ‘medicine’ and ‘nutrition’ (symptomatically also characterized as ‘protective foods’)—has increased very dramatically in the Western world during the last two decades. The trend is most articulated among the educated middle classes whose diets are hardly characterized by nutritional deficiencies. Thus the grounds for the consumption boom must lie elsewhere, indicating other kind of motivational factors. On the other hand, even though the marketing strategies of these products cannot be conceived of as the manipulative force causing the increase in consumption, the advertising arguments promoting the use of vitamin products may be analysed as (implicit) reflections and interpretations of the actual motivational factors. The analysis of these advertising arguments—related to the historical roots of nineteenth century patent medicine advertising—acts as a starting point for the interpretation of the motivational factors of consumption (of these products) then contextualized in the changing meaning structure of ‘food’—broken down into four dimensions: fuel, poison, medicine and (oral) ‘pleasurable’ (corresponding to the German term Genussmittel)—as it has evolved from early twentieth century to the present configuration. As it appears, the tendency manifests a shift in the meaning of ‘food’ giving an ever more emphasized role to the duality of medicine/poison. This tendency is expressed not only in the ‘nutritional scientific’ discourse—especially in its mass mediated versions—but also within two other related (and more recent) discursive lines: ‘environmental’ and ‘fitness & beauty’ discourses, as I have named them. The interesting point is, as I am arguing in this chapter, that the motivational disposition towards the use of vitamin products fits well with the behavioural patterns outlined by these three discursive lines. Whether these products are used as substitutes or supplements, their specific magical character appears to lie in their future orientation and specifically in their supposed efficiency in keeping the evils to come afar—in the last instance, postponing not only ageing but death itself. In this respect the use of vitamin products resembles the more traditional case of talismans and amulets protecting against the evil eye (mat occhio) etc. Who wants to live forever … Freddie Mercury (Queen)
Early Adolescents' Perceptions of the Classroom Social Environment, Motivational Beliefs, and Engagement.

This research examined whether 5th-grade students' (N = 602) perceptions of the classroom social environment (teacher support, promotion of mutual respect, promotion of task-related interaction, student support) were related to their engagement in the classroom (self-regulation and task-related interaction) and whether those relations were mediated by personal motivational beliefs (mastery goals, academic and social efficacy). Teacher support, promotion of interaction, and student support were related to both types of engagement, and those relations were fully or partially mediated by motivational beliefs. Relations with promoting mutual respect were not significant.
An Adaptive Causal Ordering Algorithm Suited to Mobile Computing Environments

Causal message ordering is required for several distributed applications. In order to preserve causal ordering, only direct dependency information between messages, with respect to the destination process(es), need be sent with each message. By eliminating other kinds of control information from the messages, the communication overheads can be significantly reduced. In this paper we present an algorithm that uses this knowledge to efficiently enforce causal ordering of messages. The proposed algorithm does not require any prior knowledge of the network topology or communication pattern. As computation proceeds, it acquires knowledge of the communication pattern and is capable of handling dynamically changing multicast communication groups, and minimizing the communication overheads. With regard to communication overheads, the algorithm is optimal for the broadcast communication case. Extensive simulation experiments demonstrate that the algorithm imposes lower communication overheads than previous causal ordering algorithms. The algorithm can be employed in a variety of distributed computing environments. Its energy efficiency and low bandwidth requirement make it especially suitable for mobile computing systems. We show how to employ the algorithm for causally ordered multicasting of messages in mobile computing environments.
Examining the Complexities of Suicidal Behavior in the African American Community

Once considered a “White thing,” suicide is now the third leading cause of death for African Americans, behind only homicide and unintentional injury. Although the rates of suicide for African American women remain low and relatively unchanged, the rates for African American men have increased dramatically during the past 20 years. The changes in the suicide rates for African American youth have motivated researchers to investigate protective and risk factors associated with suicide. In light of some of the current findings that identify religious participation as a protective factor against suicide for African Americans, an alternative perspective is provided that examines the contribution of spirituality and specific religious practices on gender differences in suicide risk.
A Dynamic Limit Order Market with Diversity in Trading Horizons

This paper considers a trading game in which sequentially arriving liquidity traders either opt for a market order or for a limit order. One class of traders is considered to have an extended trading horizon, implying their impatience is linked to their trading orientation. More specifically, sellers are considered to have a trading horizon of two periods, whereas buyers only have a single-period trading scope (the extended buyer-horizon case is completely symmetric). Clearly, as the life span of their submitted limit orders is longer, this setting implies sellers are granted a natural advantage in supplying liquidity. This benefit is hampered, however, by the direct competition arising between consecutively arriving sellers. Closed-form characterizations for the order submission strategies are obtained when solving for the equilibrium of this dynamic game. These allow to examine how these forces affect traders' order placement decisions. Further, the analysis yields insight into the dynamic process of price formation and into the market clearing process of a non-intermediated, order driven market.
Adder and Multiplier Design in Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata

Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is an emerging nanotechnology, with the potential for faster speed, smaller size, and lower power consumption than transistor-based technology. Quantum-dot cellular automata has a simple cell as the basic element. The cell is used as a building block to construct gates and wires. Previously, adder designs based on conventional designs were examined for implementation with QCA technology. That work demonstrated that the design trade-offs are very different in QCA. This paper utilizes the unique QCA characteristics to design a carry flow adder that is fast and efficient. Simulations indicate very attractive performance (i.e., complexity, area, and delay). This paper also explores the design of serial parallel multipliers. A serial parallel multiplier is designed and simulated with several different operand sizes.