Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Formal Internal Communication In Organizational Identification : A case study of two Swedish offices

Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine the formal internal communication in business organizations, in particular the role of communication channels, providing managers with insights about employee OI. ProblemThe match between individuals and their organizations, organizational identification (OI), increases employees’ job motivation and satisfaction. This topic therefore deserves to be studied since strong employee OI carries important value in improving and influencing not only individual employee performance, but also the overall performance of businesses. Internal communication from management to employees leads to common thoughts about the organization that further provides members with the feeling of being part of and identifying with the organization. Since current research lacks evidence on which particular formal internal communication channels managers use to impact OI in employees, a clear gap in the literature is identified. MethodA combination of primary- and secondary research has been used in order to fulfill the purpose of this study. A Triangulation approach has been applied consisting of semi-structured interviews with managers at two case companies and questionnaires filled in by the employees in those offices. This has provided valuable empirical insights for the analysis and conclusion. ConclusionThe authors of this thesis have found that the greater the level of formality a channel has, the greater OI the employees perceive. Also, the size of a company matters. The larger a company is, the more frequent use of formal internal communication channels is necessary. The findings in this thesis further show that managers have an evident opportunity to affect OI in their employees. By choosing the most suitable communication channel in accordance to the specific situation, managers can affect employee OI in a positive way. It is also proven that receiving information and instructions directly from the managers can enhance OI in employees.
Extending Earthquakes' Reach Through Cascading

Earthquakes, whatever their size, can trigger other earthquakes. Mainshocks cause aftershocks to occur, which in turn activate their own local aftershock sequences, resulting in a cascade of triggering that extends the reach of the initial mainshock. A long-lasting difficulty is to determine which earthquakes are connected, either directly or indirectly. Here we show that this causal structure can be found probabilistically, with no a priori model nor parameterization. Large regional earthquakes are found to have a short direct influence in comparison to the overall aftershock sequence duration. Relative to these large mainshocks, small earthquakes collectively have a greater effect on triggering. Hence, cascade triggering is a key component in earthquake interactions.
Interference by an 1 gM Paraproteln in the Bromcresol Green Method for Determinationof Serum Albumin

suggested the use of the “Centrifree Micropartition” (Ami. con) ultrafiltration device to separate myoglobin and hemoglobin. The membranes used in this device have a cutoffat a relative molecular mass of 30 000; thus they retain hemoglobin but allow myoglobin to pass. Our experience with them has highlighted several points of interest to potential users. We analyzed urines from normal individuals and hospital patients, as well as specimens supplemented to give various concentrations of hemoglobin and myoglobin. The devices were centrifuged in a fixed-angle (30#{176}) rotor at 1500 x g for 30 mm and the ifitrate was tested for myoglobin. The essential findings are: (a) The simplest, most-sensitive method for detecting myoglobin in the ifitrate is with a “dipstick” based on the heme peroxidase reaction (we used “Ecur-Test,” Boehringer Mannheim). The detection limit is 0.5 mg/L and the range of colors developed makes it possible to distinguish three myoglobin concentrations: <1, 1-3, and 5 mg/L or greater. We quote a usual value for urine myoglobin of<0.l mg/L, so urmnes that are dipstick negative need not be prOceSsed. If necessary, concentrations >5 mg/L can be quantified by spectrophotometry, the detection limit being 5 mg/L. (b)When >200 mg of hemoglobin per liter is present in urine, enough ofit passes through the membrane to produce a false positive for myoglobin with the dipstick. This situation is usually identified by the appearance of a red hemoglobin “pellet” on the membrane. The hemoglobin interference is easily eliminated by centrifuging the ifitrate in a new device, as before, and retesting. We recommend this action routinely for all positive filtrates; it is cost-effective owing to the infrequency of requests for urinary myoglobin and the unlimited shelf life of the devices. The Ainicon device offers a rapid, sensitive technique for semiquantitative measurement of myoglobin in urine, even in the presence of hemoglobin. A note of caution: use a positive urine control. We have encountered a few devices with membranes that, for reasons unknown, retain both myoglobin and hemoglobin!
Internet of Things in Cloud Environment: Services and Challenges

In this paper evolution of IoT along with its intimacy with cloud is described. Application of IoT in various domains and the services are major research areas and can be enhanced further for more effectiveness and efficiency. Limitations associated with this technique are also addressed and appropriate solutions suggested. The future lies in the ‘Internet of Everything’. We have proposed a model which can be used in a wide collection of domains such as by Indian army, military, air-force, navy etc. The main focus of the proposed work is to evolve a combined approach (IoT + Cloud) into a single technology IoTC which will have the benefits of both the technologies and may overcome the shortcomings. It is beneficial in terms of space and time complexity, security, precision and accuracy of result. IoTC can further be applied to services of critically important services.
Emerging biobehavioral factors of fatigue in sickle cell disease.

PURPOSE The symptom most frequently associated with sickle cell disease (SCD) is pain, but recent research is beginning to indicate that fatigue as an increasingly important symptom of this disease upon which to focus research efforts. This article explores biological and behavioral factors that can potentially contribute to fatigue in SCD. ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK A biobehavioral framework guides this discussion of factors that may contribute to SCD fatigue. FINDINGS The pathophysiology of the disease process, such as the profound hemolytic anemia and unpredictable vasoocclusive crises, suggests that individuals with SCD are at risk for both acute and chronic fatigue. For example, hypoxemia can cause muscle weakness and produce oxidative stress, which, in turn, increases fatigue. Sickled erythrocytes disrupt the vascular endothelium and stimulate proinflammatory cytokines, which are linked to sleep disruptions. Pain, the most notorious symptom of SCD, has a complex and mechanistically poorly understood relationship with fatigue. CONCLUSIONS Little is known about the symptom of fatigue in SCD. Considering the biological and behavioral factors of SCD that could potentially contribute to fatigue, there is a great need for research on the nature and potential mechanisms of fatigue in SCD. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Fatigue in SCD may negatively affect quality of life. Understanding factors that may contribute to fatigue aids the clinician in identifying causes and determining treatment.
Preventing Short-lived Data from Overwhelming a Host Cache in Virtualized Systems

This paper anatomizes the overhead of virtualization associated with the duplicated caching architecture. Specifically, the host cache maintains a large amount of obsolete data in anticipation of the re-reference because it is unaware of the guest’s internal structures. This behavior degrades the performance and lifetime significantly when non-volatile memory is used as a cache. To relieve this problem, we propose a new caching policy that adaptively changes the I/O path depending on the re-reference likelihood of the block. Experimental results show that the proposed policy reduces memory and storage writes by 31% and 16% on average, respectively, leading to performance improvement and prolonged lifetime.
Searching for Illicit Behavior through Changes in Productivity: The Case of Roger Clemens and Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens has been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs to boost his performance. If Clemens used ergogenic aids consistent with the accusations of use, then unusual changes in productivity may be evident in his performance record. Two previous studies have examined Clemens’s career and reached conflicting conclusions: Bradlow et al. (2008) declares Clemens’s career to be “atypical” while Albert (2009) finds Clemens’s productivity to be unusually strong but similar to other pitchers who have not been linked with performance-enhancing drugs. This study examines Clemens’s performance at times of alleged use and over his career and finds that changes in productivity are not indicative of performance-enhancing drug use.
Elastic registration of high-resolution 3D PLI data of the human brain

We introduce a new approach for the elastic registration of high-resolution 3D polarized light imaging (3D PLI) data of histological sections of the human brain. For accurate registration of different types of 3D PLI modalities, we propose a novel intensity similarity measure that is based on a least-squares formulation of normalized cross-correlation. Moreover, we present a fully automatic registration pipeline for rigid and elastic registration of high-resolution 3D PLI images with a blockface reference including a preprocessing step. We have successfully evaluated our approach using manually obtained ground truth for five sections of a human brain and experimentally compared it with previous approaches. We also present experimental results for 60 brain sections.
A hybrid cooperative cuckoo search algorithm with particle swarm optimisation

This paper proposes an improved hybrid cooperative algorithm that combines cooperative cuckoo search algorithm and particle swarm optimisation, called HCCSPSO. The cooperative co-evolutionary framework is applied to cuckoo search algorithm to implement dimensional cooperation. The particle swarm optimisation algorithm, viewed as a cooperative component, is embedded in the back of the cuckoo search algorithm. During iteration, the best solution obtained by the previous cooperative component is randomly embedded in the last one to avoid the pseudo-minima produced by the previous one, while the subcomponents of best solution from the last cooperative component are also randomly planted in the subcomponents of the previous one. The results of experimental simulations demonstrate the improvement in the efficiency and the effect of the cooperation strategy, and the promising of HCCSPSO.
Site-directed mutations in motif VI of Escherichia coli DNA helicase II result in multiple biochemical defects: evidence for the involvement of motif VI in the coupling of ATPase and DNA binding activities via conformational changes.

Two site-directed mutants of Escherichia coli DNA helicase II (UvrD) were constructed to examine the functional significance of motif VI in a superfamily I helicase. Threonine 604 and arginine 605, representing two of the most highly conserved residues in motif VI, were replaced with alanine, generating the mutant alleles uvrD-T604A and uvrD-R605A. Genetic complementation studies indicated that UvrD-T604A, but not UvrD-R605A, functioned in methyl-directed mismatch repair and UvrABC-mediated nucleotide excision repair. Both mutant enzymes were purified and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-stimulated ATP hydrolysis, duplex DNA unwinding, and ssDNA binding were studied in the steady-state and compared to wild-type UvrD. UvrD-T604A exhibited a serious defect in ssDNA binding in the absence of nucleotide. However, in the presence of a non-hydrolyzable ATP analog, DNA binding was only slightly compromised. Limited proteolysis experiments suggested that UvrD-T604A had a "looser" conformation and could not undergo conformational changes normally associated with ATP binding/hydrolysis and DNA binding. UvrD-R605A, on the other hand, exhibited nearly normal DNA binding but had a severe defect in ATP hydrolysis (kcat=0.063 s-1 compared to 162 s-1 for UvrD). UvrD-T604A exhibited a much less severe decrease in ATPase activity (kcat=8.8 s-1). The Km for ATP for both mutants was not significantly changed. The results suggest that residues within motif VI of helicase II are essential for multiple biochemical properties associated with the enzyme and that motif VI is potentially involved in conformational changes related to the coupling of ATPase and DNA binding activities.
Bank Dependence and Bank Financing in Corporate M&A

We examine the valuation impact of bank-financed mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and the loan contracts used to finance M&A transactions, focusing on the difference between bank-dependent acquirers and other acquirers. We find that bank-financed deals have higher acquirer’s cumulative abnormal returns relative to other cash M&A deals, but this certification effect exists only for bank-dependent acquirers. Despite bank-dependent acquirers being more susceptible to hold-up, banks do not impose higher loan pricing or more stringent nonprice terms on them. After completion of the acquisition, bank-dependent acquirers retain the M&A financing banks for a much larger share of their borrowing needs, suggesting the importance of repeat business for lack of hold-up. Our findings highlight the positive aspects of bank dependence and the importance of implicit contracting for the lack of hold-up in lending markets. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, finance.
Personal Teaching Aid How student performance can be increased using present-day multimedia technology

Personal Teaching Aid was designed to battle the current shortage of primary school teachers in The Netherlands. The software consists of several modules, of which each specialises in a specific task. The first of these modules is the face recognizer, which either recognizes a familiar student or comes to know a new student by taking several pictures. The next module is a speech recognizer to handle a student’s verbal answers to the problem set that it is given. These arithmetic problems are, dependant on the students arithmetic skills, generated by a self-implemented problem generator. The generated problems are presented in both a visual way, using a GUI, and in a verbal manner, using a text-to-speech module. These modules together form a basic, but complete product.
Advances in sonographic scoring of rheumatoid arthritis

Accurate assessment of disease activity and joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is important for monitoring treatment efficiency and for prediction of the outcome of the disease. Therefore, a reliable imaging method needs to be used. Musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) is a sensitive method for the detection of both early inflammatory soft tissue lesions (eg, synovitis, tenosynovitis, and bursitis) and early bone lesions (eg, erosions) in arthritic joint diseases and correlates well with MRI. Several musculoskeletal US scores are used for monitoring RA disease activity. Different qualitative (0/1) and semiquantitative (0–3) systems and quantitative measurements are used. The semiquantitative four-grade system developed by Skudlarek et al, which evaluates joint effusion, synovial thickening, bone erosion and power Doppler activity, is used most often. The new seven-joint ultrasound (US7) score is the first US sum score system which combines soft tissue (synovitis and tenosynovitis/paratenonitis) and destructive lesions (erosions) in a composite scoring system. The US7 score provides a fast overview of disease activity in daily rheumatological practice. This article reviews different US scores and sum scoring systems and current and proposed activity in this field.
Dual PPARα/γ agonist saroglitazar improves liver histopathology and biochemistry in experimental NASH models

Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are common clinico‐pathological conditions that affect millions of patients worldwide. In this study, the efficacy of saroglitazar, a novel PPARα/γ agonist, was assessed in models of NAFLD/NASH.
Impacts of Mergers and Acquisitions on Acquirer Banks’ Performance

This study investigates the effects of mergers and acquisitions (M & A) on the operating performance of the acquirer banks in Pakistan. For this purpose, a sample of 18 transactions, involving acquirer banks, listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange, is used. The Financial Ratio Analysis (FRA) is used to determine the effects of M & A. The significance of change in the operating performances is tested through a paired sample t-test. The results indicate deterioration in the performances of the acquirer banks in the post-merger period.
Interactive null space control for intuitively interpretable reconfiguration of redundant manipulators

Kinematic redundancy is a characteristic and beneficial property in collaborative robots nowadays as it enhances the flexibility and dexterity of the system. While the robot is manipulating an object, it is often necessary to kinematically reconfigure the robot, for example, when it obstructs the human. For this, internal or so-called null space motions can be carried out which do not affect the main task. In general, it is desirable that the human coworker can anticipate how the robot will move at any time. However, for null space motions this is typically not the case as they are non-intuitive and not suitable for interaction. In this work, we develop intuitive null space interaction behaviors for redundant manipulators, where the human can easily guide the robot. We want to provide users with a tool, that is straightforward to implement and solves real-world problems effectively. Two practical applications for an eight- and ten-DOF robot demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.
Handedness of the Herpes Simplex Virus Capsid and Procapsid

ABSTRACT The capsid of herpes simplex virus has an icosahedral surface lattice with a nonskew triangulation number, T=16. Nevertheless, the proteins arrayed on this lattice necessarily have an intrinsic handedness. We have determined the handedness of both the herpes simplex virus type 1 capsid and its precursor procapsid by a cryoelectron microscopic tilting method.
On the Benefit of Cooperation of Secondary Users in Dynamic Spectrum Access

For the past 70 years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been the licensing authority for wireless spectrum. Traditionally, spectrum was commercially licensed to primary users with defined uses. With the growth of personal communication systems in the 1990’s, unallocated spectrum has become a scarce commodity. However, since most primary users are active only at certain times and places, much of the allocated spectrum remains underutilized. Substantial holes exist in the spatio-temporal spectrum that could be opportunistically used by unlicensed secondary users. As a result, the FCC is considering allowing secondary users to opportunistically use frequencies that are not being used by primary users. If multiple secondary users are present in the same geographical area, the concept of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) allows these users to share the opportunistic spectrum. If several secondary users want to use a limited set of frequency resources, they will very likely interfere with each other. Sensing is a distributed technique where each transmitter/receiver pair senses (both passively and actively) the available channels and uses the channel that provides the best performance. While sensing alone allows sharing of the spectrum, it is not the optimal method in terms of maximizing the capacity in such a shared system. If we allow the secondary users to collaborate and share information, optimal capacity might be reached. However, collaboration adds another level of complexity to the transceivers of the secondary users, since they must now be able to communicate (Note that in general, the secondary users may have completely different communication protocols, e.g., Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). Additionally, optimizing the capacity of the available spectrum could have other negative side effects such as impacting the fairness of sharing the resources. Our primary goal is to explore the benefit of this cost-benefit tradeoff by determining the capacity increase obtainable from collaboration. As a secondary goal, we also wish to determine how this increase in capacity affects fairness. To summarize, the goal of this work is to answer the question: Fundamentally, what is the benefit of collaboration in Dynamic Spectrum Sharing?
Role of protein kinase A in tax transactivation of the human T-cell leukemia virus type I long terminal repeat

The human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) long terminal repeat (LTR) is inducible both by the retroviral tax gene product and by cyclic AMP in the murine thymoma S49 cell line. The cis-acting sequences that control transcriptional induction by tax and by cyclic AMP are in close proximity within the HTLV-I promoter. By using a protein kinase A (PKA)-deficient S49 mutant cell line, the response of the viral promoter to cyclic AMP was shown to depend on PKA, whereas the response to tax did not require the activity of this enzyme. Transactivation of the HTLV-I LTR by tax, however, decreased in PKA-deficient and adenylate cyclase-deficient cells. The evidence presented supports largely independent mechanisms of promoter induction by cyclic AMP and tax but also suggests a role for PKA-mediated phosphorylation in the regulation of HTLV-I LTR-driven gene expression by tax.
Strategic Reasoning Meets Correlated Equilibrium

This paper is motivated by analysing a Google selfdriving car accident, i.e., the car hit a bus, with the framework and the tools of strategic reasoning by model checking. First of all, we find that existing ATL model checking may find a solution to the accident with irrational joint strategy of the bus and the car. This leads to a restriction of treating both the bus and the car as rational agents, by which their joint strategy is an equilibrium of certain solution concepts. Second, we find that a randomly-selected joint strategy from the set of equilibria may result in the collision of the two agents, i.e., the accident. Based on these, we suggest taking Correlated Equilibrium (CE) as agents’ joint strategy and optimising over the utilitarian value which is the expected sum of the agents’ total rewards. The language ATL is extended with two new modalities to express the existence of a CE and a unique CE, respectively. We implement the extension into a software model checker and use the tool to analyse the examples in the paper. We also study the complexity of the model checking problem.
Harvesting Brand Information from Social Tags

Social tags are user-defined keywords associated with online content that reflect consumers’ perceptions of various objects, including products and brands. This research presents a new approach for harvesting rich, qualitative information on brands from user-generated social tags. The authors first compare their proposed approach with conventional techniques such as brand concept maps and text mining. They highlight the added value of their approach that results from the unconstrained, open-ended, and synoptic nature of consumer-generated content contained within social tags. The authors then apply existing text-mining and data-reduction methods to analyze disaggregate-level social tagging data for marketing research and demonstrate how marketers can utilize the information in social tags by extracting key representative topics, monitoring common dynamic trends, and understanding heterogeneous perceptions of a brand.