Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gratitude at Work

My dissertation builds theory about gratitude at work. Drawing from Affective Events Theory, I suggest two different forms of gratitude: state gratitude and job gratitude. State gratitude refers to grateful moods or emotions which tend to last short term, whereas job gratitude refers to employees’ grateful attitudes particularly toward their jobs that tend to last longer. Empirically, I conducted three related studies. In the first study, I developed and validated the 7-item measure of job gratitude using a series of surveys that confirmed a satisfactory content and construct validity of the measure. Using an experience sampling procedure, in the second study I suggested and tested a theoretical model of state gratitude at work. A series of longitudinal surveys with 135 employees showed that state gratitude that is captured by a 3 week long daily survey is positively associated with in-role behaviors through the desire to reciprocate benevolence. My analyses also showed that the availability of extrinsic job rewards negatively moderates the positive impact of state gratitude on helping behaviors through the desire to reciprocate benevolence. Employees’ job dependency also negatively moderates the positive impact of state gratitude on both helping and in-role behaviors through the desire to reciprocate benevolence. The third study proposed and tested a theoretical model of job gratitude. My analyses showed that through the mechanism of intended help, job gratitude is positively associated with extra-role behaviors including helping behaviors, organizational citizenship behaviors directed to an organization, and voice behaviors. Taken together, my dissertation enriches theories in emotion literature by exploring a particular type of discrete, social, and moral emotions. My dissertation also contributes to gratitude literature outside of organizational studies, as it broadens the scope of impacts of gratitude in work contexts. Lastly, this dissertation contributes to Organizational Positive Scholarship by shedding light on the experiences of the recipients’ of prosocial behaviors.
Effectiveness of clindamycin and intravenous immunoglobulin, and risk of disease in contacts, in invasive group a streptococcal infections.

BACKGROUND The use of clindamycin and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in treatment of invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) infection, and the need for prophylactic antibiotics in close contacts, remains contentious. Controlled trials are unlikely to be conducted, so prospective, observational studies provide the best data to inform practice. METHODS We conducted population-based, prospective, active surveillance of iGAS infections throughout the state of Victoria, Australia (population 4.9 million), from March 2002 through August 2004. RESULTS Eighty-four cases of severe iGAS infection (streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, septic shock, or GAS cellulitis with shock) were identified. Clindamycin-treated patients had more severe disease than clindamycin-untreated patients but lower mortality (15% vs 39%; odds ratio [OR], 0.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], .10-.80). Among those who received concurrent IVIG, the fatality rate was lower still (7%). The adjusted point estimate of the OR for mortality was lower in clindamycin-treated patients (0.31; 95% CI, .09-1.12) and clindamycin plus IVIG-treated patients (0.12; 95% CI, .01-1.29) compared with clindamycin-untreated patients. Three confirmed cases of iGAS infection occurred in household contacts of index cases. The incidence rate of iGAS disease in contacts was 2011 (95% CI, 413-5929) times higher than the population incidence in Victoria. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that clindamycin treatment of patients with severe iGAS infections substantially reduces mortality and that this effect may be enhanced by concurrent treatment with IVIG. The dramatically increased risk of iGAS disease among household contacts within 1 month of the index case highlights a potential role for antibiotic prophylaxis.
Microbial isolates from endoscopic middle meatal swab in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis in Kaduna, Nigeria

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common disease in otorhinolaryngologic practice. Traditionally, the standard criterion for isolation of pathogens in CRS is the nonendoscopic maxillary sinus puncture through invasive procedures with well-documented hazards. Objectives: To evaluate the pathogens associated with CRS in patients with CRS from endoscopically guided middle meatal swab. Methodology: A prospective cross-sectional study in which endoscopically guided middle meatal swab was aseptically taken from patients with diagnostic criteria of CRS and healthy volunteers. The samples were sent to the laboratory for qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16 (SPSS Inc., 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois, USA). Results: A total of 110 microbial isolates were recovered from 82 (63.08%) of the 130 patients with CRS while 46 recorded among 54 (51.92%) of the 104 healthy volunteers. There were 74 (56.92%) bacterial growth out of which 55 (74.32%) were aerobic and 19 (25.68%) anaerobic isolates among the test participants with fungal growth seen in 36 (27.7%) of them while about 18% yielded a mixed growth of aerobic, anaerobic, and/or fungal isolates. Among the control group, however, the 54 people with positive isolates had 21 fungal and 25 aerobic bacteria. Conclusion: Mixed growth of aerobes, anaerobes, and fungal isolates was observed in patients with CRS. Endoscopically guided middle meatal swab is a safe and practical means for collecting samples for microbial culture.
Making Science Education Accessible to All

Many students shy away from science. In order to attract students into studying science, creative methods for teaching and learning were developed for all levels of education, from primary school to university, and from formal to informal settings. These methods utilize the students’ talents, hobbies, interests and cultural backgrounds. Equal access to science education is a human right that belongs to all [1, 2]. If we do not guarantee science education to all, we will form a two-class society divided not by royalty and status, but by knowledge of science. The centerpiece for this method is the development of student projects, which help them to remember and understand abstract scientific concepts. An old Chinese proverb says: “I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand. ” These students’ projects take advantage of seeing and remembering, doing and understanding.Through this process, students are active learners, instead of being passive observers. To demonstrate their understanding of scientific concepts through their projects, the students use a media of their choice, from drawing, dance and drama (no tech) to computer animation (high tech). Projects can also take the form of paintings, sculptures, songs, films, and scripts for theater. These projects are used as alternative assessment methods where the whole class is involved in the assessment process. In order for this method to be successful, workshops for teachers as well as parents must be conducted. This way, the students will be taught in a creative way in school and through the joint involvement of teachers and parents, students will be encouraged to pursue chemistry. After all, “it takes a village to raise a child,” as the African proverb states.
Acoustic Modeling of Speaking Styles and Emotional Expressions in HMM-Based Speech Synthesis

This paper describes the modeling of various emotional expressions and speaking styles in synthetic speech using HMM-based speech synthesis. We show two methods for modeling speaking styles and emotional expressions. In the first method called style-dependent modeling, each speaking style and emotional expression is modeled individually. In the second one called style-mixed modeling, each speaking style and emotional expression is treated as one of contexts as well as phonetic, prosodic, and linguistic features, and all speaking styles and emotional expressions are modeled simultaneously by using a single acoustic model. We chose four styles of read speech - neutral, rough, joyful, and sad - and compared the above two modeling methods using these styles. The results of subjective evaluation tests show that both modeling methods have almost the same accuracy, and that it is possible to synthesize speech with the speaking style and emotional expression similar to those of the target speech. In a test of classification of styles in synthesized speech, more than 80% of speech samples generated using both the models were judged to be similar to the target styles. We also show that the style-mixed modeling method gives fewer output and duration distributions than the style-dependent modeling method.
University of Glasgow (qirdcsuog) at TREC Crowdsourcing 2011: TurkRank-Network-based Worker Ranking in Crowdsourcing

For TREC Crowdsourcing 2011 (Stage 2) we propose a networkbased approach for assigning an indicative measure of worker trustworthiness in crowdsourced labelling tasks. Workers, the gold standard and worker/gold standard agreements are modelled as a network. For the purpose of worker trustworthiness assignment, a variant of the PageRank algorithm, named TurkRank, is used to adaptively combine evidence that suggests worker trustworthiness, i.e., agreement with other trustworthy co-workers and agreement with the gold standard. A single parameter controls the importance of co-worker agreement versus gold standard agreement. The TurkRank score calculated for each worker is incorporated with a worker-weighted mean label aggregation.
On the Origin of the Inner Structure of Halos

We calculate by means of the Press-Schechter formalism the density profile developed by dark matter halos during accretion, i.e., the continuous aggregation of small clumps. We find that the shape of the predicted profile is similar to that shown by halos in high-resolution cosmological simulations. Furthermore, the mass-concentration relation is correctly reproduced at any redshift in all the hierarchical cosmologies analyzed except for very large halo masses. The role of major mergers, which can cause the rearrangement of the halo structure through violent relaxation, is also investigated. We show that, as a result of the boundary conditions imposed by the matter continuously infalling into the halo during the violent relaxation process, the shape of the density profile emerging from major mergers is essentially identical to the shape the halo would have developed through pure accretion. This result explains why, according to high-resolution cosmological simulations, relaxed halos of a given mass have the same density profile regardless of whether they have had a recent merger and why both spherical infall and hierarchical assembly lead to very similar density profiles. Finally, we demonstrate that the density profile of relaxed halos is not affected by the capture of clumps of intermediate mass either.
Expression and clinical significance of matrix metalloproteinase-17 and -25 in gastric cancer

The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression and clinicopathological features of matrix metalloproteinase 17 (MMP17; also known as MT4-MMP) and MMP25 (also known as MT6-MMP) in gastric cancer. Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to detect the expression of MMP17 and MMP25 in 42 cases of gastric carcinoma and normal tissues, and 40 cases of atrophic gastritis. The expression of MMP17 in the normal gastric and atrophic gastritis tissues was significantly lower than that in the gastric cancer tissues (P<0.05). The expression of MMP25 in the gastric cancer and atrophic gastritis tissues was markedly higher compared with the normal gastric tissues (P<0.05). The expression of MMP17 and MMP25 was significantly associated with the depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and serous membrane involvement (P<0.05), but not with patient age and gender, or lesion length, site and histological grade (P>0.05). Therefore, this indicates that the expression of MMP17 and MMP25 is increased with the degree of progress of gastric carcinoma. The detection of MMP17 and MMP25 expression may have clinical value in predicting the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.
Emotional Regulation and Depression: A Potential Mediator between Heart and Mind

A narrative review of the major evidence concerning the relationship between emotional regulation and depression was conducted. The literature demonstrates a mediating role of emotional regulation in the development of depression and physical illness. Literature suggests in fact that the employment of adaptive emotional regulation strategies (e.g., reappraisal) causes a reduction of stress-elicited emotions leading to physical disorders. Conversely, dysfunctional emotional regulation strategies and, in particular, rumination and emotion suppression appear to be influential in the pathogenesis of depression and physiological disease. More specifically, the evidence suggests that depression and rumination affect both cognitive (e.g., impaired ability to process negative information) and neurobiological mechanisms (e.g., hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis overactivation and higher rates of cortisol production). Understanding the factors that govern the variety of health outcomes that different people experience following exposure to stress has important implications for the development of effective emotion-regulation interventional approaches (e.g., mindfulness-based therapy, emotion-focused therapy, and emotion regulation therapy).
Constraint-based path selection methods for on-demand provisioning in WDM networks

We propose a framework for decentralized path selection and on-demand wavelength channel provisioning in WDM networks with routing constraints. Within this framework, the path information of choice, such as transmission quality, reliability, policy and traffic conditions, is updated following a connection request, based on a local, autonomous and service-differentiated characterization of optical network elements. It is this local and autonomous network state information that makes our approach particularly suitable for distributed implementation, and applicable to optical network architectures and control protocols that support service level guarantees. To illustrate this, we study mesh networks consisting of transparent, short-reach networking segments interconnected by long-reach WDM links with electronically regenerative gateways, where different link types show different SNR degradation, reliability and delay. On the example of electronically regenerative gateways, we address a new class of constraint-based path selection problems, where a certain a type of network element can at the same time deteriorate and improve network performance; e.g. electronic regenerators improve optical path quality and can adapt to wavelengths, but induce delays or operational costs. The performance study has shown the capability of our methods to accommodate arbitrary number and type of optical path properties, related to different network architectures and services.
Detection of Salmonellae in Chicken Feces by a Combination of Tetrathionate Broth Enrichment, Capillary PCR, and Capillary Gel Electrophoresis

ABSTRACT This report describes a rapid detection procedure for salmonellae from chicken feces by the combination of tetrathionate primary enrichment (preenrichment [PE])-bacterial lysis-capillary PCR and capillary gel electrophoresis. Pure Salmonella entericaserovar Enteritidis 64K was reisolated and detected by capillary PCR after buffered peptone water and nutrient broth, tetrathionate broth base Hajna (TTBH), and tetrathionate broth (TTB) preenrichments. When the same culture was mixed with intestinal homogenate, bacteriological reisolation and capillary PCR detection was achieved only by TTBH and TTB preenrichments. Capillary gel electrophoresis revealed that aSalmonella genus-specific 281-bp PCR product was detected when Salmonella strains but not non-Salmonellastrains were tested. The detection limit of capillary PCR with whole-cell DNA extracted from pure Salmonella entericaserovars Enteritidis 64K, Typhimurium LT2-CIP60-62, and Gallinarum 64K was 3, 3, and 9 CFU ml−1, respectively. The detection limit of capillary PCR from whole-cell DNA extracted from intestinal homogenate artificially contaminated with the same three strains was 3, 3, and 7 CFU ml−1, respectively. We compared the results of the capillary PCR and bacteriological examination from the natural samples. Thirty-five of 53 naturally contaminated samples produced a specific PCR product. In 9 of the 35 PCR-positive samples,Salmonella could not be detected bacteriologically either by PE or a primary and delayed secondary enrichment (DSE) combination. In the 18 PCR-negative samples, 4 samples were found to harborSalmonella by both PE and DSE and 14 samples were positive after DSE. Fifty-three additional intestinal homogenate samples, which were negative by their PE and DSE in bacteriological examination, were found to be also negative by their PCRs. The total time required to detect Salmonella with the capillary PCR method we used was approximately 20 h. If samples are from clinically diseased birds, the total time for PCR and detection is reduced to 2 h since the 18-h PE is not required. These results indicate that TTB enrichment, bacterial lysis, and genus-specific capillary PCR combined with capillary gel electrophoresis constitute a sensitive and selective procedure which has the potential to rapidly identifySalmonella-infected flocks.
Biogeosciences Role of environmental factors for the vertical distribution ( 0 – 1000 m ) of marine bacterial communities in the NW Mediterranean Sea

Bacterioplankton plays a central role in energy and matter fluxes in the sea, yet the factors that constrain its variation in marine systems are still poorly understood. Here we use the explanatory power of direct multivariate gradient analysis to evaluate the driving forces exerted by environmental parameters on bacterial community distribution in the water column. We gathered and analysed data from a one month sampling period from the surface to 1000 m depth at the JGOFS-DYFAMED station (NW Mediterranean Sea). This station is characterized by very poor horizontal advection currents which makes it an ideal model to test hypotheses on the causes of vertical stratification of bacterial communities. Capillary electrophoresis single strand conformation polymorphism (CE-SSCP) fingerprinting profiles analyzed using multivariate statistical methods demonstrated a vertical zonation of bacterial assemblages in three layers, above, in or just below the chlorophyll maximum and deeper, that remained stable during the entire sampling period. Through the use of direct gradient multivariate ordination analyses we demonstrate that a complex array of biogeochemical parameters is the driving force behind bacterial community structure shifts in the water column. PhysicoCorrespondence to: J. F. Ghiglione (ghiglione@obs-banyuls.fr) chemical parameters such as phosphate, nitrate, salinity and to a lesser extent temperature, oxygen, dissolved organic carbon and photosynthetically active radiation acted in synergy to explain bacterial assemblages changes with depth. Analysis of lipid biomarkers of organic matter sources and fates suggested that bacterial community structure in the surface layers was in part explained by lipids of chloroplast origin. Further detailed analysis of pigment-based phytoplankton diversity gave evidence of a compartmentalized influence of several phytoplankton groups on bacterial community structure in the first 150 m depth.
Elevated Plasma IL-38 Concentrations in Patients with Acute ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction and Their Dynamics after Reperfusion Treatment

Objective. Recent studies suggest that IL-38 is associated with autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, IL-38 is expressed in human atheromatous plaque. However, the plasma levels of IL-38 in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) have not yet to be investigated. Methods. On admission, at 24 h, at 48 h, and at 7 days, plasma IL-38, C-reactive protein (CRP), cardiac troponin I (cTNI), and N-terminal of the prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels were measured and IL-38 gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was detected in STEMI patients. Results. The results showed that plasma IL-38 levels and IL-38 gene expression in PBMCs were significantly increased in STEMI patients compared with control group and were time dependent, peaked at 24 h. In addition, plasma IL-38 levels were dramatically reduced in patients with reperfusion treatment compared with control group. Similar results were also demonstrated with CRP, cTNI, and NT-proBNP levels. Furthermore, IL-38 levels were found to be positively correlated with CRP, cTNI, and NT-proBNP and be weakly negatively correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in STEMI patients. Conclusions. The results indicate that circulating IL-38 is a potentially novel biomarker for patients with STEMI and IL-38 might be a new target for MI study.
Routing-oriented Link Capacity Estimation and Mesh Network Hybrid Routing ( MHR )

 Abstract—We present a link capacity estimation model and a hybrid routing scheme for wireless mesh networks which aims at improving throughput. The multi-source interference between links and frame capture behaviors of nodes are analyzed. Our model provides estimated values which can indicate the relative quality of wireless links. And we present a routing metric which combines multiple factors based on the estimated values. The proposed routing scheme which is independent of special routing protocols adopts different strategies for the traffic of accessing the Internet and the end-to-end traffic. Besides, we introduce a new gateway-assisted routing technique to further improve the performance. Simulation results show that the estimation model provides accurate estimated values enough for route selection, and the routing scheme improves end-to-end throughput by 185% compared with legacy AODV[14] protocol.
Design of Financial Securities: Empirical Evidence from Private-Label RMBS Deals

We study the key drivers of security design in the residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) market during the run-up to the subprime mortgage crisis. We show that deals with a higher level of equity tranche have a significantly lower delinquency rate conditional on observable loan characteristics. The effect is concentrated within pools with a higher likelihood of asymmetric information between deal sponsors and potential buyers of the securities. Further, securities sold from high-equity-tranche deals command higher prices conditional on their credit ratings. Overall, our results show that the goal of security design in this market was not only to exploit regulatory arbitrage, but also to mitigate information frictions that were pervasive in this market. (JEL G20, G30)Received August 26, 2014; accepted May 3, 2016, by Editor Itay Goldstein.
On Choice Sets and Strongly Non-Trivial Self-Embeddings of Recursive Linear Orders

In [1) DUSHNIK and MILLER prove that every countably infinite linear oder has a non-trivial se]f-embedding. The first part of their argument considers linear orders with an interval of type w orw*. Mapping x to its immediate successor (resp. predecessor) if x is in this interval and the interval is of type w (resp. w*), and to itself otherwise, produces the required non-trivial se]f-embedding. The existence of a~ interval of type w* + w would similarly guarantee a non-trivial automorphism.