Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beyond Gender Performance in Accounting: Does Personality Distinction Matter?

Abstract This study questions whether the contradictory results from previous studies of gender and performance in accounting is because gender has no mutually homogeneous groups. A combination of gender and personality types will provide a more balanced picture of academic performance in accounting. There are three main findings in this study: the dichotomous gender variable covers two groups that are mutually heterogeneous, and it contributes to diluting any effects of gender on academic performance in management accounting; when each of these groups is combined with personality characteristics of female and male students, we obtain a more robust and complex picture, showing that gender combined with personal preferences is significant for performance; performance is independent of personality preferences when it comes to positive affect of ability, perceived preparation before lectures, after lectures, and interest for the subject, and negative affect of perceived degree of difficulty of the subject.
Involvement of an Arginine Triplet in M1 Matrix Protein Interaction with Membranes and in M1 Recruitment into Virus-Like Particles of the Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Virus

The influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus caused the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century. In this study, we wanted to decipher the role of conserved basic residues of the viral M1 matrix protein in virus assembly and release. M1 plays many roles in the influenza virus replication cycle. Specifically, it participates in viral particle assembly, can associate with the viral ribonucleoprotein complexes and can bind to the cell plasma membrane and/or the cytoplasmic tail of viral transmembrane proteins. M1 contains an N-terminal domain of 164 amino acids with two basic domains: the nuclear localization signal on helix 6 and an arginine triplet (R76/77/78) on helix 5. To investigate the role of these two M1 basic domains in influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus molecular assembly, we analyzed M1 attachment to membranes, virus-like particle (VLP) production and virus infectivity. In vitro, M1 binding to large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), which contain negatively charged lipids, decreased significantly when the M1 R76/77/78 motif was mutated. In cells, M1 alone was mainly observed in the nucleus (47%) and in the cytosol (42%). Conversely, when co-expressed with the viral proteins NS1/NEP and M2, M1 was relocated to the cell membranes (55%), as shown by subcellular fractionation experiments. This minimal system allowed the production of M1 containing-VLPs. However, M1 with mutations in the arginine triplet accumulated in intracellular clusters and its incorporation in VLPs was strongly diminished. M2 over-expression was essential for M1 membrane localization and VLP production, whereas the viral trans-membrane proteins HA and NA seemed dispensable. These results suggest that the M1 arginine triplet participates in M1 interaction with membranes. This R76/77/78 motif is essential for M1 incorporation in virus particles and the importance of this motif was confirmed by reverse genetic demonstrating that its mutation is lethal for the virus. These results highlight the molecular mechanism of M1-membrane interaction during the formation of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus particles which is essential for infectivity.
DISC1 (Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia-1) Regulates Differentiation of Oligodendrocytes

Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a gene disrupted by a translocation, t(1;11) (q42.1;q14.3), that segregates with major psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, recurrent major depression and bipolar affective disorder, in a Scottish family. Here we report that mammalian DISC1 endogenously expressed in oligodendroglial lineage cells negatively regulates differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells into oligodendrocytes. DISC1 expression was detected in oligodendrocytes of the mouse corpus callosum at P14 and P70. DISC1 mRNA was expressed in primary cultured rat cortical oligodendrocyte precursor cells and decreased when oligodendrocyte precursor cells were induced to differentiate by PDGF deprivation. Immunocytochemical analysis showed that overexpressed DISC1 was localized in the cell bodies and processes of oligodendrocyte precursor cells and oligodendrocytes. We show that expression of the myelin related markers, CNPase and MBP, as well as the number of cells with a matured oligodendrocyte morphology, were decreased following full length DISC1 overexpression. Conversely, both expression of CNPase and the number of oligodendrocytes with a mature morphology were increased following knockdown of endogenous DISC1 by RNA interference. Overexpression of a truncated form of DISC1 also resulted in an increase in expression of myelin related proteins and the number of mature oligodendrocytes, potentially acting via a dominant negative mechanism. We also identified involvement of Sox10 and Nkx2.2 in the DISC1 regulatory pathway of oligodendrocyte differentiation, both well-known transcription factors involved in the regulation of myelin genes.
A Three-Stemmed mRNA Pseudoknot in the SARS Coronavirus Frameshift Signal

A wide range of RNA viruses use programmed −1 ribosomal frameshifting for the production of viral fusion proteins. Inspection of the overlap regions between ORF1a and ORF1b of the SARS-CoV genome revealed that, similar to all coronaviruses, a programmed −1 ribosomal frameshift could be used by the virus to produce a fusion protein. Computational analyses of the frameshift signal predicted the presence of an mRNA pseudoknot containing three double-stranded RNA stem structures rather than two. Phylogenetic analyses showed the conservation of potential three-stemmed pseudoknots in the frameshift signals of all other coronaviruses in the GenBank database. Though the presence of the three-stemmed structure is supported by nuclease mapping and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance studies, our findings suggest that interactions between the stem structures may result in local distortions in the A-form RNA. These distortions are particularly evident in the vicinity of predicted A-bulges in stems 2 and 3. In vitro and in vivo frameshifting assays showed that the SARS-CoV frameshift signal is functionally similar to other viral frameshift signals: it promotes efficient frameshifting in all of the standard assay systems, and it is sensitive to a drug and a genetic mutation that are known to affect frameshifting efficiency of a yeast virus. Mutagenesis studies reveal that both the specific sequences and structures of stems 2 and 3 are important for efficient frameshifting. We have identified a new RNA structural motif that is capable of promoting efficient programmed ribosomal frameshifting. The high degree of conservation of three-stemmed mRNA pseudoknot structures among the coronaviruses suggests that this presents a novel target for antiviral therapeutics.
Time Delay Estimation of Reverberant Meeting Speech: On the Use of Multichannel Linear Prediction

Effective and efficient access to multiparty meeting recordings requires techniques for meeting analysis and indexing. Since meeting participants are generally stationary, speaker location information may be used to identify meeting events e.g., detect speaker changes. Time-delay estimation (TDE) utilizing cross-correlation of multichannel speech recordings is a common approach for deriving speech source location information. Research improved TDE by calculating TDE from linear prediction (LP) residual signals obtained from LP analysis on each individual speech channel. This paper investigates the use of LP residuals for speech TDE, where the residuals are obtained from jointly modeling the multiple speech channels. Experiments conducted with a simulated reverberant room and real room recordings show that jointly modeled LP better predicts the LP coefficients, compared to LP applied to individual channels. Both the individually and jointly modeled LP exhibit similar TDE performance, and outperform TDE on the speech alone, especially with the real recordings.
Re-envisioning the Professional Doctorate for Educational Leadership and Higher Education Leadership: Vanderbilt University's Peabody College Ed.D. Program

This article describes the process by which the faculty of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College conceived and implemented a new doctoral program designed for senior education practitioners. The authors describe the organizational context in which decisions were made. Next, they explain the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the revised degree program. Then, specifics of the program curriculum and delivery are detailed. Finally, the article explores how the reconceptualized program is differentiated from the traditional research doctorate. At Vanderbilt, the Ed.D. is designed for mid-career professionals with an orientation to practice who seek a terminal degree and career advancement within their organizations. It is oriented toward solving problems of practice and takes as its goal placement of graduates into senior leadership positions within educational organizations.
Complexity, Deconstruction and Relativism

The acknowledgement that something is complex, it is argued, implies that our knowledge of it will always be limited. We cannot make complete, absolute or final claims about complex systems. Post-structuralism, and specifically deconstruction, make similar claims about knowledge in general. Arguments against deconstruction can, therefore, also be held against a critical form of complexity thinking and a defence of the view from complexity (as presented here) should take account of them. Three of these arguments are investigated: that deconstruction and complexity-thinking lead to relativism, that they are subject to the performative contradiction and that their claims are vague. It is shown that these critiques are not really effective and it is suggested that a responsible approach to complexity has to be provisional, i.e. modest, without being vague or relativistic.
The effects of atrial fibrillation on functional recovery in post-stroke patients.

PURPOSE This study evaluates the negative effects of atrial fibrillation (AF) on after stroke recovery and its relationship with age and other concomitant diseases. METHOD One hundred and ninety-nine consecutive inpatients, after their first stroke, were enrolled and entered a rehabilitation program lasting 60 days. The mean interval since the stroke was 19 days. The disability, both at admission and at discharge, was assessed by Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Atrial fibrillation was diagnosed at admission on the basis of electrocardiographic recordings. Gender, age, blood pressure and blood sugar level were also taken into account. RESULTS Stroke patients suffering from AF, when compared to those lacking AF, have higher disability at admission as well as at discharge and had a lesser gain in functional recovery. No statistical difference of the AF occurrence was found between male and female patients. The negative correlation between age and functional gain was found only in AF patients. There was also a significant association between AF and hypertension, but not between AF and diabetes. At the beginning and at the end of the study, the median FIM scores of all the patients with AF were quite similar irrespective of manifesting hypertension, diabetes or neither of these two. CONCLUSIONS The presence of AF has a negative prognostic value on post stroke outcome, particularly in the elderly patients. The pattern of recovery of stroke subjects having AF is not influenced by concomitant diseases like hypertension or diabetes.
Synergistic Effect of Various Virulence Factors Leading to High Toxicity of Environmental V. cholerae Non-O1/ Non-O139 Isolates Lacking ctx Gene : Comparative Study with Clinical Strains

Background Vibrio cholerae non-O1/ non-O139 serogroups have been reported to cause sporadic diarrhoea in humans. Cholera toxins have been mostly implicated for hypersecretion of ions and water into the small intestine. Though most of the V. cholerae non-O1/ non-O139 strains lack these cholera toxins, several other innate virulence factors contribute towards their pathogenicity. The environmental isolates may thus act as reservoirs for potential spreading of these virulence genes in the natural environment which may cause the emergence of epidemic-causing organisms. Results The environmental isolates of vibrios were obtained from water samples, zooplanktons and phytoplanktons, from a village pond in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. They were confirmed as Vibrio cholerae non-O1/ non-O139 using standard biochemical and serotyping tests. PCR experiments revealed that the isolates lacked ctxA, ctxB, tcpA, zot and ace genes whereas other pathogenicity genes like toxR, rtxC, hlyA, hapA and prtV were detected in these isolates. Compared with epidemic strain V. cholerae O1 El Tor N16961, culture supernatants from most of these isolates caused higher cytotoxicity to HT29 cells and higher hemolytic, hemagglutinin and protease activities. In rabbit ileal loop assays, the environmental isolates showed only 2-4 folds lesser fluid accumulation in comparison to N16961 and a V. cholerae clinical isolate IDH02365 of 2009. Pulsed Field Gel electrophoresis and Random amplification of Polymorphic DNA indicated that these isolates showed considerable diversity and did not share the same clonal lineage even though they were derived from the same water source. All the isolates showed resistance to one or more antibiotics. Conclusion Though these environmental isolates lacked the cholera toxins, they seem to have adopted other survival strategies by optimally utilising a diverse array of several other toxins. The current findings indicate the possibility that these isolates could cause some gastroenteric inflammation when ingested and may serve as progenitors for overt disease-causing organisms.
Graph-based power-efficient beam sweep for initial synchronization

This paper addresses the problem of initial synchronization of users in an indoor mm-Wave scenario. By using a massive number of antenna elements at access nodes, the resulting beams have narrow beamwidth. However, the transmission of individual narrow beams may cause poor coverage in some areas as the energy is concentrated over the direction of their main lobes. To cope with that, a beam sweep procedure using phased arrays is adopted. Access nodes simultaneously transmit individual beams until a certain area of interest is thoroughly scanned. The goal is to find the minimum power setting by adjusting the individual power levels so that users over the scanned area can observe a minimum received power level. The problem is formulated as a total consumed power minimization, suitably modeled for the standard min-sum algorithm. The proposed graph-based algorithm features some modifications in the message computation to decrease computational complexity, and adopts a random message-passing scheduling to deal with convergence issues. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm usually outperforms a baseline iterative one, consuming about 13% less power in a typical simulation setup adopted.
Marathon Running on a Sand Dune: The Changing Role of the Headteacher in England and Wales

Details the research findings of a longitudinal national study to examine the changing role of secondary headteachers. Provides some basic information about the United Kingdom′s (UK) education system, and outlines the traditional role of the head in a short historical perspective which shows that education in the UK is currently undergoing unprecedented change, and legislation has created restructuring on a national scale. Details the new education context. Relates the heads′ views on the changing situation, as well as the changes in administrative roles and style that take place as new heads settle into the job.
The use of assessment in the development of higher-order thinking skills

Abstract In an increasingly complex and specialised society, it is imperative that individuals think critically and creatively. This kind of thinking is also required to achieve the critical outcomes as stated in the Revised National Curriculum Statement for South Africa. It seems, however, that higher-order thinking is unlikely to occur unless learners are engaged in activities that deliberately promote this kind of thinking. They should also be guided on how to engage in these complex thinking tasks. The aim of this article is to reflect on the use of assessment to promote learners' higher-order thinking skills. The role of assessment has implications for the nature of teacher training programmes. If lecturers model the way assessment can be done to develop higher-order thinking skills, it is hoped that teachers will have little difficulty in adapting it to their unique classroom situations. Examples from language modules of an in-service teacher training programme are used to show how assessment can be.
Learning capability and business performance: a non‐financial and financial assessment

Purpose – There has been little research that includes reliable deductions about the positive influence of learning capability on business performance. For this reason, the main objective of the present study is to empirically explore the link between learning capability in organizations and business performance evaluated in both financial and non‐financial terms.Design/methodology/approach – Using data from 111 Spanish companies, research was conducted through a structural equation modelling. In doing so, a measurement model was conducted for the main constructs – learning capability, financial performance and non‐financial performance‐ and examine the paths between them.Findings – The analysis shows the positive link existing between: learning capability and non‐financial performance; and non‐financial performance and financial performance.Originality/value – This is a detailed empirical examination of learning capability as a source of performance in organizations. It should be of value to all those wh.
Molecular prenatal diagnosis of a sporadic alobar holoprosencephalic fetus: genotype-phenotype correlations.

OBJECTIVE holoprosencephaly is the most common forebrain malformation syndrome with a multifactorial etiology. Currently, mutations are identified in 5-10% of non syndromic, non-chromosomal cases in at least 12 genes. We report the molecular prenatal diagnosis of a fetus with alobar holoprosencephaly. METHODS CTG band karyotyping and array CGH genome-wide cytogenetic screenings were done, in conjunction with DNA sequence analyses of the SHH, ZIC2, SIX3 and TGIF genes in search of a molecular etiology and with comparison of findings to prior cases. RESULTS standard CTG band karyotyping and array CGH genome-wide screening failed to identify plausible chromosome imbalances or structural anomalies. However, extensive sequencing of the genomic DNA from the fetus and both parents on all exon and exon-intron boundaries of the four most commonly mutated genes: SHH, ZIC2, SIX3 and TGIF, identified codon 100 of the sonic hedgehog (SHH) gene having a hotspot for loss-of-function mutations in our case and others. CONCLUSION mutations in codon 100 of SHH were discovered in both sporadic and autosomal dominant inherited cases with evidence of variable expressivity and penetrance. Collectively, this study reinforces the complexity of genotype-phenotype correlations in the prenatal diagnosis of holoprosencephalic fetuses.
Sales Force Control Systems: A Review of Measurement Practices and Proposed Scale Refinements

In spite of the intense interest in the area of sales force control (SFC), the literature is characterized by an absence of consensus on what constitutes good measurement of SFC. Among the various measurement scales, the scale developed by Babakus and his colleagues (Babakus et al. 1996) has gained wide acceptance. However, the BCCS (Babakus and colleagues control system) scale’s measurement and operationalization has not been consistent across studies. Based on three different samples, the present study seeks to critically evaluate and cross-validate the measurement properties of the BCCS. The results show that a shortened 13-item version of the original BCCS scale performs better than the full version against several evaluation criteria.
Targeting the dopamine D1 receptor or its downstream signalling by inhibiting phosphodiesterase‐1 improves cognitive performance

Insufficient prefrontal dopamine 1 (D1) receptor signalling has been linked to cognitive dysfunction in several psychiatric conditions. Because the PDE1 isoform B (PDE1B) is postulated to regulate D1 receptor‐dependent signal transduction, in this study we aimed to elucidate the role of PDE1 in cognitive processes reliant on D1 receptor function.
Reference Ontology

Given the increasing number of ontologies available on the web, it becomes crucial to establish, as far as possible, a Reference ontology for each knowledge domain, to attenuate in a concrete way the many problems generated by information heterogeneity on one hand and to realize information share and reuse on the other hand, all purposes for which ontologies were originally created for. The present work is an attempt to better understand what is so called “Reference ontology” by gathering and analyzing almost all what has been written on this emerging ontology type.
Hemodialysis shortens long in vitro closure times as measured by the PFA-100.

BACKGROUND Hemorrhagic complications are commonly encountered in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Uremic patients show a bleeding diathesis mainly due to abnormalities in platelet function. There are several tests to detect and measure impairment of hemostasis in these patients, but none appear to be ideal. In recent years, the PFA-100 (platelet function analyzer) was introduced to measure primary, platelet-dependent hemostasis. In this study, the effect of hemodialysis on platelet function was evaluated using the PFA-100 in patients with ESRD. MATERIAL/METHODS The study was performed on 45 patients with ESRD undergoing regular hemodialysis aged between 20-76 years (median: 54 years). Collagen/epinephrine (CEPI) and collagen/ADP (CADP) closure times were measured before and after the hemodialysis session using the PFA. RESULTS CEPI (normal range: 85-165 sec) was significantly shortened from 230+/-60 to 206+/-63 sec after hemodialysis (p<0.05). The CADP (normal range: 71-118 sec) was also shortened by hemodialysis from 177+/-69 to 169+/-71 sec (p>0.05). CEPI closure times of 10 (26%) in 38 patients with long CT returned to normal after hemodialysis. CADP closure times of 9 (25%) of 36 patients with long CT returned to normal after hemodialysis. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms the existence of a dysfunction of primary hemostasis in patients with ESRD, and hemodialysis has the ability to correct some part of the hemostatic disturbances. As a sensitive, specific, reproducible, easy to perform, and noninvasive test for platelet-related primary hemostasis, the PFA-100 system may become a useful tool for an overall evaluation of primary hemostasis in patients with ESRD.