Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Burn-out as a crisis in self-efficacy: Conceptual and practical implications

Abstract This paper reviews the central role of self-efficacy expectations in a variety of approaches to organizational performance and management. It also explores the implications of self-efficacy for the study of psychological burn-out. It is proposed that conceptualizing burn-out as a crisis in self-efficacy would allow a more reasonable understanding of moderate instances of the syndrome, and would differentiate the concept of burn-out distinctly from the related field of occupational stress. The paper proposes the utility of a more specific construct of professional efficacy in light of the essential achievement experiences which occur in the workplace. It is proposed that a clearer delineation of the role of professional efficacy throughout these research approaches would enhance the coherence of the field. In conclusion the paper discusses implications for research and practice.
Porous Effect on Heat Transfer of Non Uniform Velocity Inlet Flow Using LBM

A numerical study of flow in a horizontally channel partially filled with a porous screen with non-uniform inlet has been performed by lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The flow in porous layer has been simulated by the Brinkman-Forchheimer model. Numerical solutions have been obtained for variable porosity models and the effects of Darcy number and porosity have been studied in detail. It is found that the flow stabilization is reliant on the Darcy number. Also the results show that the stabilization of flow field and heat transfer is depended to Darcy number. Distribution of stream field becomes more stable by decreasing Darcy number. Results illustrate that the effect of variable porosity is significant just in the region of the solid boundary. In addition, difference between constant and variable porosity models is decreased by decreasing the Darcy number. Keywords—Lattice Boltzmann Method, Porous Media, Variable Porosity, Flow Stabilization
Binding of antiphospholipid antibodies to discontinuous epitopes on domain I of human beta(2)-glycoprotein I: mutation studies including residues R39 to R43.

OBJECTIVE Pathogenic antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) bind the self antigen N-terminal domain (domain I) of beta(2)-glycoprotein I (beta(2)GPI), with residues G40-R43 being important. However, peptides homologous to other regions of domain I have also been shown to bind aPL. Furthermore, there are no published reports of the effects of altering R39, which has greater surface exposure than the G40-R43 residues. METHODS We used a novel, efficient method of production and purification of human domain I by Escherichia coli to create multiple mutants of domain I. These domain I mutants were then screened for binding to a range of polyclonal IgG purified from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome, using both solid-phase and fluid-phase assays. RESULTS E coli-expressed purified domain I selectively bound IgG derived from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome. In region R39-R43, the R39S mutation had the greatest effect in terms of reducing binding to a panel of aPL in the fluid phase (mean +/- SD inhibition 14 +/- 18.5% versus 44.1 +/- 31.7% for G40E and 62.9 +/- 25.7% for wild-type domain I). Conversely, altering both D8 and D9 to S8 and G9, respectively, had the effect of enhancing binding to aPL in the fluid phase. Adding the remainder of the domain I-II interlinker resulted in enhanced binding over wild-type in the solid phase but not the fluid phase. CONCLUSION The binding of aPL to beta(2)GPI domain I is complex and likely to involve discontinuous epitopes that include R39 in addition to G40-R43, the domain I-II interlinker, and possibly D8 and D9. Domain I variants with enhanced binding to aPL compared with wild-type domain I may aid in the development of novel therapies.
Test point insertion: scan paths through combinational logic

We propose a low-overhead scan design methodology which employs a new test point insertion technique to establish scan paths through the functional logic. The technique re-uses the existing functional logic; as a result, the design-for-testability (DFT) overhead on area or timing can be minimized. In this paper we show an algorithm which considers the test point insertion for reducing the area overhead for the full scan design. We also discuss its application to timing-driven partial scan design.
Approximated Prediction Strategy for Reducing Power Consumption of Convolutional Neural Network Processor

Convolutional neural network (CNN) is becoming popular because of its great ability for accurate image recognition. However, the computational cost is extremely high, which increases power consumption of embedded CV systems. This paper proposes an efficient computing method, LazyConvPool (LCP), and its hardware architecture to reduce power consumption of CNN-based image recognition. The LCP exploits redundancy of operations in CNN and only executes essential convolutions by an approximated prediction technique. We also propose Sign Connect, which is a low computational-cost approximated prediction without any multiplications. The experimental evaluation using image classification dataset shows that the proposed method reduces the power consumption by 17.8%–20.2% and energy consumption by 11.4%–14.1% while retaining recognition performance.
Effect of Quality Management Practices in Distributed Offshore Software Development: An Empirical Analysis

While IT vendors have made significant improvements in the process maturity of software development, growth of information technology outsourcing and distributed software development have posed new challenges in managing software projects. In this paper we develop and test empirical models of productivity and conformance quality in the context of distributed software development. By analyzing data collected on more than forty large globally distributed commercial projects from a leading software vendor operating at the highest software development process maturity level (CMM-5), we find that, while prevention and appraisal-based quality approaches are effective in improving distributed development productivity, failure-based quality approaches are effective in improving quality. These results indicate that investments in quality management practices have varying effects on project performance parameters. Our results suggest that the choice of appropriate quality management approach should be guided by the development context and project goals.
Democracy and participation

The meaning of democracy is complex and contested (Gaventa, 2006: 21), and yet at its heart lies a simple and commonly understood idea. Similarly, participation is a deceptively simple notion in principle but in practice seems to be understood in many different ways. This paper interrogates these two concepts and attempts to clarify the relationship between them. As a Thematic Review paper, it focuses on debates relevant to interpreting and enacting democracy and participation, such as that on alleged ‘democratic deficits’. For reasons of brevity, the paper examines political decision making without reference to the different scales (local, national, etc) on which such decision making occurs.
A Non-Humanoid Robot in the “Uncanny Valley”: Experimental Analysis of the Reaction to Behavioral Contingency in 2–3 Year Old Children

Infants' sensitivity to social or behavioral contingency has been examined in the field of developmental psychology and behavioral sciences, mainly using a double video paradigm or a still face paradigm. These studies have shown that infants distinguish other individuals' contingent behaviors from non-contingent ones. The present experiment systematically examined if this ability extends to the detection of non-humanoids' contingent actions in a communicative context. We examined two- to three-year-olds' understanding of contingent actions produced by a non-humanoid robot. The robot either responded contingently to the actions of the participants (contingent condition) or programmatically reproduced the same sequence of actions to another participant (non-contingent condition). The results revealed that the participants exhibited different patterns of response depending on whether or not the robot responded contingently. It was also found that the participants did not respond positively to the contingent actions of the robot in the earlier periods of the experimental sessions. This might reflect the conflict between the non-humanlike appearance of the robot and its humanlike contingent actions, which presumably led the children to experience the uncanny valley effect.
Fur regulon of Salmonella typhimurium: identification of new iron-regulated genes

In order to identify genes belonging to the Fur regulon of Salmonella typhimurium, a bank of 10,000 independent S. typhimurium MudJ insertion mutants was screened for lacZ fusions regulated by the iron response regulator Fur. In parallel, a plasmid gene bank of S. typhimurium consisting of 10,000 independent clones was screened for Fur-regulated promoters or iron binding proteins by the Fur titration assay (FURTA). Fur-regulated MudJ insertions and Fur-regulated promoters were mapped. In addition, iron-regulated promoter activities of transcriptional fusions from MudJ insertions and FURTA-positive clones were quantified. The nucleotide sequences of 11 FURTA-positive plasmids and of short fragments of DNA flanking three MudJ insertions were determined. By these methods we identified 14 Fur-regulated genes of S. typhimurium. For 11 of these genes, Fur-regulated homologs have been described in Escherichia coli or Yersinia enterocolitica, including fhuA,fhuB,fepA,fes,fepD,p43,entB,fur ,foxA,hemP, and fhuE. In addition, we identified three genes with homologs in other bacteria which have not previously been shown to be Fur regulated.
Clinical effectiveness of Strassman operation in the treatment of bicornuate uterus.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of conventional metroplasty on the reproductive outcome of symmetric uterine anomalies and to determine the complications of this procedure. MATERIAL AND METHODS A prospective clinical analysis of 13 consecutive women who underwent classical abdominal metroplasty according to Strassman technique in II Dept Obstet & Gynecol in Lublin from April 2001 till January 2008. RESULTS The fetal survival rate increased from 0% before surgery to 80% after the operation. No intraoperative and postoperative complications were observed as well as no uterine rupture and other intrapartum complications were noticed. CONCLUSIONS Conventional transabdominal metroplasty seems to be a safe and efficient procedure in women with symmetric uterine anomalies--class IV AFS. Even in the era of operative hysteroscopy, transabdominal metroplasty remains the only approach in cases of bicornuate uterus.
Welfare and the State

Once upon a time, there was a consensus in this country that the welfare state was the jewel in the crown of the post-war settlement. It was a national badge of moral worth. It was held to embody certain virtues that people told themselves were the hallmark of a civilised society: altruism, equity, dignity, fellowship. It defined Britain as a co-operative exercise which bound us together into a cohesive society. Or so we told ourselves.
Theoretical Foundations for Centrality Measures

Three measures of actors' network centrality are derived from an elementary rocess model of social influence. The measures are closely related to, and cast new light on, widely used measures of actors' centrality; for example, the essential social organization of status that has been assumed by Hubbell, Bonacich, Coleman, and Burt appears as a deducible outcome of this social influence process. Unlike previous measures, which have been viewed as competing alternatives, the present measures are complementary and, in their juxtaposition, provide for a rich description of social structure. The complementary indicates a degree of theoretical unification in the work on network centrality that was heretofore unsuspected.
Multipath Effects in Ultrawideband Rake Reception

Rake reception can improve system performance significantly in wideband multipath channels. Its practical implementation, however, becomes prohibitively expensive in channels with dense multipath, such as the ultrawideband (UWB) channel. This paper investigates the effect of various system and environment parameters on rake performance, with emphasis on the amount of multipath and channel bandwidth. The treatment includes hybrid selection/maximal-ratio combining (H-S/MRC) and unordered, partial combining rake architectures, and is based on indoor channel measurements in the FCC-allocated UWB frequency range (3.1-10.6 GHz). The diversity gain is shown to follow the law of diminishing returns with the rake complexity. It is demonstrated that the rake can extract most of the incident signal power by combining only a subset of the resolved multipath components. The required number of rake fingers increases linearly with the number of resolved paths but sublinearly with the channel bandwidth. The characterization of the interplay of bandwidth, amount of scattering and rake complexity will facilitate efficient implementation of UWB systems.
Genetic influences determining progenitor cell mobilization and leukocytosis induced by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

The mechanisms involved in the mobilization of progenitor cells into the blood by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and other cytokines are poorly understood. To identify important influences on this complex process, in vivo murine models were used. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) transgenic, Max41 transgenic, W/Wv, Mpl-null, GM-CSF receptor (beta chain)-null mice, wild-type littermate controls, and six inbred strains of mice were injected with 200 microg/kg/d G-CSF for 5 days. Three parameters of response were monitored: white blood cell count (WCC), peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) numbers, and spleen weight. In all genotypes studied, G-CSF induced increases in these three parameters. However, PBPC mobilization in W/Wv and Mpl-null mice was only 30% and 9%, respectively, of that observed in wild-type mice. In contrast, perturbations of GM-CSF signalling had no demonstrable effect on in vivo responses to G-CSF. Broad variability was evident between inbred strains for each parameter of the response to G-CSF. A 10-fold range in response was observed for circulating progenitor cell numbers, similar to that observed for normal human subjects receiving G-CSF. The interstrain differences were in the distribution of mature and progenitor cells between peripheral blood, bone marrow, and spleen rather than in the total numbers of these cells in the body. Results of an F2 intercross of low-responding C57BL/6 and intermediate-responding SJL mice indicated that regulation of progenitor cell mobilization is a complex genetic trait, that there is a correlation between this trait and WCC response (r2 = .5), and that this approach may serve as a useful model for the identification of genes involved in the mobilization process.
The Earliest Step in B Lineage Differentiation from Common Lymphoid Progenitors Is Critically Dependent upon Interleukin 7

Little is known about the signals that promote early B lineage differentiation from common lymphoid progenitors (CLPs). Using a stromal-free culture system, we show that interleukin (IL)-7 is sufficient to promote the in vitro differentiation of CLPs into B220+ CD19+ B lineage progenitors. Consistent with current models of early B cell development, surface expression of B220 was initiated before CD19 and was accompanied by the loss of T lineage potential. To address whether IL-7 receptor (R) activity is essential for early B lineage development in vivo, we examined the frequencies of CLPs and downstream pre–pro- and pro-B cells in adult mice lacking either the α chain or the common gamma chain (γc) of the IL-7R. The data indicate that although γc −/− mice have normal frequencies of CLPs, both γc −/− and IL-7Rα−/− mice lack detectable numbers of all downstream early B lineage precursors, including pre–pro-B cells. These findings challenge previous notions regarding the point in B cell development affected by the loss of IL-7R signaling and suggest that IL-7 plays a key and requisite role during the earliest phases of B cell development.
Low-Complexity Message Passing Based Massive MIMO Channel Estimation by Exploiting Unknown Sparse Common Support with Dirichlet Process

This paper investigates the problem of estimating sparse channels in massive MIMO systems. Most wireless channels are sparse with large delay spread, while some channels can be observed having sparse common support (SCS) within a certain area of the antenna array, i.e., the antenna array can be grouped into several clusters according to the sparse supports of channels. The SCS property is attractive when it comes to the estimation of large number of channels in massive MIMO systems. Using the SCS of channels, one expects better performance, but the number of clusters and the elements for each cluster are always unknown in the receiver. In this paper, {the Dirichlet process} is exploited to model such sparse channels where those in each cluster have SCS. We proposed a low complexity message passing based sparse Bayesian learning to perform channel estimation in massive MIMO systems by using combined BP with MF on a factor graph. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed massive MIMO sparse channel estimation outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms. Especially, it even shows better performance than the variational Bayesian method applied for massive MIMO channel estimation.
Involvement of CCAAT Enhancer Binding Protein Transcription Factors in the Regulation of Prostaglandin G/H Synthase 2 Expression by Interleukin‐1 in Osteoblastic MC3T3‐E1 Cells

Interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) stimulates prostaglandin production in bone by a rapid and transient activation of prostaglandin G/H synthase 2 (PGHS‐2) gene expression. In osteoblastic MC3T3‐E1 cells, IL‐1 caused a transient increase in PGHS‐2 messenger RNA (mRNA), which peaked at 2 h. IL‐1 caused a 2‐ to 4‐fold activation of a 371‐base pair (bp) murine PGHS‐2 promoter/luciferase construct in stable transfectants. This response mapped to a proximal promoter element(s) located between −150 and −40 bp. This region contains a putative CCAAT enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) site (centered at −135 bp), which shows enhanced binding of C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ by mobility shift analysis after IL‐1 treatment. A transient cotransfection approach was used to examine the effects of C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ overexpression. IL‐1 caused a maximal 3‐ to 7‐fold stimulation of PGHS‐2 promoter activity after 2.5 h. Overexpression of murine C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ caused a dose‐dependent increase in basal and IL‐1‐stimulated luciferase activity. C/EBPδ caused a greater enhancement of basal and IL‐1‐stimulated promoter activity than C/EBPβ, suggesting that C/EBPδ is a stronger transactivator. Overexpression of p20C/EBPβ, a dominant negative inhibitor of C/EBP function, blocked the stimulation of PGHS‐2 promoter activity by IL‐1 and blocked the ability of overexpressed C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ to increase basal and IL‐1‐stimulated promoter activity. Mutagenesis of the C/EBP site reduced, but did not abolish, the stimulation of PGHS‐2 promoter activity by IL‐1 and blunted the effect of overexpressed C/EBPδ on basal and IL‐1‐stimulated promoter activity. These results suggest an essential role for C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ in the induction of PGHS‐2 gene expression by IL‐1 in osteoblastic cells.
The SmAP1/2 proteins of the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus interact with the exosome and stimulate A-rich tailing of transcripts

Abstract The conserved Sm and Sm-like proteins are involved in different aspects of RNA metabolism. Here, we explored the interactome of SmAP1 and SmAP2 of the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus (Sso) to shed light on their physiological function(s). Both, SmAP1 and SmAP2 co-purified with several proteins involved in RNA-processing/modification, translation and protein turnover as well as with components of the exosome involved in 3΄ to 5΄ degradation of RNA. In follow-up studies a direct interaction with the poly(A) binding and accessory exosomal subunit DnaG was demonstrated. Moreover, elevated levels of both SmAPs resulted in increased abundance of the soluble exosome fraction, suggesting that they affect the subcellular localization of the exosome in the cell. The increased solubility of the exosome was accompanied by augmented levels of RNAs with A-rich tails that were further characterized using RNASeq. Hence, the observation that the Sso SmAPs impact on the activity of the exosome revealed a hitherto unrecognized function of SmAPs in archaea.
Allocation Rules for Network Games

Previous allocation rules for network games, such as the Myerson Value, implicitly or explicitly take the network structure as fixed. In many situations, however, the network structure can be altered by players. This means that the value of alternative network structures (not just sub-networks) can and should influence the allocation of value among players on any given network structure. I present a family of allocation rules that incorporate information about alternative network structures when allocating value.
Movement and survival of Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae within maize plantings with different ratios of non-Bt and Bt seed.

BACKGROUND Products of plant biotechnology, for example genetically modified Bt maize, provide useful tools for pest management. The benefits provided by insect-resistant plants are, however, threatened by the evolution of resistance by target pest species. The high-dose/refuge insect resistance management strategy (IRM) as well as seed mixtures are globally used as IRM strategies. Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), the target stem borer of Bt maize in Africa, evolved resistance to Bt maize expressing Cry1Ab protein in South Africa. Owing to high larval mobility and subsequent sublethal exposure of larvae moving between non-Bt and Bt plants, more rapid resistance evolution has been proposed as a possibility with deployment of seed mixture strategies. RESULTS Laboratory and field studies were conducted to study B. fusca larval mobility. In the laboratory, different scenarios of B. fusca larval movement between single-gene (Cry1Ab) and stacked-trait (Cry1A.105 and Cry2Ab2) Bt maize were studied. Data on larval survival and mass over time indicated that Cry proteins do not kill larvae above certain developmental stages. A 2 year field study with the single gene and the stacked event was conducted using seed mixtures containing 5, 10, 15 and 20% non-Bt seed as well as a control treatment (non-Bt seed only). CONCLUSION Larval movement continued for 5 weeks and resulted in a significant incidence of Bt and non-Bt damaged plants, indicating that the movement behaviour of B. fusca is of such a nature that seed mixtures as an IRM strategy may not be effective to delay resistance evolution. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.