Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Work role and work adjustment in emerging markets: A study of German expatriates in CEE countries and Russia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze four major aspects of the work role and how they influence the expatriate work adjustment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Russia.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a quantitative design. Self‐reported data were collected from 113 German expatriates assigned to the CEE region and Russia.Findings – The results of the study confirm the hypothesized negative association of work adjustment with role conflict and support a positive association with role clarity. Positive relationships of work adjustment with role flexibility and negative relationships with role novelty are not supported.Originality/value – The empirical results partially confirm but also challenge the established connection of work role and work adjustment in a less well understood geographical context and provide relevant material for the business practitioner with implications for future research.
What Is Learned During Automatization? The Role of Attention in Constructing an Instance

Seven experiments were conducted to examine the role of attention in automatization. Ss searched 2-word displays for members of a target category in divided-atten tion, focused-attention, and dual-task conditions. The main issue was whether attention conditions would affect what Ss learned about co-occurrences of the words in the displays. The attention hypothesis, derived from the instance theory of automaticity, predicts learning of co-occurrences in divided-attention and dual-task conditions in which Ss attend to both words but not in focused-attention conditions in which Ss only attend to 1 word. The data supported the attention hypothesis and therefore the instance theory. This article concerns what is learned during automatization. This is an important question in the automaticity literature, especially from the perspective of memory-based theories, such as the instance theory of automaticity (Logan, 1988,1990, 1992). Memory-based theories assume that automatic performance is based on retrieval of representations of past solutions from memory. What "gets into" those representations during learning and what is "taken out" of them during automatic performance are central questions in memory-based theories. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the answers offered by the instance theory of automaticity. The answers are important because they are derived from two of the three main assumptions of the theory: obligatory encoding and instance representation. The obligatory encoding assumption says that attention determines what gets into the representation. The instance representation assumption says that the representations in memory are instances—separate representations of cooccurrences. Attention determines what is in an instance; attention determines which co-occurrences are remembered. The experiments tested this hypothesis.
Career Paths of School Administrators in Illinois: Insights From an Analysis of State Data

Abstract : According to anecdotal reports, schools in the United States are having difficulty recruiting and hiring school administrators, and the reigning perception has been that the difficulty stems from a general shortage of people qualified to be school administrators. This perception was called into question recently by three studies based on empirical information on administrative careers. These studies, all of which are summarized in a policy Brief by The Wallace Foundation (2003), suggest that the supply of nominally qualified (e.g., certified) individuals available to serve as school administrators is indeed adequate, but that the practices of human resources departments in schools and districts may be preventing schools from selecting the best candidates. By juxtaposing the conventional wisdom against the empirical realities, the studies reflect the importance of using empirical data where possible to monitor and better understand the labor market for school administrators. In this report, we further develop this understanding of the careers of school administrators through an in-depth analysis of administrative data from the state of Illinois. We describe in detail what state-level administrative data can reveal about the careers of school administrators in the state, what the data cannot reveal, and how further research and data collection might be directed to build on the advantages of systematic administrative data in order to provide a better understanding of the relationship between administrative career paths and learning outcomes for students.
Oversampling enhancement in sigma delta modulators

A method that virtually double the oversampling ration of a second order sigma-delta (ΣΔ) modulator is described. Accounting for a limited cost, the resolution increases by about 2-bit and power just increases by few percents. Therefore, the FoM diminishes by a factor close to 3.5. Simulation at the behavioral level of the proposed method verifies the operation. Circuit level schemes indicates that the architecture does not requires higher op-amp bandwidth. The method can be used with multi-bit quantizer without requiring additional efforts for the DEM.
High aortic pulse-wave velocity may be responsible for elevated red blood cell distribution width in overweight and obese people: a community-based, cross-sectional study

Summary Background: Obesity and overweight are risk factors for atherosclerosis. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is associated with subclinical cardiac diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between RDW and aortic stiffness in overweight or obese subjects. Methods: A total of 101 overweight or obese subjects without overt cardiovascular disorders, and 48 healthy controls were enrolled. RDW, aortic pulse-wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index 75 (Aix75) were evaluated. The case subjects were divided into two sub-groups according to PWV values; ≥ 10 m/s in group I, and < 10 m/s in group II. Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses (stepwise) were performed. Results RDW and PWV were considerably increased in the case groups compared with the controls. RDW was significantly increased in group I compared with group II and the controls [median 12.0 m/s, interquartile range (IQR): 10.5–17.5; median 11.7 m/s, IQR: 10.2–14.2, and median 11.4 m/s, IQR: 9.6–15.5, p < 0.05, respectively]. Resting heart rate and age were higher in group I than group II (81 ± 11 vs 74 ± 12 beats/min and 41 ± 120 vs 36 ± 9 years, respectively, p < 0.05). Regression analyses revealed that while log-RDW, age and resting heart rate were independent predictors for aortic PWV, log-RDW was the most important predictor in the final model. Conclusions: RDW, resting heart rate and age independently predicted arterial stiffness, and RDW may be useful to provide an early recognition of subclinical atherosclerosis in overweight and obese individuals.
The Effect of Insulin, TNFα and DHA on the Proliferation, Differentiation and Lipolysis of Preadipocytes Isolated from Large Yellow Croaker (Pseudosciaena Crocea R.)

Fish final product can be affected by excessive lipid accumulation. Therefore, it is important to develop strategies to control obesity in cultivated fish to strengthen the sustainability of the aquaculture industry. As in mammals, the development of adiposity in fish depends on hormonal, cytokine and dietary factors. In this study, we investigated the proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes isolated from the large yellow croaker and examined the effects of critical factors such as insulin, TNFα and DHA on the proliferation, differentiation and lipolysis of adipocytes. Preadipocytes were isolated by collagenase digestion, after which their proliferation was evaluated. The differentiation process was optimized by assaying glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity. Oil red O staining and electron microscopy were performed to visualize the accumulated triacylglycerol. Gene transcript levels were measured using SYBR green quantitative real-time PCR. Insulin promoted preadipocytes proliferation, stimulated cell differentiation and decreased lipolysis of mature adipocytes. TNFα and DHA inhibited cell proliferation and differentiation. While TNFα stimulated mature adipocyte lipolysis, DHA showed no lipolytic effect on adipocytes. The expressions of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), fatty acid synthase (FAS), lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, γ (PPARα, PPARγ) were quantified during preadipocytes differentiation and adipocytes lipolysis to partly explain the regulation mechanisms. In summary, the results of this study indicated that although preadipocytes proliferation and the differentiation process in large yellow croaker are similar to these processes in mammals, the effects of critical factors such as insulin, TNFα and DHA on fish adipocytes development are not exactly the same. Our findings fill in the gaps in the basic data regarding the effects of critical factors on adiposity development in fish and will facilitate the further study of molecular mechanism by which these factors act in fish and the application of this knowledge to eventually control obesity in cultured species.
Is There an Optimal Industry Financial Structure?

We examine how intra-industry variation in financial structure relates to industry factors and whether real and financial decisions are jointly determined within competitive industries. We find that industry and group factors beyond standard industry fixed effects are also important to firm financial structure. Firm financial leverage, capital intensity, and cash-flow risk are interdependent decisions that depend on the firm's proximity to the median industry capital-labor ratio, the actions of firms within its industry quintile, and its status as entrant, incumbent, or exiting firm. Our results support competitive industry equilibrium models of financial structure in which debt, technology, and risk are simultaneous decisions.
Advances on circuit modeling of extraordinary transmission

Extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) is a phenomenon which has received extraordinary attention since its discovery, twelve years ago. The phenomenon takes place at any frequency range — not only at the optical regime —, and it has been explained in terms of the excitation of surface waves along the periodically structured metal screens used in the experiments. EOT also takes place, however, through slit gratings for a polarization precluding the excitation of such surface waves. It can be also observed through electrically small diaphragms located inside hollow pipe waveguides. Along the last three years, some of the authors have developed models explaining the phenomenon in terms of simple concepts extracted from conventional waveguide theory. The models lead themselves to simple circuit equivalents which help the understanding of the underlying physics. This paper summarizes the main results obtained by the members of the group and some other collaborators concerning the capabilities of the proposed approach.
Interactive Learning Environments

The paper proposes a framework for building ontology-aware learning object (LO) content. Previously ontologies were exclusively employed for enriching LOs’ metadata. Although such an approach is useful, as it improves retrieval of relevant LOs from LO repositories, it does not enable one to reuse components of a LO, nor to incorporate an explicit speciﬁcation of domain semantics into the LO content. We propose the use of domain ontologies to annotate LO content as well as content structure ontologies to enable direct access to LOs’ components. That way, the same LO can be used in different ways and by different users, that is, it can be repurposed. In order to show the beneﬁts of our proposal we discuss its application in adaptive learning systems. We also explore Semantic Web technologies and tools that are needed to support the presented approach.
Employment Relationships: New Models Of White-Collar Work

List of figures List of tables List of contributors Foreword 1. Introduction Peter Cappelli 2. Corporate restructuring and the employment relationship John Dencker 3. The up and out in organizations Margaret Yap 4. In the pursuit of quality and quantity: the competing demands in call centers Stefanie L. Wilk 5. Three's a crowd? Understanding triadic employment relationships Matthew Bidwell and Isabel Fernandez-Mateo 6. The changed world of large law firms and their lawyers: an opportune context for organizational researchers Peter D. Sherer 7. The upside of bureaucracy: unintended benefits for careers in professional services Forrest Briscoe Index.
Work in Progress 1 Industry Analysts and the Labour of Comparison

In this paper we investigate the shaping and effects of a simple industry analysis tool – the Magic Quadrant – so as to demonstrate it has virtues not readily appreciated by social scientists interested in the relationship between technology and markets, objects and organisation. These are its role in facilitating ‘comparison’ between vendors in the market for information and communication technologies (ICTs). Produced by one of the most well known industry analysis organisations it attempts to position and rank ICT vendors. However the tool divides opinion concerning its status and accuracy: it is seen to be highly influential in some quarters and extremely problematic by others. By analysing how its authors go about producing Magic Quadrants, and then with how they attempt to create the world the tool points to, a form of work we describe as the labour of comparison, we participate in the recent upsurge in interest by sociologists in how theories and objects ‘perform’ economic markets. In this respect we show how the Magic Quadrant is not a simple description of the ICT marketplace but one that interacts with and changes its object of study. Our principal contention is that whilst the Magic Quadrant might have largely be seen to be problematic this view is becoming less common. Through a series of interactions it has itself altered its domain of study such that it is now seen to be a more ‘successful’ description of the ICT marketplace.
Robotic assistance with attitude: A mobility agent for motor function rehabilitation and ambulation support

This paper presents the design of an intelligent walking aid for the frail and elderly as well as for patients who are recovering from surgical procedures, in order to enhance safer mobility for these study populations. The device augments a conventional rolling walker aid with sensing and navigational abilities to safely travel through an environment following user's perceived intentions, unless collisions or instability is imminent. The agent, embodied as a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP), critically relies on minimal user input to seamlessly recognise user's short-term intended behaviour, constantly updating this projection to allow for inconspicuous user-robot integration. This, in turn, shifts user's focus from fine motor-skilled control to coarse indications broadly intended to convey intention. Overall, the system can afford an increase in safety for the cognitive user through preventative care - reduced number of falls or collision with surrounding objects, minimising health-care expenses as well as increasing independent living for people with gait disorders. Successful simulation and experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed architecture for a practical robotic rollator design.
Investigation of Synapse Formation and Function in a Glutamatergic-GABAergic Two-Neuron Microcircuit

Neural circuits are composed of mainly glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons, which communicate through synaptic connections. Many factors instruct the formation and function of these synapses; however, it is difficult to dissect the contribution of intrinsic cell programs from that of extrinsic environmental effects in an intact network. Here, we perform paired recordings from two-neuron microculture preparations of mouse hippocampal glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons to investigate how synaptic input and output of these two principal cells develop. In our reduced preparation, we found that glutamatergic neurons showed no change in synaptic output or input regardless of partner neuron cell type or neuronal activity level. In contrast, we found that glutamatergic input caused the GABAergic neuron to modify its output by way of an increase in synapse formation and a decrease in synaptic release efficiency. These findings are consistent with aspects of GABAergic synapse maturation observed in many brain regions. In addition, changes in GABAergic output are cell wide and not target-cell specific. We also found that glutamatergic neuronal activity determined the AMPA receptor properties of synapses on the partner GABAergic neuron. All modifications of GABAergic input and output required activity of the glutamatergic neuron. Because our system has reduced extrinsic factors, the changes we saw in the GABAergic neuron due to glutamatergic input may reflect initiation of maturation programs that underlie the formation and function of in vivo neural circuits.
β1 Adrenergic Receptor Polymorphisms and Heart Failure: A Meta-Analysis on Susceptibility, Response to β-Blocker Therapy and Prognosis

Aims The risk stratification of patients for heart failure (HF) remains a challenge, as well as the anticipation of the response to β-blocker therapy. Since the pivotal role of β1 adrenergic receptor (β1-AR) in HF, many publications have studied the associations between the β1-AR polymorphisms (Ser49Gly and Arg389Gly) and HF, with inconsistent results. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis of studies to evaluate the impact of β1-AR polymorphisms on susceptibility to HF, the response to β-blocker therapy and the prognosis of HF. Methods and Results Electronic databases were systematically searched before August 2011. We extracted data sets and performed meta-analysis with standardized methods. A total of 27 studies met our inclusion criteria. It was found that in East Asians, the Gly389 allele and Gly389 homozygotes significantly increased the HF risk, while the Gly389 allele and Gly389 homozygotes trended to decrease the risk of HF in whites. With the similar reduction of heart rate, overall, the Arg389 homozygotes showed a better response to β-blocker therapy. Furthermore, the Arg389 homozygotes were significantly associated with better LVEF improvement in East Asians and a mixed population. And in white people, the Arg389 homozygotes made a greater LVESd/v improvement and trended to be associated with better LVEDd/v improvement. However, the prognosis of Arg389 homozygotes HF patients was similar to those with Gly389 carriers. The Ser49Gly polymorphism did not impact the risk or prognosis of HF. Conclusion Based on our meta-analysis, the Gly389 allele and Gly389 homozygotes were risk factors in East Asians while trending to protect whites against HF. Furthermore, Arg389 homozygote is significantly associated with a favorable response to β-blocker treatment in HF patients. However, neither of the two polymorphisms is an independent predictor of the prognosis of HF.
False Positive HIV Diagnoses in Resource Limited Settings: Operational Lessons Learned for HIV Programmes

Background Access to HIV diagnosis is life-saving; however the use of rapid diagnostic tests in combination is vulnerable to wrongly diagnosing HIV infection when both screening tests give a false positive result. Misclassification of HIV patients can also occur due to poor quality control, administrative errors and lack of supervision and training of staff. Médecins Sans Frontières discovered in 2004 that HIV negative individuals were enrolled in some HIV programmes. This paper describes the result of an audit of three sites to review testing practices, implement improved testing algorithms and offer re-testing to clients enrolled in the HIV clinic. Findings In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Ethiopia patients were identified for HIV retesting. In total, 44 false-positive patients were identified in HIV programmes in DRC, two in Burundi and seven in Ethiopia. Some of those identified had been abandoned by partners or started on anti-retroviral therapy or prophylaxis. Despite potential damage to programme reputations, no impact in terms of testing uptake occurred with mean monthly testing volumes stable after introduction of re-testing. In order to prevent the problem, training, supervision and quality control of testing procedures were strengthened. A simple and feasible confirmation test was added to the test algorithm. Prevalence of false positives after introducing the changes varied from zero percent (95% CI 0%–8.2%) to 10.3 percent (95% CI: 7.2%–14.1%) in Burundi and DRC respectively. Conclusion False HIV diagnoses were found in a variety of programme settings and had devastating individual consequences. We re-tested individuals in our programmes while instituting improved testing procedures without a negative impact on test uptake. Considering the importance of correct diagnosis to the individual, as well as the resources needed to care for someone with HIV, it is critical to ensure that all patients registered in HIV programmes are accurately diagnosed.
Low Multiplicity of HIV-1 Infection and No Vaccine Enhancement in VAX003 Injection Drug Users

Background We performed human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transmitted/founder (T/F) virus analysis of the VAX003 vaccine efficacy trial participants to characterize the transmission bottleneck and test for vaccine-associated reduction or enhancement of infection in this injection drug user (IDU) cohort. Methods We performed single genome sequencing of plasma vRNA from 50 subjects sampled in early HIV infection. Sequences were analyzed phylogenetically, T/F viruses enumerated, and a sieve analysis performed. Results Eight of 19 (42%) placebo recipients were productively infected by more than 1 virus (range 1–5, median 1, mean 1.7). This frequency of multiple virus transmission was greater than reported for heterosexual cohorts (19%, P = .03) but not statistically different from vaccine recipients (22.6%, P > .05), where the range was 1–3, median 1, and mean 1.3 (P > .05 for all comparisons). An atypical sieve effect was detected in Env V2 but was not associated with reduction or enhancement of virus acquisition. Conclusions The number of T/F viruses in IDUs was surprising low, with 95% of individuals infected by only 1–3 viruses. This finding suggests that a successful vaccine or other prevention modality generally needs to protect against only one or a few viruses regardless of risk behavior. T/F analysis identified an atypical genetic sieve in the V2 region of Envelope and found no evidence for vaccine-mediated enhancement in VAX003.