Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIGH-PERFORMANCE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR, AND UNIT PERFORMANCE AND VOLUNTARY TURNOVER IN THE FAST FOOD FRANCHISE INDUSTRY

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIGH-PERFORMANCE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR, AND UNIT PERFORMANCE AND VOLUNTARY TURNOVER IN THE FAST FOOD FRANCHISE INDUSTRY By Martin Luytjes The purpose of this study is to advance knowledge and practitioner understanding of human resource dynamics of the U.S. fast food franchise (FFF) industry, one plagued by extraordinary voluntary turnover (VTO), estimated at 75% of total turnover, and its effects on unit productivity. Following the research of Sun, Aryee, and Law (2007), this study looks for the potential of improving the VTO problem through the practice of highperformance human resource management (HPHRM) and the potential benefits of service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (SOCB) that it offers. This study used primary research, namely the domestic operating units of a nationally franchised sub sandwich chain, with a sample size of 112 units representing 14.8% of the total units and the evaluation of 336 hourly employees. Results showed a strong correlation between HPHRM and VTO, but surprisingly there was no significant relationship between HPHRM and productivity. Despite a modest correlation between HPHRM and SOCB, that relationship did not demonstrate any significant mediating effect on the HPHRM/VTO relationship. The results may indicate a differentiation between the effectiveness of HPHRM and SOCB depending on the performance level of hourly employees, noting that low-performing employees do not respond to HPHRM or demonstrate SOCB as well as others. Numerous opportunities for further research are suggested, especially in light of the size and impact of the domestic FFF industry.
A data-aided iterative UWB receiver with LDPC

Research on Ultra-Wideband (UWB) signal detec- tion has mainly concentrated on Rake receivers and general- izations of pilot-assisted receivers. Rake receivers are severely limited by a low energy capture for a moderate number of fingers, whereas pilot-assisted receivers require a prohibitively large number of pilots at low SNR to limit the effect of a noisy correlation template. Probability of error expressions for these two receivers are derived. The effect of channel estimation on the Rake receiver, which is usually neglected in the literature, is taken into account. Then, an iterative data-aided pilot-assisted receiver employing low density parity check coding (LDPC) is proposed. This receiver captures the entire received energy, while significantly reducing the required training overhead. The introduction of the LDPC code allows for improved template estimation in the iterative receiver. Moreover, because of impulse- based UWB's low duty cycle, coding can be introduced without severely reducing the system data rate. The proposed approach exploits the synergy between coding, improved channel estimation and large UWB bandwidth to yield large performance gains. It is shown that such a detection strategy potentially outperforms traditional receiver structures.
Sparse Bayesian Learning Approach for Outlier-Resistant Direction-of-Arrival Estimation

Conventional direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation methods are sensitive to outlier measurements. Therefore, their performance may degrade substantially in the presence of impulsive noise. In this paper, we address the problem of DOA estimation in additive outliers from the perspective of sparse Bayesian learning (SBL). A Bayes-optimal algorithm is devised for robust DOA estimation, which can achieve excellent performance in terms of resolution and accuracy. To reduce the computational complexity of the SBL scheme, a fast alternating algorithm is also developed. New grid-refining procedures are further introduced into these two proposed algorithms to efficiently fix the off-grid gap. As our solutions do not require the prior knowledge of the number of sources and can resolve highly correlated or coherent sources, it is expected that they have higher applicability. Simulation results verify the outlier-robust performance of the SBL approach.
Current treatment approaches for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

There have been two major developments over the last decade that has led to improvements in outcome and longer survival for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). These developments have been firstly to increase the dose of active cytotoxic drugs and shorten the time between cycles, resulting in dose-dense and/or dose-intense regimens and secondly the addition of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab to chemotherapy. Both strategies have been associated with higher response rates, lower relapse rates, longer event-free survival (EFS) and improved overall survival (OS), particularly in better prognostic groups. A combination of dose-dense and dose-intense chemotherapy regimens plus rituximab is currently being tested to confirm that the use of both approaches confers survival advantage. High-risk, poorer-prognosis DLBCL remains a challenge, and new treatment strategies are required for these patients. Improvements in outcome may potentially be achieved through a greater understanding of the genetic abnormalities specifically associated with poorer-prognosis disease, and factors that lead to unresponsiveness to chemotherapy. The role of radiotherapy is currently less clearly defined than at anytime in the management of DLBCL and the current evidence for using radiotherapy in this disease is therefore rigorously reviewed.
Indices of Surgical Site Infection Risk and Prediction of Other Adverse Outcomes During Hospitalization

Objective. To assess which adverse postsurgical outcomes are best predicted by the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) index and the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system (NNIS) index. Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. The service of general surgery at a tertiary care hospital. Patients. A consecutive series of patients hospitalized for more than 1 day (n = 2,989). Results. The outcome best predicted by the SENIC and NNIS indices was assessed by estimating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The areas under the ROC curves for nosocomial infection and in-hospital death were higher for the NNIS index than they were for the SENIC index (P<.05). The NNIS index predicted in-hospital death better than it predicted surgical site infection (area under the ROC curve ± SE, 0.836 ± 0.022 vs 0.689 ± 0.017; P = .001). Conclusions. The NNIS index is superior to the SENIC index for all adverse postsurgical outcomes. Its ability to predict in-hospital mortality is clearly better than its ability to predict surgical site infection.
Corporate taxation and capital accumulation: evidence from …rm-level data

We estimate the long-run elasticity of the capital stock with respect to the user cost of capital using two …rm-level datasets from Amadeus, which cover 31,740 domestic independent …rms and 10, 666 subsidiaries of multinational companies in the manufacturing sector from 7 European countries over the period 1999-2007. Consistent with the results based on the industry-level data in Bond and Xing (2010), we …nd that capital intensity at the …rm level is strongly responsive to changes in the tax-adjusted user cost of capital. Our benchmark estimation results remain robust when we deal with short panel issues and the endogeneity of explanatory variables using the Generalised Methods of Moments estimator suggested by Arellano and Bond (1991). Our
A study of the effectiveness of AIDS health education interventions among the adolescent population of Singapore.

AIM OF STUDY This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of existing AIDS health education interventions in Singapore amongst the adolescent population of Singapore. By identifying specific target groups that lack knowledge and information regarding HIV, it is hoped that suggestions may be provided towards increasing the effectiveness of these interventions. METHOD A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire of randomly selected adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19 years was performed to assess their knowledge of HIV and their opinions and awareness of HIV education in Singapore. RESULTS A total of 400 adolescents of various backgrounds were surveyed. In general, the subjects surveyed possessed reasonably good knowledge about HIV/AIDS, with an average score of 77.4% (SD = 15.8%). However, the results also showed areas of knowledge deficiency and misconception prevalent among those surveyed. Subgroup analysis showed that adolescents from low-income families, relatively less academically successful schools and those of younger ages knew significantly less than other adolescents. In terms of the awareness of HIV/AIDS education and information, the percentage of the subjects who could recognise any of the three commonly issued pamphlets or poster or who knew of any telephone numbers to call to receive information on HIV and AIDS was low. Less than 40% of those surveyed felt that enough awareness was being created within the public regarding AIDS. CONCLUSION It can be concluded that most adolescents surveyed felt that they are inadequately educated regarding HIV andAIDS. The results would certain target groups using the appropriate media in future educational intervention.
CHIMERIC FLORAL ORGANS1, Encoding a Monocot-Specific MADS Box Protein, Regulates Floral Organ Identity in Rice1[C][W]

The control of floral organ identity by homeotic MADS box genes is well established in eudicots. However, grasses have highly specialized outer floral organs, and the identities of the genes that regulate the highly specialized outer floral organs of grasses remain unclear. In this study, we characterized a MIKC-type MADS box gene, CHIMERIC FLORAL ORGANS (CFO1), which plays a key role in the regulation of floral organ identity in rice (Oryza sativa). The cfo1 mutant displayed defective marginal regions of the palea, chimeric floral organs, and ectopic floral organs. Map-based cloning demonstrated that CFO1 encoded the OsMADS32 protein. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that CFO1/OsMADS32 belonged to a monocot-specific clade in the MIKC-type MADS box gene family. The expression domains of CFO1 were mainly restricted to the marginal region of the palea and inner floral organs. The floral organ identity gene DROOPING LEAF (DL) was expressed ectopically in all defective organs of cfo1 flowers. Double mutant analysis revealed that loss of DL function mitigated some of the defects of floral organs in cfo1 flowers. We propose that the CFO1 gene plays a pivotal role in maintaining floral organ identity through negative regulation of DL expression.
Recent Development in Applications of Cellulose Nanocrystals for Advanced Polymer-Based Nanocomposites by Novel Fabrication Strategies

© 2012 Zhou and Wu, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Recent Development in Applications of Cellulose Nanocrystals for Advanced Polymer-Based Nanocomposites by Novel Fabrication Strategies
A Partial Hierarchical Regionalization of 3140 US Counties on the Basis of 1965–1970 Intercounty Migration

In a preliminary stage of a complete hierarchical regionalization, a limited number of digraphs are generated by applying thresholds to a doubly standardized 1965–1970 US intercounty migration table. The strong components—sets of mutually reachable vertices—of each digraph are determined by an efficient algorithm. The results indicate that the broadest migration bases are possessed by a pair of Southeastern Florida counties (Dade and Broward); a pair of Chicago area counties (Cook and Du Page); the District of Columbia; and Pierce County, WA, which has a strong concentration of military installations. Several two-county Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas; the four counties of Hawaii; and most of Connecticut; as well as most of Rhode Island are found to function as migration regions. Though no contiguity constraints are imposed, the clusters—especially relatively small ones—are, as a strong rule, connected. A null hypothesis that these clusters are random can, using asymptotic approximations in this 3140-unit analysis, be rejected. Under an assumption of symmetric linkages, a systematic tendency for counties to have broad migration bases is exhibited.
Model of line to shield power line communication system on a Medium Voltage network

In this paper a complete model of a power line communication (PLC) system on a Medium Voltage (MV) network is presented in the case of a line-ground configuration. A simple and friendly Simulink® software is used to develop the model. A distributed parameter MV cable model in line-ground configuration is considered together with the power transformers, the signal coupling networks and the receiving and transmitting line coupling interface of a ST7540 FSK powerline transceiver. The performances of the complete PLC communication system are evaluated for different line lengths by means of the attenuation computed as ratio between the received and transmitted voltage signals.
Mycobacterium smegmatis genomic characteristics associated with its saprophyte lifestyle

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a great threat to global public health. The high biosafety level III required to tackle its causative agent Mycobacterium tuberculosis seriously hinders the exploration of its biology and new countermeasures. M. smegmatis is a widely recognized good surrogate of M. tuberculosis, largely due to their conserved transcriptional machinery, sigma factors, and two‐component systems. However, their distinct lifestyles often confound the explanation of the results. M. tuberculosis leads both parasitic and free life, while M. smegmatis is largely saprophyte. To make full advantage of this model, it is helpful to discover the genome features associated with M. smegmatis unique niches, such as its saprophytic life, high salt tolerance, and relative short generation time. We employed the gene ontology enrichment analysis to characterize the unique lifestyle of M. smegmatis. Gene ontology enrichment analysis provided 12 terms; most are relevant to the special lifestyle of M. smegmatis, especially the saprophytic niche, high salt tolerance adaptation, and short generation time. In‐depth functional characterization of these genes will shed new lights on the genetic basis of M. smegmatis saprophytic life and hasten the understanding of the unique biology of M. tuberculosis. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 3051–3055, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Murine Coronavirus Requires Lipid Rafts for Virus Entry and Cell-Cell Fusion but Not for Virus Release

ABSTRACT Thorp and Gallagher first reported that depletion of cholesterol inhibited virus entry and cell-cell fusion of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), suggesting the importance of lipid rafts in MHV replication (E. B. Thorp and T. M. Gallagher, J. Virol. 78:2682-2692, 2004). However, the MHV receptor is not present in lipid rafts, and anchoring of the MHV receptor to lipid rafts did not enhance MHV infection; thus, the mechanism of lipid rafts involvement is not clear. In this study, we defined the mechanism and extent of lipid raft involvement in MHV replication. We showed that cholesterol depletion by methyl β-cyclodextrin or filipin did not affect virus binding but reduced virus entry. Furthermore, MHV spike protein bound to nonraftraft membrane at 4°C but shifted to lipid rafts at 37°C, indicating a redistribution of membrane following virus binding. Thus, the lipid raft involvement in MHV entry occurs at a step following virus binding. We also found that the viral spike protein in the plasma membrane of the infected cells was associated with lipid rafts, whereas that in the Golgi membrane, where MHV matures, was not. Moreover, the buoyant density of the virion was not changed when MHV was produced from the cholesterol-depleted cells, suggesting that MHV does not incorporate lipid rafts into the virion. These results indicate that MHV release does not involve lipid rafts. However, MHV spike protein has an inherent ability to associate with lipid rafts. Correspondingly, cell-cell fusion induced by MHV was retarded by cholesterol depletion, consistent with the association of the spike protein with lipid rafts in the plasma membrane. These findings suggest that MHV entry requires specific interactions between the spike protein and lipid rafts, probably during the virus internalization step.
A self-organising spiking neural network trained using delay adaptation

This paper proposes a self-organising delay adaptation spiking neural network model for clustering control chart patterns. This temporal coding spiking neural network model employs a Hebbian-based rule to shift the connection delays instead of the previous approaches of delay selection. Here the tuned delays compensate the differences in the input firing times of temporal patterns and enables them to coincide. The coincidence detection capability of the spiking neuron has been utilised for pattern detection. The structure of the network is similar to that of a Kohonen's self-organising map (SOM) except that the output layer neurons are coincidence detecting spiking neurons. An input pattern is represented by the neuron that is the first to fire among all the competing spiking neurons. Clusters within the input data are identified with the location of the winning neurons and their firing times. The proposed spiking neural network has been utilised to cluster SPC control chart patterns. The trained network obtained an average clustering accuracy of 96.1% on previously unseen test data. This was achieved with a network of 8times8 spiking neurons trained for 20 epochs containing 1000 training examples. The clustering accuracy of the proposed model was found to be better than that of Kohonen's SOM.
Endothelial activation and development of coronary artery disease in transplanted human hearts.

CONTEXT The development of coronary artery disease in heart transplants is often associated with graft failure. Early detection of allografts prone to develop this disease is essential to institute new therapeutic approaches that could prolong allograft function. OBJECTIVE To determine if early activation of arterial/arteriolar endothelium predicts the development of coronary artery disease, graft failure, or both in transplanted human hearts. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Heart Transplant Center. PARTICIPANTS A total of 121 consecutive adult cardiac allograft recipients who received transplants between 1988 and 1995 and were followed up through 1996. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Development of coronary artery disease and graft failure. METHODS Immunocytochemistry was performed on serial endomyocardial biopsy specimens to evaluate endothelial activation markers (intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and histocompatibility antigen HLA-DR) in arteries and arterioles. The presence and progression of coronary artery disease was evaluated by annual coronary angiograms with side-by-side comparisons. RESULTS None of the 121 donor hearts showed arterial/arteriolar endothelial activation before transplantation. Arterial/arteriolar endothelial activation was present in 78 and absent in 43 of 121 allografts during the first 3 months after transplantation. The time of appearance and the proportion of biopsy specimens showing endothelial activation during these first 3 months were significantly associated with the risk of developing coronary artery disease, the progression of the disease, and the time required to develop the disease (P<.001). Significantly more patients with arterial/arteriolar endothelial activation died or received a second transplant (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Activation of arterial/arteriolar endothelium in transplanted human hearts predicts development of coronary artery disease and increased risk of graft failure.
Phosphatidylethanolamine in Trypanosoma brucei Is Organized in Two Separate Pools and Is Synthesized Exclusively by the Kennedy Pathway*

Phosphatidylethanolamine is a major phospholipid class of all eukaryotic cells. It can be synthesized via the CDP-ethanolamine branch of the Kennedy pathway, by decarboxylation of phosphatidylserine, or by base exchange with phosphatidylserine. The contributions of these pathways to total phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis have remained unclear. Although Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human and animal trypanosomiasis, has served as a model organism to elucidate the entire reaction sequence for glycosylphosphatidylinositol biosynthesis, the pathways for the synthesis of the major phospholipid classes have received little attention. We now show that disruption of the CDP-ethanolamine branch of the Kennedy pathway using RNA interference results in dramatic changes in phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylcholine. By targeting individual enzymes of the pathway, we demonstrate that de novo phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis in T. brucei procyclic forms is strictly dependent on the CDP-ethanolamine route. Interestingly, the last step in the Kennedy pathway can be mediated by two separate activities leading to two distinct pools of phosphatidylethanolamine, consisting of predominantly alk-1-enyl-acyl- or diacyl-type molecular species. In addition, we show that phosphatidylserine in T. brucei procyclic forms is synthesized exclusively by base exchange with phosphatidylethanolamine.
Botnet detection using netflow information Finding new botnets based on client connections

Botnets are one of the biggest threats of the internet today. Probably a few million computers are infected with botnet clients and used in malicious activities like sending spam or fraud e-mails and assisting in DDos attacks. Current detection methods are often based on network activities afterwards, but it might be better to detect the clients when connecting to the botnet and prevent the activities from happening. This paper proposes and tests a method based on a number of heuristics to find new botnet controllers purely based on client behaviour when they are connecting to an IRC botet controller. This is based on the netflow information, which means there are little to no privacy issues, and it does not require much processing power. Unfortunately, our system is not perfect and some further research might be done, especially for the use of sampled netflow data and for the detection of botnets that use communication mechanisms other than IRC.