Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organizational Learning: A Review of Some Literatures

Organizational learning is currently the focus of considerable attention, and it is addressed by a broad range of literatures. Organization theory, industrial econ omics, economic history, and business, management and innovation studies all approach the question of how organizations learn. A number of branches of psychology are also revealing on the issue. This paper assesses these various literatures by examining the insights they allow in three main areas: first, the goals of organizational learning; second, the learning processes in organizations; and third, the ways in which organizational learning may be facilitated and impeded. It contends that while the various literatures are revealing in particular aspects of organizational learning, a more complete understanding of its complexity requires a multi-disciplinary approach. The contributions of the different approaches are analyzed, and some areas are suggested where the transfer of analytical concepts may improve understanding.
Research Recommendations for Selected IARC-Classified Agents

Objectives There are some common occupational agents and exposure circumstances for which evidence of carcinogenicity is substantial but not yet conclusive for humans. Our objectives were to identify research gaps and needs for 20 agents prioritized for review based on evidence of widespread human exposures and potential carcinogenicity in animals or humans. Data sources For each chemical agent (or category of agents), a systematic review was conducted of new data published since the most recent pertinent International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monograph meeting on that agent. Data extraction Reviewers were charged with identifying data gaps and general and specific approaches to address them, focusing on research that would be important in resolving classification uncertainties. An expert meeting brought reviewers together to discuss each agent and the identified data gaps and approaches. Data synthesis Several overarching issues were identified that pertained to multiple agents; these included the importance of recognizing that carcinogenic agents can act through multiple toxicity pathways and mechanisms, including epigenetic mechanisms, oxidative stress, and immuno- and hormonal modulation. Conclusions Studies in occupational populations provide important opportunities to understand the mechanisms through which exogenous agents cause cancer and intervene to prevent human exposure and/or prevent or detect cancer among those already exposed. Scientific developments are likely to increase the challenges and complexities of carcinogen testing and evaluation in the future, and epidemiologic studies will be particularly critical to inform carcinogen classification and risk assessment processes.
Apparent affinity of the Na/K pump for ouabain in cultured chick cardiac myocytes. Effects of Nai and Ko

The measured apparent affinity (K0.5) of the Na/K pump for ouabain has been reported to vary over a wide range. In a previous report we found that changing Nai could alter apparent affinity by at least an order of magnitude and that the model presented predicted this variability. To increase our understanding of this variability, isolated cells or two- to three-cell clusters of cardiac myocytes from 11-d embryonic chick were used to measure the effects of Nai and Ko on the K0.5 of the Na/K pump for ouabain. Myocytes were whole-cell patch clamped and Na/K pump current (Ip) was measured in preparations exposed to a Ca-free modified Hank's solution (HBSS) that contained 1 mM Ba, 10 mM Cs, and 0.1 mM Cd. Under these conditions there are no Ko-sensitive currents other than Ip because removal of Ko in the presence of ouabain had no effect on the current-voltage (I-V) relation. The I-V relation for Ip showed that in the presence of 5.4 mM Ko and 51 mM Nai, Ip has a slight voltage dependence, decreasing approximately 30% from 0 to -130 mV. Increasing Nai in the patch pipette from 6 to 51 mM (Ko = 5.4 mM) caused Ip to increase from 0.46 +/- 0.07 (n = 5) to 1.34 +/- 0.08 microA/cm2 (n = 13) with a K0.5 for Nai of 17.4 mM and decreased the K0.5 for ouabain from 18.5 +/- 1.8 (n = 4) to 3.1 +/- 0.4 microM (n = 3). Similarly, varying Ko between 0.3 and 10.8 mM (Nai = 24 mM) increased Ip from 0.13 +/- 0.01 (n = 5) to 0.90 +/- 0.05 microA/cm2 (n = 5) with a K0.5 for Ko of 1.94 mM and increased K0.5 for ouabain from 0.56 +/- 0.14 (n = 3-6) to 10.0 +/- 1.1 microM (n = 6). All of these changes are predicted by the model presented. A qualitative explanation of these results is that Nai and Ko interact with the Na/K pump to shift the steady-state distribution of the Na/K pump molecules among the kinetic states. This shift in state distribution alters the probability that the Na/K pump will be in the conformation that binds ouabain with high affinity, thus altering the apparent affinity. In intact cells, the measured apparent affinity represents a combination of all the rate constants in the model and does not equate to simple first-order binding kinetics. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
[Internet- and computer game addiction: phenomenology, comorbidity, etiology, diagnostics and therapeutic implications for the addictives and their relatives].

OBJECTIVE Excessive and addictive internet use and computer game playing is reported as an increasing problem in outpatient care. The aim of this paper is to give an overview about the current scientific discussion of the overuse and addiction of internet and computer game playing. METHODS Pubmed was used for a systematic literature research considering original papers and review articles dealing with Internet/computer game addiction. RESULTS Recent epidemiological data from Germany suggest that 1.5-3.5 % of adolescent computer and internet users show signs of an overuse or addictive use of computer and video games. Moreover there is evidence that the disorder is associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, as well as lower achievements e. g. at school. Although the nosological assignment still remains unclear there is some evidence from neurobiological data that the disorder can be conceptualized as behavioral addiction. As treatment strategy CBT-techniques have been proposed, but there is still a lack of controlled clinical trials concerning their efficacy. CONCLUSIONS Since the addicted persons often show little motivation for a behavioural change we consider it a promising approach to treat and train their relatives with the aim of increasing the motivation for a behavioural change of the addicted person.
Brain Computer Interfaces, a Review

A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a hardware and software communications system that permits cerebral activity alone to control computers or external devices. The immediate goal of BCI research is to provide communications capabilities to severely disabled people who are totally paralyzed or ‘locked in’ by neurological neuromuscular disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brain stem stroke, or spinal cord injury. Here, we review the state-of-the-art of BCIs, looking at the different steps that form a standard BCI: signal acquisition, preprocessing or signal enhancement, feature extraction, classification and the control interface. We discuss their advantages, drawbacks, and latest advances, and we survey the numerous technologies reported in the scientific literature to design each step of a BCI. First, the review examines the neuroimaging modalities used in the signal acquisition step, each of which monitors a different functional brain activity such as electrical, magnetic or metabolic activity. Second, the review discusses different electrophysiological control signals that determine user intentions, which can be detected in brain activity. Third, the review includes some techniques used in the signal enhancement step to deal with the artifacts in the control signals and improve the performance. Fourth, the review studies some mathematic algorithms used in the feature extraction and classification steps which translate the information in the control signals into commands that operate a computer or other device. Finally, the review provides an overview of various BCI applications that control a range of devices.
Goal orientation, implicit theory of ability, and collegiate instrumental music practice

The purposes of this study were twofold: to examine the relationship of two types of motivational belief to undergraduates’ self-reported musical practice behavior, and to evaluate the adaptation of measures of academic motivation to the musical domain. Measures of a tripartite goal orientation and implicit theory of musical ability were completed by 344 instrumental music majors at American universities. Factor analysis showed the adapted items reproduced the subscales of the original measures, and that these subscales were reliable (α > .74). Entity theories of musical ability were positively correlated with ego-approach (r = .16, p < .01) and ego-avoid goals (r = .23, p < .001), and negatively related to task goals (r = -.14, p <.01). A researcher-designed practice strategy survey found task orientation positively related to frequency of six of seven practice factors; ego-approach and ego-avoid goals negatively related to one strategy type.
Inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase by tricyclic antidepressants and analogons

Amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, has been used in the clinic to treat a number of disorders, in particular major depression and neuropathic pain. In the 1970s the ability of tricyclic antidepressants to inhibit acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) was discovered. The enzyme ASM catalyzes the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin to ceramide. ASM and ceramide were shown to play a crucial role in a wide range of diseases, including cancer, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and major depression, as well as viral (e.g., measles virus) and bacterial (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) infections. Ceramide molecules may act in these diseases by the alteration of membrane biophysics, the self-association of ceramide molecules within the cell membrane and the ultimate formation of larger ceramide-enriched membrane domains/platforms. These domains were shown to serve the clustering of certain receptors such as CD95 and may also act in the above named diseases. The potential to block the generation of ceramide by inhibiting the ASM has opened up new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of these conditions. Since amitriptyline is one of the longest used clinical drugs and side effects are well studied, it could potentially become a cheap and easily accessible medication for patients suffering from these diseases. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of current in vitro and in vivo studies and clinical trials utilizing amitriptyline to inhibit ASM and contemplate possible future applications of the drug.
Systematic Detection of Capability Leaks in Stock Android Smartphones

Recent years have witnessed a meteoric increase in the adoption of smartphones. To manage information and features on such phones, Android provides a permission-based security model that requires each application to explicitly request permissions before it can be installed to run. In this paper, we analyze eight popular Android smartphones and discover that the stock phone images do not properly enforce the permission model. Several privileged permissions are unsafely exposed to other applications which do not need to request them for the actual use. To identify these leaked permissions or capabilities, we have developed a tool called Woodpecker. Our results with eight phone images show that among 13 privileged permissions examined so far, 11 were leaked, with individual phones leaking up to eight permissions. By exploiting them, an untrusted application can manage to wipe out the user data, send out SMS messages, or record user conversation on the affected phones – all without asking for any permission.
Low‐Level Laser Therapy for Closed‐Head Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice: Effect of Different Wavelengths

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects millions worldwide and is without effective treatment. One area that is attracting growing interest is the use of transcranial low‐level laser therapy (LLLT) to treat TBI. The fact that near‐infrared light can penetrate into the brain would allow non‐invasive treatment to be carried out with a low likelihood of treatment‐related adverse events. LLLT may treat TBI by increasing respiration in the mitochondria, causing activation of transcription factors, reducing inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress, and inhibiting apoptosis.
Role Ambiguity, Task Cohesion, and Task Self-Efficacy

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between role ambiguity and both task cohesion (group integration-task and attractions to the group-task) and task efficacy (for offence and defense) in basketball. Ambiguity was operationalized as a multidimensional construct comprising a lack of clear understanding about (a) scope of role responsibilities, (b) behaviors to carry out role responsibilities, (c) how role performance will be evaluated, and (d) the consequences of a failure to discharge role responsibilities. The results showed a high degree of relationship among the four manifestations of role ambiguity. Also, ambiguity concerning scope of responsibilities was inversely related to both measures of task cohesion as well as task efficacy for defense. Task efficacy for offence was predicted for female athletes by ambiguity associated with evaluation of performance and for male athletes by ambiguity associated with evaluation of performance and consequences of not fulfilling responsibilities. Implications of findings and future research are discussed.
Whole brain functional connectivity using phase locking measures of resting state magnetoencephalography

The analysis of spontaneous functional connectivity (sFC) reveals the statistical connections between regions of the brain consistent with underlying functional communication networks within the brain. In this work, we describe the implementation of a complete all-to-all network analysis of resting state neuronal activity from magnetoencephalography (MEG). Using graph theory to define networks at the dipole level, we established functionally defined regions by k-means clustering cortical surface locations using Eigenvector centrality (EVC) scores from the all-to-all adjacency model. Permutation testing was used to estimate regions with statistically significant connections compared to empty room data, which adjusts for spatial dependencies introduced by the MEG inverse problem. In order to test this model, we performed a series of numerical simulations investigating the effects of the MEG reconstruction on connectivity estimates. We subsequently applied the approach to subject data to investigate the effectiveness of our method in obtaining whole brain networks. Our findings indicated that our model provides statistically robust estimates of functional region networks. Application of our phase locking network methodology to real data produced networks with similar connectivity to previously published findings, specifically, we found connections between contralateral areas of the arcuate fasciculus that have been previously investigated. The use of data-driven methods for neuroscientific investigations provides a new tool for researchers in identifying and characterizing whole brain functional connectivity networks.
Self-esteem and psychosis : A pilot study investigating the effectiveness of a self-esteem programme on the self-esteem and positive symptomatology of mentally disordered offenders

The importance of self-esteem in the development and maintenance of psychotic experiences has been shown in previous research. However, there has been little research into the role this plays in individuals with psychosis and forensic histories. The current study investigated the effectiveness of a standardized group programme for improving self-esteem in individuals with psychosis living in high security settings. Fifteen participants were included in the group programme and measures were taken to record changes in self-esteem and symptomatology. The results demonstrated significant improvements in self-esteem over the course of the group intervention, with some effects maintained at 3-month follow-up. Improvements in depressed mood were also found. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of a group intervention for self-esteem in individuals with psychosis. The findings of this study, alongside implications for further research, are discussed.
Food Animals and Antimicrobials: Impacts on Human Health

SUMMARY Antimicrobials are valuable therapeutics whose efficacy is seriously compromised by the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. The provision of antibiotics to food animals encompasses a wide variety of nontherapeutic purposes that include growth promotion. The concern over resistance emergence and spread to people by nontherapeutic use of antimicrobials has led to conflicted practices and opinions. Considerable evidence supported the removal of nontherapeutic antimicrobials (NTAs) in Europe, based on the “precautionary principle. ” Still, concrete scientific evidence of the favorable versus unfavorable consequences of NTAs is not clear to all stakeholders. Substantial data show elevated antibiotic resistance in bacteria associated with animals fed NTAs and their food products. This resistance spreads to other animals and humans—directly by contact and indirectly via the food chain, water, air, and manured and sludge-fertilized soils. Modern genetic techniques are making advances in deciphering the ecological impact of NTAs, but modeling efforts are thwarted by deficits in key knowledge of microbial and antibiotic loads at each stage of the transmission chain. Still, the substantial and expanding volume of evidence reporting animal-to-human spread of resistant bacteria, including that arising from use of NTAs, supports eliminating NTA use in order to reduce the growing environmental load of resistance genes.
Review of Domiciliary Newborn-care Practices in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, high proportions of infant deaths (two-thirds) and deaths among children aged less than five years (38%) occur in the neonatal period. Although most of these deaths occur at home due to preventable causes, little is known about routine domiciliary newborn-care practices and care-seeking for neonatal illness. As an initial step in strategic planning for the implementation of interventions in Bangladesh to improve neonatal outcomes, a review of the literature of antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care practices for mothers and newborns in Bangladeshi communities and homes was conducted. A dearth of information was found and summarized, and priority areas for future formative research were identified. The information gained from this review was used for informing development of a guide to formative research on maternal and neonatal care practices in developing-country communities and forms a cornerstone for formulation of behaviour change-communication strategies and messages to advance neonatal health and survival in Bangladesh.
Does visual communication get through to its audiences

Visual communication is often directed towards an assumed homogenous target group, a market- or segment. However, this study shows that such constructs as typical, average consumer, modal or blue or red segment can be misleading. Individuals and markets represent distinct levels of analysis. The logo is a prime each individual to receive the next message in a positive mood. In this paper, a distinction is made between how the message is received by the single individual and how the message is received by the market that is how it is received by the “average respondent”. The distinction is made between individual vs. market variation. A variation seen by the individual means that the message is received with its complexity and meaningfulness, while a big market variation means people understand different things and a Babylonian confusion is the outcome. Also differences between cultures are investigated but found to be limited compared to the between subject- or market variation.
Stochastic Spectral Descent for Discrete Graphical Models

Interest in deep probabilistic graphical models has increased in recent years, due to their state-of-the-art performance on many machine learning applications. Such models are typically trained with the stochastic gradient method, which can take a significant number of iterations to converge. Since the computational cost of gradient estimation is prohibitive even for modestly sized models, training becomes slow and practically usable models are kept small. In this paper we propose a new, largely tuning-free algorithm to address this problem. Our approach derives novel majorization bounds based on the Schatten- ∞ norm. Intriguingly, the minimizers of these bounds can be interpreted as gradient methods in a non-Euclidean space. We thus propose using a stochastic gradient method in non-Euclidean space. We both provide simple conditions under which our algorithm is guaranteed to converge, and demonstrate empirically that our algorithm leads to dramatically faster training and improved predictive ability compared to stochastic gradient descent for both directed and undirected graphical models.
Longitudinální studie hodnocení schopností spojených se školním výkonem u žáků s dyslexií a bez dyslexie jejich učiteli.

Cile. Zjistit: 1. Jak ucitele hodnoti v průběhu sedmi let (od 8 do 15 let) vybrane schopnosti svých žaků s dyslexii a bez dyslexie, 2. Jaký vliv na hodnoceni výkonu těchto žaků ma delka praxe ucitelů a jejich pohlavi, 3. Zda existuji rozdily v tom, jak ucitele hodnoti vliv vybraných faktorů (schopnosti žaků, jejich usili, přesvědceni o vlastnim uspěchu, obtižnost ukolů, nahoda) na skolni výkon žaků s dyslexii a bez dyslexie. Soubor. Výzkumný soubor zahrnoval děti zapojene do longitudinalni studie ELSPAC (zahajene v 1991/2). Data byla vybrana z dotazniku pro ucitele, který byl použit pro hodnoceni respondentů v jejich věku 8, 11, 13 a 15 let, a to vždy v nasledujicich oblastech: ctenařske schopnosti, literarni schopnosti, vyjadřovaci schopnosti, matematicke schopnosti, obecne znalosti, výtvarne schopnosti, hudebni schopnosti, pohybove schopnosti, manualni zrucnost. Výsledky. Ucitele hodnoti skolni výkon žaků s dyslexii ve vsech sledovaných oblastech i v průběhu let statisticky významně hůře, než je tomu u děti bez teto diagnozy. K výraznějsimu zhorseni hodnoceni větsiny hodnocených schopnosti dochazi u vsech žaků v obdobi kolem 13 let. U ctenařských a pohybových dovednosti bylo zjistěno odlisne hodnoceni v obou skupinach děti v průběhu casu. Zatimco u dyslektiků se hodnoceni v case zhorsovalo nebo zůstalo na stejne urovni, u děti bez dyslexie nastalo v hodnoceni obou druhů schopnosti v některých letech zlepseni. Ucitele dale odlisně hodnoti možnost ovlivněni skolniho výkonu u sledovaných skupin. Předpokladaji, že děti bez dyslexie mohou ovlivnit svůj výkon mnohem vice než děti s dyslexii, předevsim zvýsenou snahou a usilim.