Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A community of practice or a working psychological group? Group dynamics in core and peripheral community participation

The concept of communities of practice has become increasingly influential in management literature. Yet, many scholars regard the term as too homogeneous and lacking in empirical support. Our study explores the Silver Academy, a project involving over 100 unemployed and self-employed managers over the age of 50, who came together with the purpose of sharing knowledge and experience in starting up their own businesses. The study shows how the Academy matches the notion of community of practice, including mutual relationships, shared engagement and a common consensus of membership. However, applying Bion’s theory of groups, we challenge the homogeneous and consensual notion of a community of practice, illustrating how, through unconscious group processes, some group members exhibit work-group mentality and the capacity for realistic hard work (and leadership), while others are caught in a basic-assumption mentality, prone to feelings of anxiety, guilt and depression. This is particularly so for a group that has gone through the recent trauma of unemployment.
Designing a game generator as an educational technology for the deaf learners

Children today grow up in an exciting and changing world where the web technology, Internet, mobile phones, video games and computers surround all aspects of their daily lives. These digital technologies, in particular video games, have provided new opportunities for these kids to play, communicate with others, foster their imagination and also enhance their educational performance. Unfortunately, this can be a little more different for deaf and hard of hearing children, whose native language is Sign Language (SL). The most existing video games are not geared to the unique need of these hearing disabled: there have been, even timidly, few attempts that focusing on the development of accessible educational games that could meet the requirements necessary for deaf gamers and improve their educational potential. In this context, we present in this paper a design for an interactive game generator of an accessible and effective educational game target towards the deaf and hard of hearing children. The game is called MemoSign, it federates the use of the famous memory game and a 3D signing avatar to support learning the SL notation system SignWriting. The main goal of designing such game generator is to help teachers, even parents, to create many instances of MemoSign, in few steps without any programming language knowledge, with a view to foster and promote the vocabulary acquisition for deaf learners in both signed and spoken languages.
A multimodal approach to the analysis of gender stereotypes in contemporary British TV commercials: “women and men at work”

Abstract The aim of this article is to examine the meaning potential of images in the enactment or creation of gender stereotypes in a corpus of contemporary British TV commercials. The dimensions outlined in Goffman (1979) and some aspects of Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996, 2006) metafunctions are taken as a starting point to quantitatively and qualitatively analyse a sample of 155 ads which depict women and men in working settings. Findings indicate that women are mainly portrayed in non-remunerated scenarios, in home settings and in the company of their children. This view is reinforced thanks to the multimodal dimensions of framing (mostly through close-ups), involvement with other participants through looks, smiling and profuse touching activity. Men, in contrast, are mostly depicted in remunerated scenarios in which they address the audience directly through demand looks, acting as experts in their professional capacity and framed with medium and long shots. When portrayed together in non-remunerated activities, men are found in family scenes, although they are sometimes portrayed as passive subjects and mere objects of contemplation through lack of interaction with children or spouses. This contrasts with women’s more communal role as they are intimately depicted in the company of their children through close-ups, feminine touch, and constant interaction with them. Stereotyped portrayals are less visually patent when both men and women are simultaneously depicted in remunerated scenarios, although some ads emphasize women’s interpersonal skills as better at talking to customers or patients, whereas men are shown in the role of experts in financial and medical issues.
Economics Language and Assumptions: How Theories Can Become Self-Fulfilling

Social science theories can become self-fulfilling because they shape institutional designs and management practices as well as social norms and expectations about behavior, thereby creating the behavior they predict. Social theories also perpetuate themselves to the extent they promulgate language and assumptions that become widely used and accepted. Language and assumptions affect what people see and think about and what alternative organizational arrangements they consider implementing. We illustrate these ideas by considering how the language and assumptions of economics shape management practices. We argue that theories can "win" in the marketplace for ideas independently of their empirical validity to the extent that their assumptions and language become taken for granted, normatively valued, and therefore, create conditions that make the theories come "true. "
Neural Cell Type-Specific Expression of QKI Proteins Is Altered in quakingviable Mutant Mice

qkI, a newly cloned gene lying immediately proximal to the deletion in the quakingviable mutation, is transcribed into three messages of 5, 6, and 7 kb. Antibodies raised to the unique carboxy peptides of the resulting QKI proteins reveal that, in the nervous system, all three QKI proteins are expressed strongly in myelin-forming cells and also in astrocytes. Interestingly, individual isoforms show distinct intracellular distributions: QKI-6 and QKI-7 are localized to perikaryal cytoplasm, whereas QKI-5 invariably is restricted to the nucleus, consistent with the predicted role of QKI as an RNA-binding protein. In quakingviable mutants, which display severe dysmyelination, QKI-6 and QKI-7 are absent exclusively from myelin-forming cells. By contrast, QKI-5 is absent only in oligodendrocytes of severely affected tracts. These observations implicate QKI proteins as regulators of myelination and reveal key insights into the mechanisms of dysmyelination in thequakingviable mutant.
Hepatitis A Virus Capsid Protein VP1 Has a Heterogeneous C Terminus

ABSTRACT Hepatitis A virus (HAV) encodes a single polyprotein which is posttranslationally processed into the functional structural and nonstructural proteins. Only one protease, viral protease 3C, has been implicated in the nine protein scissions. Processing of the capsid protein precursor region generates a unique intermediate, PX (VP1-2A), which accumulates in infected cells and is assumed to serve as precursor to VP1 found in virions, although the details of this reaction have not been determined. Coexpression in transfected cells of a variety of P1 precursor proteins with viral protease 3C demonstrated efficient production of PX, as well as VP0 and VP3; however, no mature VP1 protein was detected. To identify the C-terminal amino acid residue of HAV VP1, we performed peptide sequence analysis by protease-catalyzed [18O]H2O incorporation followed by liquid chromatography ion-trap microspray tandem mass spectrometry of HAV VP1 isolated from purified virions. Two different cell culture-adapted isolates of HAV, strains HM175pE and HM175p35, were used for these analyses. VP1 preparations from both virus isolates contained heterogeneous C termini. The predominant C-terminal amino acid in both virus preparations was VP1-Ser274, which is located N terminal to a methionine residue in VP1-2A. In addition, the analysis of HM175pE recovered smaller amounts of amino acids VP1-Glu273 and VP1-Thr272. In the case of HM175p35, which contains valine at amino acid position VP1-273, VP1-Thr272 was found in addition to VP1-Ser274. The data suggest that HAV 3C is not the protease responsible for generation of the VP1 C terminus. We propose the involvement of host cell protease(s) in the production of HAV VP1.
Compatible matchings for bichromatic plane straight-line graphs

Two plane graphs with the same vertex set are compatible if their union is again a plane graph. We consider bichromatic plane straight-line graphs with vertex set S consisting of the same number of red and blue points, and (perfect) matchings which are compatible to them. For several different classes C of graphs, we present lower and upper bounds such that any given graph G(S) ∈ C admits a compatible (perfect) matching with this many disjoint edges.
The fourier-based synchrosqueezing transform

The short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) are extensively used to analyze and process multicomponent signals, i.e. superpositions of modulated waves. The synchrosqueezing is a post-processing method which circumvents the uncertainty relation inherent to these linear transforms, by reassigning the coefficients in scale or frequency. Originally introduced in the setting of the CWT, it provides a sharp, concentrated representation, while remaining invertible. This technique received a renewed interest with the recent publication of an approximation result related to the application of the synchrosqueezing to multi-component signals. In the current paper, we adapt the formulation of the synchrosqueezing to the STFT and state a similar theoretical result to that obtained in the CWT framework. The emphasis is put on the differences with the CWT-based synchrosqueezing with numerical experiments illustrating our statements.
Growing Quality Cherries

In the U.S. the majority of cherries are produced in the Pacific Coast states of Washington, Oregon and California with the greatest volume of production in the north. The five year average, ending in 2000 shows Washington averaging 86,000 metric tons, Oregon a distant second at 50,000 tons and California at 36,000 tons. The only other significant cherry production region in the United States is Michigan in the north-central region with 18,000 tons, most of which is grown for the processing market (Ing and Ing, 2000).
Relationships with Teachers and Achievement Motivation in the Context of the Transition to Secondary School

Corresponding author: Roch Chouinard, Université de Montréal, Département de psychopédagogie et d’andragogie, Montreal, QC, Canada. E-mail: roch.chouinard@umontreal.ca Citation: Chouinard, R. , Roy, N. , Archambault, I. , Smith, J. (2017). Relationships with Teachers and Achievement Motivation in the Context of the Transition to Secondary School. Interdisciplinary Education and Psychology, 2(1):1. Open Access Interdisciplinary Education and Psychology
Hyperpolarization-Activated Current (I h) in Ganglion-Cell Photoreceptors

Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) express the photopigment melanopsin and serve as the primary retinal drivers of non-image-forming visual functions such as circadian photoentrainment, the pupillary light reflex, and suppression of melatonin production in the pineal. Past electrophysiological studies of these cells have focused on their intrinsic photosensitivity and synaptic inputs. Much less is known about their voltage-gated channels and how these might shape their output to non-image-forming visual centers. Here, we show that rat ipRGCs retrolabeled from the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) express a hyperpolarization-activated inwardly-rectifying current (I h). This current is blocked by the known I h blockers ZD7288 and extracellular cesium. As in other systems, including other retinal ganglion cells, I h in ipRGCs is characterized by slow kinetics and a slightly greater permeability for K+ than for Na+. Unlike in other systems, however, I h in ipRGCs apparently does not actively contribute to resting membrane potential. We also explore non-specific effects of the common I h blocker ZD7288 on rebound depolarization and evoked spiking and discuss possible functional roles of I h in non-image-forming vision. This study is the first to characterize I h in a well-defined population of retinal ganglion cells, namely SCN-projecting ipRGCs.
International Migration and Child Obesity in Mexican Sending Communities

International migration between Mexico and the United States has profound implications for immigrant-sending communities in Mexico. We hypothesize that international migration may increase the risk of overweight and obesity among children in immigrant-sending households, particularly among low-SES children. We use the Mexican Family Life Survey to examine whether having family members in United States increases the prevalence of overweight and alters the socioeconomic gradient associated with overweight among children. As expected, we find that living in a migrant-sending household has a significant and positive effect on overweight and BMI percentile among children even after controlling for past weight status. We also find that international migration is associated with a flatter (less positive) SES gradient on children’s weight. Overall, the results suggest that international migration may have important negative consequences for the health of Mexican children in immigrantsending communities.
Endocrine and Metabolic Effects of Adipose Tissue in Children and Adolescents

Abstract Adipose tissue is implicated in many endocrine and metabolic processes. Leptin was among the first identified adipose-secreted factors, which act in an auto-, para- and endocrine manner. Since leptin, many other adipose tissue factors were determined, some primarily secreted from the adipocytes, some from other cells of the adipose tissue. So-called adipokines are not only involved in obesity and its complications, as are insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and other components of the metabolic syndrome, but also in growth, reproduction, bone metabolism, immune response, cancer development and many other important biological processes. Research in the field of adipokines has revealed new insights into the physiological and pathophysiologal processes and opened new therapeutic possibilities. In the present article, a special emphasis is devoted to research in children and adolescents. Izvleček Maščobno tkivo ima vlogo pri številnih endokrinih in presnovnih procesih. Lepin je bil med prvimi odkritimi dejavniki iz maščobnega tkiva, ki delujejo avto-, para- in endokrino. Od opredelitve leptina so odkrili še številne druge dejavnike, od katerih se nekateri izločajo iz maščobnih celic, nekateri pa iz drugih celic maščobnega tkiva. Tako imenovani adipokini niso povezani le z debelostjo in njenimi zapleti, kot so rezistenca proti inzulinu, sladkorna bolezen tipa 2 in druge komponente metabolnega sindroma, temveč tudi z rastjo, razmnoževanjem, presnovo kosti, imunskim odzivom, razvojem rakavih bolezni in mnogimi drugimi pomembnimi biološkimi procesi. Raziskave na področju adipokinov so opredelile nove fiziološke in patofiziološke procese in odprle nove možnosti zdravljenja. V tem prispevku poseben poudarek namenjamo raziskavam pri otrocih in mladostnikih.
On the evolution of polygyny: a theoretical examination of the polygyny threshold model

The polygyny threshold model states that if costs incurred are less than the benefits gained from mating polygynously in terms of breeding-situation quality, then polygyny is favored and could evolve. We constructed mathematical models and computer simulations to evaluate this hypothesis. In the basic model, there is a single locus with two alleles, which regulates whether the female is receptive to polygyny. There are two breeding situations of differing quality on which males randomly assort. Females then select a mate based on the associated breeding situation and whether the male already has mates. This basic model is extended mathematically to include a cost for the initial female of a male with multiple mates and again to include gene expression in males. The computer simulations extend the basic model to multiple loci and alleles and to multiple breeding situations. The results presented here suggest that the polygyny threshold model is valid in a population genetic context: if the fitness of females that actually mate polygynously is greater than the fitness of monogamous females on poorer breeding situations, polygyny evolves. However, this approach reveals interesting dynamics not apparent from the verbal model. If the trait is expressed in males and females, then polygyny can evolve even if females mating polygynously have a lower fitness than females mating monogamously. In the multiple breeding-situations model, the polygyny allele increases to some equilibrium value above which it experiences no selection. Surprisingly, as the cost of polygyny increases, the equilibrium frequency of the polygyny allele also increases. The difference between this evolutionary model and the ideal free distribution is discussed. Copyright 2003.
Probability and Finance: It's Only a Game!

Preface. Probability and Finance as a Game. PROBABILITY WITHOUT MEASURE. The Historical Context. The Bounded Strong Law of Large Numbers. Kolmogorov's Strong Law of Large Numbers. The Law of the Iterated Logarithm. The Weak Laws. Lindeberg's Theorem. The Generality of Probability Games. FINANCE WITHOUT PROBABILITY. Game-Theoretic Probability in Finance. Games for Pricing Options in Discrete Time. Games for Pricing Options in Continuous Time. The Generality of Game-Theoretic Pricing. Games for American Options. Games for Diffusion Processes. The Game-Theoretic Efficient-Market Hypothesis. References. Photograph Credits. Notation. Index.
Personality predictors of scholastic cheating in a Chinese sample

Abstract Previous research on Western college samples has identified a number of personality traits associated with scholastic cheating. Based on these findings, we suggest a model integrating personality predictors of cheating. However, it remains unclear whether the proposed model can be generalised to the Chinese culture, which has different norms and societal values. We filled this gap by estimating the associations between scholastic cheating and key personality constructs (i.e. the Big Five and the Dark Triad) in a sample of Chinese university students (N = 634). Our results indicated that older and male students were more likely to engage in scholastic cheating than other students. After controlling for the constructs’ overlap, only extraversion and psychopathy remained significant correlates. We discuss the implications of our findings for both research and practice.
Silvopasture Switchgrass Fertilized with Poultry Litter: Nutrient Removal, Soil Fertility, and Runoff Water Quality

ABSTRACT Alternative use of poultry litter (PL) for forest rather than pasture fertilization would improve forest soil fertility and reduce nutrient build-up in pasture. Yield and nutrient uptake of Alamo switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) in a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) silvopasture annually fertilized with PL or urea at 80 and 160 kg N ha−1 for four years, and without fertilization were compared. Treatment effects on soil fertility and effect of PL on runoff water quality were also determined. Fertilization with N increased yields 120% to an average of 3.8 Mg ha−1 yr−1. Since nutrient removal was small, P, base cations and pH increased in the ≤30 cm depth soil with PL. Total P in edge-of-plot runoff was increased by 0.31 kg ha−1 y−1 at the higher PL rate. Two applications at this rate per tree rotation might be justified based on increased soil fertility and infrequently increased P load.
Correlation between plasma lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 and peripheral arterial disease

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a recently identified and potentially useful plasma biomarker for cardiovascular diseases. However, its role in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) remains unclear. The objective of this study was to assess the independent association of Lp-PLA2 and other inflammatory markers with the reduced ankle-brachial blood pressure index (ABI), a marker of PAD. We performed a cross-sectional study in 982 individuals aged ≥40 years who were recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. PAD was defined as an ABI <0.9 in at least one leg. The individuals were further divided into two groups, 145 with PAD and 837 without PAD. Following adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, the odds ratios of PAD when comparing the highest to the lowest quartiles were 3.24 (95% CI, 1.68–3.94) for Lp-PLA2, 2.14 (95% CI, 1.07–3.11) for homocysteine, 1.93 (95% CI, 1.02–4.01) for fibrinogen, 2.26 (95% CI, 1.32–5.74) for apolipoprotein B and 1.3 (95% CI, 0.75–2.49) for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). When Lp-PLA2 and inflammatory markers were simultaneously included in the full model, the corresponding odds ratios were 1.81 (95% CI, 1.14–3.68) for Lp-PLA2, 1.15 (95% CI, 0.49–2.69) for homocysteine, 1.21 (95% CI, 0.88–5.57) for fibrinogen, 0.98 (95% CI, 0.51–3.85) for apolipoprotein B and 1.23 (95% CI, 1.12–3.51) for hsCRP. Lp-PLA2 levels were significantly and independently associated with PAD following adjustment for other inflammatory markers. These findings reflect the potential role of circulating Lp-PLA2 as a marker of atherosclerosis.
Analysis of the X-Factor and X-Factor stretch during the completion of a golf practice session in low-handicap golfers

The X-Factor and X-Factor stretch have been positively correlated with golf long game performance. The aim of this study was to compare the X-Factor, X-Factor stretch and long game performance variables pre and following a golf practice session. A group of male golfers (n = 15, handicap = 3.3 ± 1.7) participated in the laboratory-based study. Movement and performance variables were collected from five golf swings performed pre and following a golf practice session using a motion-capture system and launch monitor, respectively. Following the practice session, significant increases were observed in the X-Factor (p = 0.00, d = 0.22) and the X-Factor stretch (p = 0.02, d = 0.25). Specifically, the X-Factor increased from 52.82 ± 5.64° to 54.06 ± 5.61° following the practice session. The X-Factor stretch increased from 1.54 ± 1.05° to 1.90 ± 1.41° following the practice session. Significant differences were displayed in club head velocity (p = 0.00, d = 0.35), ball velocity (p = 0.01, d = 0.21) and actual carry distance (p = 0.00, d = 0.29) following the practice session. These findings suggest that performing multiple golf shots is not detrimental in terms of muscular fatigue in the long game performance. In actual fact, the findings demonstrate that performing 100 golf shots increases the X-Factor, X-Factor stretch patterns and performance variables which, in turn, increases the long game performance. These findings can help Professional Golfers’ Association golf Professionals improve teaching practices and formulation of golf programmes and warm-up sessions.