Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From the Outside in: Burnout as an Organizational Issue

Most of us know the parable of the blind men and the elephant: Depending on the version of the story, there were 3–8 blind men who encountered an elephant. One approached the elephant’s leg and concluded that the elephant was like a tall tree; another encountered its trunk and concluded that it resembled a snake; and the third approached it from behind, grasped the tail, and said it was similar to a rope. When the men were asked to present their conclusions, each used the evidence he’d gathered, and presented definitive but radically divergent conclusions about the reality of the elephant. According to one version of this story, each of the men insisted that his conclusion represented the truth about elephants and dismissed the conclusions of the others. Eventually they came to blows over whose truth would go on the record as THE truth. In another version of the story, the raja who arranged this scenario and introduced the elephant to the men took great pleasure in their conflict because it confirmed his argument that scholars often studied reality from different vantage points and then insisted that only their conclusions were accurate and objective. The raja knew that all observations were incomplete and that the production of knowledge ultimately required that scholars come together to synthesize their research and conclusions to create a fuller, more meaningful understandings of reality. As I think of the discussions of burnout in this issue of JIS, I imagine that Maureen Weiss, who brought Gould and Whitley, Cureton, and me together, is the raja who wants us to discuss the elephant of burnout in college sports. But I’m quite certain that none of us claims to possess the truth about burnout generally, or burnout among college athletes. So it’s unlikely that we’ll come to blows. In fact, each of us is here because we’re willing to listen and learn with those who have different perspectives and vantage points than we do. My hope is that we’ll work to synthesize various perspectives on burnout and create a fuller and more meaningful understanding of it. Gould and Whitley provide a useful overview of the research and theory on burnout among athletes ranging in age from early adolescence though young adulthood. Nearly all these studies and the theories used to guide them are
Myoblast models of skeletal muscle hypertrophy and atrophy

Purpose of reviewTo highlight recent breakthroughs and controversies in the use of myoblast models to uncover cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle hypertrophy and atrophy. Recent findingsMyoblast cultures provide key mechanistic models of the signalling and molecular pathways potentially employed by skeletal muscle in-vivo to regulate hypertrophy and atrophy. Recently the controversy as to whether insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I is important in hypertrophy following mechanical stimuli vs. alternative pathways has been hotly debated and is discussed. The role of myostatin in myoblast models of atrophy and interactions between protein synthetic pathways including Akt/mTOR and the ‘atrogenes’ are explored. SummaryTargeted in-vivo experimentation directed by skeletal muscle cell culture and bioengineering (three-dimensional skeletal muscle cell culture models) will provide key biomimetic and mechanistic data regarding hypertrophy and atrophy and thus enable the development of important strategies for tackling muscle wasting associated with ageing and disease processes.
The MOBI Project: Designing the Future Emergency Service Vehicle

The proliferation of information and communications technology (ICT), facilities in public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) vehicles has highlighted several questions, including: "Why can't vehicles' ICT applications be simplified and rationalized to help PPDR responders work more efficiently and effectively" and "Can two items of equipment be combined to make it easier to use and decrease power consumption" Our project aims to create a common ICT infrastructure for all PPDR vehicles based on better integration of ICT systems, applications, and services. Our approach is to divide PPDR vehicles' ICT systems into four layers (a vehicle infrastructure and power management layer, a communications layer, a service platform and common services layer, and an actor-specific services layer) with standardized interfaces between them. Open standards make it easier for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular, to enter the market. In addition to providing cost savings, our system significantly improves interoperability and the availability of new PPDR ICT services.
The Effects of Relationship and Self-Esteem Threats on the Likelihood of Romantic Jealousy

Much of the psychological theory and research on romantic jealousy emphasizes the roles of threats to self-esteem and threats to the relationship (from a romantic rival) in generating jealous feelings. However, the causal effects of these threats on the occurrence of jealousy have not yet been examined. In the present study, subjects imagined themselves in four types of jealousy-provoking situations (relatively low and high threat to self-esteem crossed with relatively low and high threat to the relationship) and, in each one, estimated the likelihood that they would become jealous, angry, sad and fearful, and that they would seek proximity to their partner. Results showed that changes in the likelihood of jealousy and its concomitant emotions were a function of changes in the intensity of both types of threats, as expected. However, proximity-seeking increased among men only when relationship threat increased. Among women, the likelihood of seeking proximity increased (relative to the joint-low-threat condition)when either type of threat increased alone but not when both threats increased together. The relevance of these findings to recent formulations of jealousy processes from an attachment perspective and to previous research on jealousy and relationships is discussed.
Transplantation of cultivated autologous oral mucosal epithelial cells in patients with severe ocular surface disorders

Background/aims: To determine outcomes of transplants of cultivated autologous oral epithelial cells in patients with severe ocular surface disorders. Methods: The eyes (n = 6) of four patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (three eyes) or chemical burns (three eyes) were studied. Autologous oral epithelial cells, grown for 2–3 weeks on a denuded amniotic membrane carrier in the presence of 3T3 fibroblasts, were air lifted. The resultant sheet was transplanted onto the damaged eye, and acceptance of the sheet by the corneal surface was confirmed 48 hours after surgery. The success of ocular surface reconstruction, graft survival, changes in visual acuity, and postoperative complications were assessed and the quality of the cultivated oral epithelial sheet was evaluated histologically. Results: At 48 hours after transplant, the entire corneal surface of all six eyes was free of epithelial defects indicating complete survival of the transplanted oral epithelium. Visual acuity was improved in all eyes. During follow up (mean 13.8 (SD 2.9) months), the corneal surface remained stable, although all eyes manifested mild peripheral neovascularisation. Conclusions: Autologous oral epithelial cells grown on denuded amniotic membrane can be transplanted to treat severe ocular surface disorders.
A mutant v-rel with increased ability to transform B lymphocytes

We observed that two strains of REV-T differ in the ability to transform bursal cells in vitro. REV-TW, with v-rel derived from a well-characterized clone and considered the prototype of the wild type, fails to generate colonies in soft agar. In contrast, REV-S2A3, derived from the S2A3 cell line, readily transforms bursal cells. With PCR, a 1,591-bp fragment containing v-rel from the REV-S2A3 provirus was cloned into plasmid pREV-0. Except for the absence of v-rel, pREV-0 is identical to pREV-TW. Five clones of pREV-PCR, each produced by an independent amplification, were obtained. The REV-PCR viruses displayed the strong transforming phenotype of REV-S2A3. Two mutations were identified in the 5' region of v-rel from REV-PCR1 to REV-PCR5: a silent mutation and a G-to-T transversion, changing the alanine at position 40 to serine. To confirm the relevance of this amino acid substitution, a 478-bp fragment containing the mutations was exchanged between REV-TW and REV-PCR1. Only the mutant viruses were able to form large colonies of bursal cells in liquid culture and to generate bursal cell colonies in soft agar. When tested on splenocytes, the wild-type viruses induced predominantly non-B-cell colonies while the mutant viruses gave origin mainly to B-cell colonies. The above results indicate that the substitution of serine for alanine at position 40 of v-Rel enhances the ability of REV-T to transform B lymphocytes in vitro. This mutation is close to the DNA-binding region, and the variant v-Rel oncoprotein shows increased kappa B-binding activity, thus confirming the relevance of this property for transformation.
Modal Coupling in Micromechanical Vibratory Rate Gyroscopes

The authors present modeling approaches to describe the coupling of modes in a resonant vibratory rate gyroscope. Modal coupling due to off-diagonal stiffness and damping terms is considered. Three analytical modeling approaches are presented in the context of a z-axis micromechanical vibratory rate gyroscope fabricated in an integrated polysilicon surface-micromachining process. The first approach is based on frequency-response analysis of the gyroscope output. The second approach takes the route of state-space-based system identification to identify the modal-coupling parameters. A third approach based on measured vibration data identifies the coupling parameters due to stiffness and damping. These three methods are then applied to predict the extent of displacement and force coupling between the drive and the sense axes of an existing device as a function of varying degrees of matching between the resonant frequencies associated with the drive and the sense modes. Experimental data show that as the resonant frequencies of the drive and sense modes are brought closer together, an improvement in overall resolution and scale factor of the device is obtained at the expense of an enhanced coupling of forces to displacements between the two axes and the onset of instability for an open-loop sensing implementation
Boko Haram: Nigeria's Islamist Insurgency

Ever since the establishment of Boko Haram in 2002, many articles in the press, scholarly journals (including this one), and on the internet have been devoted to the terror organization. It has also been the subject of several monographs by experts on Islamic extremism in Africa. The publication of this book, in the middle of the swiftly changing situation on the ground, is somewhat surprising. In the first of seven chapters, the author, who is a research fellow for security and development at the International Institution for Strategic Studies in London, explains that “. most of the available research tended to be fairly short and for this reason rather limited in scope. I hope that in the space of a book I will have the chance to adopt and develop a more comprehensive approach. ” (p. 6).
Practical Considerations in the Interview and Evaluation of Sexual Offenders

SUMMARY The evaluation and assessment of sexual offenders is different than any other type of evaluation, and most clinicians are not properly trained to interview this population. This article addresses the clinical and ethical issues particular to the interview, assessment, and evaluation of these types of offenders. It offers both practical information regarding the interview itself, along with an overview of classification systems, paraphilias, and assessment techniques used with this population. In addition, issues related to risk assessment and risk management are also addressed, and an introduction to the use of actuarial risk assessment instruments is provided.
Exploring Language Learning Anxiety and Anxiety Reducing Strategies of the First-year Students Taking a Foreign Language Course

Anxiety in the classroom is recognized as a negative factor that lessens the learner’s proficiency. This study investigated undergraduate students’ learning anxiety in a Japanese language course in a government university and examined strategies that students employed to reduce their anxiety. The instrument used for collecting the data was a five-rating scale questionnaire of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope, 1986). Data were collected from 116 first-year students enrolled in JP101 course in the first semester of 2013 academic year and analyzed by SPSS program using mean, standard deviation, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, and Chi-Square. The findings of the study revealed that students had moderate levels of learning anxiety and the use of anxiety reducing strategies. Four factors which were found to be related to students’ learning anxiety comprised Japanese language proficiency, experience of learning Japanese language, experience of using Japanese language with native speakers, and experience of traveling to Japan. However, gender and the use of anxiety reducing strategies were found to have no statistical relationship with learning anxiety. The findings encouraged the instructors to enrich their awareness of students’ language anxiety and carefully deal with those anxiety-provoking situations in the classroom.
Transient elastography and other noninvasive tests to assess hepatic fibrosis in patients with viral hepatitis

Summary. The limitations of liver biopsy (invasive procedure, sampling errors, inter‐observer variability and nondynamic fibrosis evaluation) have stimulated the search for noninvasive approaches for the assessment of liver fibrosis in patients with viral hepatitis. A variety of methods including the measurement of liver stiffness, using transient elastography, and serum markers, ranging from routine laboratory tests to more complex algorithms or indices combining the results of panels of markers, have been proposed. Among serum indices, Fibrotest has been the most extensively studied and validated. Transient elastography appears as a promising method but has been mostly validated in chronic hepatitis C with performance equivalent to that of serum markers for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis. The combination of both approaches as first‐line assessment of liver fibrosis could avoid the performance of liver biopsy in the majority of patients with chronic hepatitis C, a strategy that deserves further evaluation in patients with hepatitis B or HIV‐HCV coinfection. Transient elastography also appears to be an excellent tool for early detection of cirrhosis and may have prognostic value in this setting. Guidelines are now awaited for the use of noninvasive methods in clinical practice.
Association of Dermatoses with Diabetes- A Case Control Study

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder and fifth leading cause of mortality in the world. Diabetes mellitus affects many organ systems of the body including skin. Changes found in skin are largely parallel to those occurring in the internal organs. Aim: The aim of our study was to determine the spectrum of dermatoses in diabetes mellitus. Material and Methods: It is a case control study, conducted in the Outpatient Department of Dermatology and STD Department, of a tertiary care institute, for a period of six months. One hundred and thirty six diabetic patients and one hundred and thirty six healthy age and sex matched individuals were taken as controls. Results: The male to female ratio was 1: 1.83. Type 2 DM was seen in 89.7% and type 1 DM in 10.3% of the patients. The mean age of the patients was 47.38±10.23. The maximum numbers of patients were in the age group of 51 to 60 years (32.36%). Among the cases Dermatoses were seen in 88.3% of the diabetics and cutaneous infections were the most common dermatoses followed by diabetic dermopathy and pruritus in diabetics. Conclusion: Increased incidence of cutaneous infections mainly fungal and bacterial was noticed in majority of the uncontrolled diabetics.
Analysis of key cell‐cycle checkpoint proteins in colorectal tumours

Aberrations in the components of cell‐cycle checkpoints are a common feature of many tumours and several have been shown to have prognostic significance in colorectal cancer. In this study, seven components of cell‐cycle control [cyclin D1, retinoblastoma (pRb), p21, p27, p16, p53, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)] were examined in a large series of well‐characterized colorectal adenocarcinomas using immunohistochemistry to ascertain co‐regulation and influence on survival. The majority (92%) of the tumours had abnormal staining of ⩾2 cell‐cycle control factors. Expression of cyclin D1 protein was correlated with both p21 (p<0.001) and p27 (p=0.033), suggesting co‐regulation of these proteins in colorectal tumours. Only cyclin D1 (p=0.048) and p53 (p=0.025) were directly associated with PCNA levels, suggesting a more important role in the proliferative capacity of tumour cells. Significant associations between cell cycle‐related proteins and clinicopathological data were observed: cyclin D1 and p53 proteins were correlated with patient age (p=0.042 and p<0.001, respectively) and p53 (p=0.01) and p21 (p=0.024) proteins were associated with tumour site. Expression of cyclin D1 protein was the only protein examined that was related to improved outcome in these patients (p=0.0266), but itwas not an independent predictor of survival. These results suggest that loss of control of cell‐cycle checkpoints is a common occurrence in colorectal tumours and may be an important therapeutic target. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Performance Study of a High-Rate Multiuser Transmitted Reference Ultra-Wideband Transceiver

Inheriting all merits of a multiuser transmitted reference (MTR) ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver, a biorthogonal MTR (BO-MTR) transceiver for high data-rate communication has been recently reported. It utilizes 4-ary biorthogonal signaling to carry two bits of each user's information in amplitude and position of the data pulse simultaneously. Assisted by a simple coding scheme, both bits are independently decoded using low complexity correlators whose templates are obtained from aggregated reference signals spanning multiple symbol intervals. This paper further studies its performance in different scenarios. In a multipath-free fading scenario, the receiver's symbol error rate (SER) performance is shown to be optimal while no complex joint detection of two bits is necessary, and the bit error rate (BER) performance of each detector is balanced. For multipath channels, when channel parameters are either deterministic and estimated with errors, or random in Rician distribution, the Chernoff bounds are derived for BER of each detector. A much tighter bound is also provided according to the property of the complementary Gaussian distribution function
TORP vs round window implant for hearing restoration of patients with extensive ossicular chain defect

Conclusions: Round window implant (RWI) with a floating mass transducer (FMT) may be suggested as the first choice in hearing rehabilitation for patients with chronic otitis media (COM) and extensive destruction of the ossicular chain. Objective: To investigate the pros and cons of the total ossicular replacement prosthesis (TORP) vs the RWI in restoration of hearing in patients with COM. Patients and methods: Thirty-eight patients with bilateral moderate to severe mixed or conductive hearing loss from COM without cholesteatoma and bilateral ossicular chain erosion (footplate residual) were alternately assigned to a titanium-TORP (T-TORP) and to RWI with the FMT of the Medel Vibrant Soundbridge (MVBS) located onto the RW niche. The therapeutic efficiency, preoperative vs postoperative air-conduction gain and speech recognition were investigated for the two groups and statistically analyzed at 36 months postoperatively. The following postoperative anatomic conditions were also evaluated for the two groups: 1) recurrence of infection, 2) retraction pocket, 3) extrusion rate, and 4) displacement of the prosthesis. Results: Good functional results and stability at 36 months were obtained with both procedures. The extrusion rates for T-TORP were low. So far no extrusion has been observed for RWI. Hearing results were statistically much better for RWI vs T-TORP for all investigated parameters.
Learning and Evaluating Human-Like NPC Behaviors in Dynamic Games

We address the challenges of evaluating the fidelity of AI agents that are attempting to produce human-like behaviors in games. To create a believable and engaging game play experience, designers must ensure that their non-player characters (NPCs) behave in a human-like manner. Today, with the wide popularity of massively-multi-player online games, this goal may seem less important. However, if we can reliably produce human-like NPCs, this can open up an entirely new genre of game play. In this paper, we focus on emulating human behaviors in strategic game settings, and focus on a Social Ultimatum Game as the testbed for developing and evaluating a set of metrics for comparing various autonomous agents to human behavior collected from live experiments.
Adiabatic SRAM with a shared access port using a controlled ground line and step-voltage circuit

An adiabatic 64-kb SRAM circuit with shared reading and writing ports was designed, which enables gradual charging and discharging while maintaining a large VDD so that the problems of VT variation and electromigration in the nanocircuit can be solved. In the writing mode, the voltage of the memory cell ground line is increased to VDD/2 gradually, and the nMOSFET is turned off so that the memory cell ground line is set in a high-impedance state. Data can then be written easily by decreasing the voltage of one bit line adiabatically, while the voltage of the other bit line remains high. For reading, using the shared reading port, the voltage swing of the global bit-line can be decreased to VDD/4 so that the problems of electromigration can be solved. The reading method enables a gradual current flow in the memory cell. We designed the cell layout and confirmed that the number of transistors in the cell is quasi-six. In addition, two types of new step voltage circuits with tank capacitors are proposed. One is for producing the memory cell ground line voltage and the other for charging the word line voltage adiabatically. Spontaneous step voltage formation is confirmed experimentally.