Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cultural Values and Motivation in Nigeria Work Settings

There has been general upsurge in cultures and management research in the last decades. Despite this fact, empirical studies on culture dimensions to management practices in Sub-Saharan Africa have been limited in numbers and scope. In Africa, there is very limited knowledge about cultural values and the consequences they pose for employee motivation. A major research question this study tries to address is whether the results could help to explain the disappointing economic development of Nigeria. The findings do confirm profound employee motivational values with the family collective interests playing a very important role in Nigeria. The study challenges the validity of the dominant Western universal perspectives in employee motivation in traditional African organizations. The study suggests that elements of traditional values pose serious challenges to African managers’ abilities to adopt local cultural and traditional values practices that can improve the effectiveness of employee motivation in their organizations.
Test modification and compression technique for reducing total test volume with dictionary data

Though a number of techniques for test data compression have been proposed until now, most of them have not taken into consideration the volume of dictionary data that specify decompression rules. This paper presents a test modification and compression technique for reducing total test volume including dictionary data. As for most test compression techniques such as Huffman coding based methods, if we determine the block size large, it results in small test volume but large dictionary volume. Therefore, it has been thought that large block sizes are ineffective for total test data volume reduction. However, if dictionary volume can be greatly reduced, large block sizes can be more effective. This paper describes a compression method for reducing total test volume, especially dictionary volume, by using a technique that produces a test set for which the number of code words is small in the case of a large block size. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown through test data compression experiments for ISCAS '89 benchmark circuits
The effect of homework compliance on treatment outcomes for participants with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

PURPOSE This study examined the relationship between level of treatment engagement through completion of homework on treatment outcomes within nonpharmacological interventions for participants with ME/CFS. METHOD A sample of 82 participants with ME/CFS was randomly assigned to one of four nonpharmacological interventions. Each intervention involved 13 sessions over the course of 6 months. Change scores were computed for self-report measures taken at baseline and 12-month follow-up. Homework compliance was calculated as the percentage of completed assignments across the total number of sessions and grouped into three categories: minimum (0-25%), moderate (25.1-75%), or maximum (75.1-100%). RESULTS Findings revealed that after controlling for treatment condition, those who completed a maximum amount of homework had greater improvement on a number of self-report outcome measures involving role, social, and mental health functioning. There were no differential improvements in physical and fatigue functioning based on level of homework compliance. IMPLICATIONS Findings from this study suggest homework compliance can have a positive influence on some aspects of physical, social, and mental health functioning in participants with ME/CFS. It should be emphasized that these interventions do not cure this illness. The lack of significant changes in physical functioning and fatigue levels suggests a need for more multidisciplinary treatment approaches that can elicit improvement in these areas.
Adapting the reducing sugars method with dinitrosalicylic acid to microtiter plates and microwave heating

Um metodo estavel, confiavel, eficiente com relacao a tempo e custo para deteccao de acucares redutores, baseado no metodo colorimetrico do acido dinitrossalicilico (DNS), adaptado para placas de microtitulacao em um banho de agua modificado com tratamento de microondas e proposto. Alem da influencia benefica sobre o meio ambiente devido a reducao do volume dos reagentes utilizados, o metodo modificado e rapido e permite a analise de um numero relativamente alto de amostras. Pode ser aplicado em diversos tipos de laboratorios, de processamento de alimentos a industrias farmaceuticas. O metodo adaptado foi parcialmente validado (intervalo de linearidade entre 7 µg e 5 mg per poco; limite de deteccao 3 µg per poco, desvio padrao em torno de 5% para curvas de calibracao com glucose, e recuperacao superior a 90%) e aplicado a series de produtos contendo acucares redutores, como amostras de mel e vinho e medicamentos que contem lactose como excipiente. O metodo proposto e bem adaptado como uma tecnica de alto rendimento para determinacao de acucares redutores, pois todas amostras analisadas deram resultados esperados de acordo com as suas notas tecnicas. A sound, reliable, time- and cost-efficient method for detection of reducing sugars, based on the well known dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) colorimetric method, adapted for microtiter plates, in a modified water bath with microwave treatment is proposed. Besides the benefic influence on the environment due to the reduction of the volume of the reagents, the modified method is rapid and allows the analysis of a relatively high number of samples. It can be applied in many types of laboratories from food processing to pharmaceutical industries. The adapted method was partially validated (linearity range between 7 µg and 5 mg per well; limit of detection 3 µg per well, standard deviation around 5% for calibration curves with glucose, and a recovery higher than 90%) and applied to a series of products containing reducing sugars, such as honey, wine samples and drugs containing lactose as an excipient. The proposed method is well-suited as a high-throughput technique for determination of reducing sugars as all the analyzed samples gave the expected results according with their technical notes.
Incentives for Quality in Friendly and Hostile Informational Environments

We develop a model of costly quality provision under biased disclosure. We define as friendly an environment in which the disclosure probability increases with quality, and as hostile an environment in which the opposite holds. Hostile environments produce a positive externality among sellers and potentially multiple equilibria. In contrast, friendly environments always yield a unique equilibrium. We establish that the environment that maximizes quality generates signals contradicting buyers' expectations. Hence, hostility produces greater incentives for quality than friendliness when costs are low and monitoring resources high.
The prion/lipid hypothesis – further evidence to support the molecular basis for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy risk assessment

Defining the molecular structure of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agent is important both for underpinning risk assessments and for developing and understanding decontamination strategies. Recent studies have shown that oligomeric particles comprising 14–28 prion protein (PrP) molecules are much more infectious than larger fibrils (prion rods) or indeed smaller oligomers (trimers) and PrP monomers. Here, results from deactivation studies (with alkali, heat, hexane or formaldehyde) are interpreted in terms of the infectious nucleation seed comprising 14–28 PrP molecules held together by interactions with amphipathic phospholipid (PL) or more probably sphingolipid (SL) from the host. According to the PrP/lipid hypothesis, the strength of the protein/lipid interactions accounts for the high thermostability of TSE infectivity and for differences in thermostability between strains. The implications of the molecular biophysics data for environmental TSE risk assessments are discussed with respect to behaviour in soil. While formaldehyde appears to cause inactivation of scrapie infectivity by increasing the ID50, the dose–response is complicated by apparent heterogeneity between hamster subpopulations in susceptibility. The process of inactivation by formaldehyde may be due to cross‐linking the highly infectious 14–28 PrP oligomers into larger, but less infectious aggregates. This process appears more reversible in some hamster subpopulations than others.
“Because I'm Bad at the Game!” A Microanalytic Study of Self Regulated Learning in League of Legends

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a form of learning guided by the student's own meta-cognition, motivation, and strategic action, often in the absence of an educator. The use of SRL processes and skills has been demonstrated across numerous academic and non-academic contexts including athletics. However, manifestation of these processes within esports has not been studied. Similar to traditional athletes, esports players' performance is likely correlated with their ability to engage SRL skills as they train. Thus, the study of SRL in the context of esports would be valuable in supporting players' learning and mastery of play through specialized training and computational support. Further, an understanding of how SRL manifests in esports would highlight new opportunities to use esports in education. Existing work on SRL in games, however, predominantly focuses on educational games. In this work, we aim to take a first step in the study of SRL in esports by replicating Kitsantas and Zimmerman's (2002) volleyball study in the context of League of Legends. We compared the self-regulatory processes of expert, non-expert, and novice League of Legends players, and found that there were significant differences for processes in the forethought phase. We discuss three implications of these findings: what they mean for the development of future computational tools for esports players, implications that esports may be able to teach SRL skills that transfer to academics, and what educational technology can learn from esports to create more effective tools.
The Role of Benford's Law in the Relationship between Accounting Conservatism, Institutional Investors and Earnings Management: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Benford's law in the relationship between accounting conservatism, institutional investors and earnings management in listed companies on the Stock Exchange in Tehran. In this study, it is tried to evaluate the effect of accounting conservatism and institutional ownership on the earnings manipulation in the business entity and test the interaction of these two criteria. In order to obtain earnings management, first four digits of net profit of companies for the period of 2005 to 2014 has been tested using Benford's law and this has been done with the use of different groups of sample companies with varying degrees of conservatism and institutional ownership. Khan and Watts (2009) model has also been used to calculate accounting conservatism and the central index of median has been used to determine high and low levels of accounting conservatism and institutional ownership. The statistical method used to test conservatism is multivariate regression using generalized least squares estimation method (EGLS) and chi-square test has been used for each of the hypotheses. The results that are obtained based on Benford's Law and Chi-square test indicate that when accounting conservatism is high and institutional investors' criterion is low or vice versa at the same time, these two criteria can reduce earning management in the business unit.
The Life Cycle of Beta

The literature shows that beta is time-varying and difficult to predict using historically measured beta. We postulate that beta has an uncertainty component reflecting the life-cycle of the firm. Young firms are typically untested entities with considerable uncertainty. As this uncertainty resolves itself, the firm's beta declines. We document this decline and provide evidence that firm age is an important determinant. Fundamental factors and non-age proxies for information and uncertainty only partially explain this pattern. Overall, age is an important conditioning variable to consider when examining the time-variation of beta and the relation between beta and cost of capital.
Sulindac and Its Metabolites Inhibit Multiple Transport Proteins in Rat and Human Hepatocytes

Sulindac is a commonly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. This study tested the hypothesis that sulindac-mediated drug–drug interactions and/or hepatotoxicity may be caused, in part, by inhibition of proteins responsible for the hepatic transport of drugs and/or bile acids by sulindac and/or sulindac metabolites [sulindac sulfone (S-sulfone) and sulindac sulfide (S-sulfide)]. The uptake and excretion of model substrates, [3H]taurocholate (TC), [3H]estradiol 17-β-glucuronide (E217G), and nitrofurantoin (NF), were investigated in rat and human suspended and sandwich-cultured hepatocytes (SCH). In suspended rat hepatocytes, S-sulfone and S-sulfide inhibited Na+-dependent TC initial uptake (IC50 of 24.9 ± 6.4 and 12.5 ± 1.8 μM, respectively) and Na+-independent E217G initial uptake (IC50 of 12.1 ± 1.6 and 6.3 ± 0.3 μM, respectively). In rat SCH, sulindac metabolites (100 μM) decreased the in vitro biliary clearance (Clbiliary) of TC, E217G, and NF by 38 to 83%, 81 to 97%, and 33 to 57%, respectively; S-sulfone and S-sulfide also decreased the TC and NF biliary excretion index by 39 to 55%. In suspended human hepatocytes, S-sulfone and S-sulfide inhibited Na+-dependent TC initial uptake (IC50 of 42.2 and 3.1 μM, respectively); S-sulfide also inhibited the TC Clbiliary in human SCH. Sulindac/metabolites markedly inhibited hepatic uptake and biliary excretion of E217G by 51 to 100% in human SCH. In conclusion, sulindac and metabolites are potent inhibitors of the uptake and biliary clearance of bile acids in rat and human hepatocytes and also inhibit substrates of rat breast cancer resistance protein, rat and human organic anion-transporting polypeptides, and human multidrug resistance-associated protein 2. Inhibition of multiple hepatic transport proteins by sulindac/metabolites may play an important role in clinically significant sulindac-mediated drug–drug interactions and/or liver injury.
HS-Nets: Estimating Human Body Shape from Silhouettes with Convolutional Neural Networks

We represent human body shape estimation from binary silhouettes or shaded images as a regression problem, and describe a novel method to tackle it using CNNs. Utilizing a parametric body model, we train CNNs to learn a global mapping from the input to shape parameters used to reconstruct the shapes of people, in neutral poses, with the application of garment fitting in mind. This results in an accurate, robust and automatic system, orders of magnitude faster than methods we compare to, enabling interactive applications. In addition, we show how to combine silhouettes from two views to improve prediction over a single view. The method is extensively evaluated on thousands of synthetic shapes and real data and compared to state of-art approaches, clearly outperforming methods based on global fitting and strongly competing with more expensive local fitting based ones.
Impaired fear inhibition is a biomarker of PTSD but not depression

Background: A central problem in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a reduced capacity to suppress fear under safe conditions. Previously, we have shown that combat‐related PTSD patients have impaired inhibition of fear‐potentiated startle (FPS). Given the high comorbidity between PTSD and depression, our goal was to see whether this impairment is specific to PTSD, or a non‐specific symptom associated with both disorders. Methods: Fear‐potentiated startle was assessed in 106 trauma‐exposed individuals divided into four groups: (a) No diagnosis control, (b) PTSD only, (c) major depression (MDD) only, and (d) comorbid PTSD and MDD. We used a novel conditional discrimination procedure, in which one set of shapes (the danger signal) was paired with aversive airblasts to the throat, and different shapes (the safety signal) were presented without airblasts. The paradigm also included fear inhibition transfer test. Results: Subjects with comorbid MDD and PTSD had higher FPS to the safety signal and to the transfer test compared to controls and MDD only subjects. In contrast to the control and MDD groups, the PTSD and comorbid PTSD and MDD groups did not show fear inhibition to safety cues. Conclusions: These results suggest that impaired fear inhibition may be a specific biomarker of PTSD symptoms. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Protein a treatment of cancer: Activation of a serum component with trans‐species anti‐B16 melanoma activity

Mice (C57BL) succumbed to cultured B16 melanoma cells i.p. with reproducible kinetics and an MST2 of about 26 days. Serum from tumour‐bearing or normal mice was treated at 0°C with fixed SAC cells and injected i.p. into fresh tumour‐bearing mice. If serum was given 7 days or less after B16 inoculation, the MST of the mice was highly significantly increased by up to 32%. Similar activity has been generated in normal human, rabbit and guinea‐pig serum, while untreated sera were ineffective. Apparently the sera contained an inactive native precursor that was activated by the SAC to produce an anti‐tumour agent. Precursor and product were both relatively labile at 0°C. Anti‐tumour activity was eluted at pH 2.5 from SAC or Sepharose‐protein‐A pretreated with serum, thus implicating the protein A component of SAC. The eluates contained haemolytically active Cl, the first component of complement, and five crude Cl preparations made by standard methods showed good anti‐tumour activity. However, seven other highly haemolytic Cl preparations had no anti‐tumour effect. Similarly, two crude preparations of the subcomponent Clq had good anti‐tumour activity, but eight other, more pure and highly haemolytic Clq preparations were inactive in mice. Thus the antitumour principle was not Cl or Clq alone, although it had some chemical properties in common with these substances. It remains unidentified, but has potential interest for cancer therapy.
Cranio‐lenticulo‐sutural dysplasia associated with defects in collagen secretion

Boyadjiev SA, Kim S‐D, Hata A, Haldeman‐Englert C, Zackai EH, Naydenov C, Hamamoto S, Schekman RW, Kim J. Cranio‐lenticulo‐sutural dysplasia associated with defects in collagen secretion.
Borrelia burgdorferi Surface-Localized Proteins Expressed during Persistent Murine Infection Are Conserved among Diverse Borrelia spp

ABSTRACT Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease in the United States, regulates numerous genes encoding lipoproteins on linear plasmid 54 in response to environmental cues. We analyzed a subset of these genes/proteins that were historically categorized as paralogous gene family 54 (BBA64, BBA65, BBA66, BBA68, BBA69, BBA70, BBA71, and BBA73) and found that the expression of several genes was influenced by the σN-σS regulatory cascade at the level of transcription and protein synthesis. Moreover, we established in this and a previous study that BBA65, BBA66, BBA69, BBA71, and BBA73 are temporally expressed during persistent infection of immunocompetent mice, as determined by quantitative real time-PCR of ear tissue, by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and by immunoblotting. Correspondingly, BBA65, BBA66, BBA71, and BBA73 proteins were detectable in infectious B. burgdorferi B31 isolates but undetectable in noninfectious isolates. BBA65, BBA66, BBA71, and BBA73 proteins were also found to partition into the Triton X-114 detergent phase and were sensitive to protease treatment of intact cells, indicating that they are membrane associated and surface localized. Lastly, Southern blotting and PCR with specific gene primer/probes for BBA64, BBA65, BBA66, BBA71, and BBA73 suggest that many of these genes are conserved among the B. burgdorferi sensu lato isolates and the relapsing-fever Borrelia species. Together, the data presented suggest that these genes may play a part in Borrelia infection and/or pathogenicity that could extend beyond the sensu lato group.
Shame Mediates the Relationship Between Pain Invalidation and Depression

The experience of pain is subjective, yet many people have their pain invalidated or not believed. Pain invalidation is associated with poor mental health, including depression and lower well-being. Qualitative investigations of invalidating experiences identify themes of depression, but also social withdrawal, self-criticism, and lower self-worth, all of which are core components of shame. Despite this, no studies have quantitatively assessed the interrelationship between pain invalidation, shame, and depression. To explore this relationship, participants recounted the frequency of experienced pain invalidation from family, friends, and medical professionals, as well as their feelings of internalized shame and depressive symptoms. As shame has been shown to be a precursor for depression, we further explored the role of shame as a mediator between pain invalidation and depressive symptoms. All sources of pain invalidation were positively associated with shame and depressive symptoms, and shame fully mediated the relationship between each source of pain invalidation and depression. Relative to other sources, pain invalidation from family was most closely tied to shame and depression. Overall, findings indicate that one mechanism by which pain invalidation may facilitate depression is via the experience of shame. Future research may explore shame as a potential upstream precursor to depression in the context of pain. Findings provide more insight into the harmful influence of pain invalidation on mental health and highlight the impact of interpersonal treatment on the experiences of people in pain.
Treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia in renal transplant recipients. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Stable renal transplant recipients have an excess prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia, which is a risk factor for arteriosclerosis. OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of treatment with 1) vitamin B6 or 2) folic acid plus vitamin B12 on fasting and post-methionine-loading plasma total homocysteine levels in renal transplant recipients. DESIGN Block-randomized, placebo-controlled, 2 x 2 factorial study. SETTING University-affiliated transplantation program. PATIENTS 29 clinically stable renal transplant recipients. INTERVENTION Patients were randomly assigned to one of four regimens: placebo (n = 8); vitamin B6, 50 mg/d (n = 7); folic acid, 5 mg/d, and vitamin B12, 0.4 mg/d (n = 7); or vitamin B6, 50 mg/d, folic acid, 5 mg/d, and vitamin B12, 0.4 mg/d (n = 7). MEASUREMENTS Fasting and 2-hour post-methionine-loading plasma total homocysteine levels. RESULTS Vitamin B6 treatment resulted in a 22.1% reduction in geometric-mean post-methionine-loading increases in plasma total homocysteine levels (P = 0.042), and folic acid plus vitamin B12 treatment caused a 26.2% reduction in geometric-mean fasting plasma total homocysteine levels (P = 0.027). These results occurred after adjustment for age; sex; and pretreatment levels of total homocysteine, B vitamins, and creatinine. CONCLUSIONS Vitamin B6 should be added to the combination of folic acid and vitamin B12 for effective reduction of both post-methionine-loading and fasting plasma total homocysteine levels in renal transplant recipients.