Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Informal and Formal Performance Management: Both Are Needed

Dissatisfaction with performance management (PM) has had a long history. Managers and employees alike have frustrations with the system, and numerous calls for the elimination of performance appraisal have been made over the years (e.g., Scholtes, 1999). The dissatisfaction and calls for elimination have created pressure for change in the practice of PM, and I applaud the focus on feedback and coaching that Pulakos, Mueller Hanson, Arad, and Moye (2015) have proposed. Providing feedback and being actively involved in the PM process would seem to be a key part of the job of managers, yet many managers are uncomfortable addressing this central task. Focusing efforts in our field on improving the skills of managers and helping managers become effective coaches can play a key role in improving PM. The need for improvement in the informal process, however, does not mean that the formal process is not needed. Pulakos et al. have suggested streamlining the formal PM system as much as possible, with particular emphasis on the possibility of eliminating performance ratings. It is argued here that the formal PM system still serves important purposes. It is also argued that a balance between the informal and formal aspects of the PM system needs to be maintained. These two issues are addressed below.
Snow Mass over North America: Observations and Results from the Second Phase of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project

Eighteen global atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) participating in the second phase of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP-2) are evaluated for their ability to simulate the observed spatial and temporal variability in snow mass, or water equivalent (SWE), over North America during the AMIP-2 period (1979–95). The evaluation is based on a new gridded SWE dataset developed from objective analysis of daily snow depth observations from Canada and the United States with snow density estimated from a simple snowpack model. Most AMIP-2 models simulate the seasonal timing and the relative spatial patterns of continental-scale SWE fairly well. However, there is a tendency to overestimate the rate of ablation during spring, and significant between-model variability is found in every aspect of the simulations, and at every spatial scale analyzed. For example, on the continental scale, the peak monthly SWE integrated over the North American continent in AMIP-2 models varies between 50% of the observed value of 1500 km 3 . The volume of water in the snowpack, and the magnitudes of model errors, are significant in comparison to major fluxes in the continental water balance. It also appears that the median result from the suite of models tends to do a better job of estimating climatological mean features than any individual model. Year-to-year variations in large-scale SWE are only weakly correlated to observed variations, indicating that sea surface temperatures (specified from observations as boundary conditions) do not drive interannual variations of SWE in these models. These results have implications for simulations of the large-scale hydrologic cycle and for climate change impact assessments.
Working with interpersonal and intrapsychic anxiety through the empathically attuned therapeutic relationship

This article describes a client-centered and experiential psychotherapy approach in which interpersonal issues as well as intrapsychic self-related disturbances of clients with interpersonal trauma are processed through the interaction with an emotionally engaged and empathically attuned therapist. With the helping presence of the therapist, these seriously injured clients start exploring and processing their maladaptive, blocking or overwhelming anxiety and the underlying experiences; and they start experimenting with seeking closeness and intimacy in order to get comfort and reassurance. In doing so, their self becomes stronger, their capacity for self-soothing grows and they begin feeling safer within themselves and in their interpersonal relationships.
Gonococcal opacity: lectin-like interactions between Opa proteins and lipooligosaccharide

Previous evidence from our laboratory suggested that the tight intercellular adhesions between the outer membranes of gonococci displaying the opacity colony phenotype occurred because Opa proteins expressed on one gonococcus adhered to the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) of the opposing bacterium (M.S. Blake, p. 51-66, in G. G. Jackson and H. Thomas, ed., The Pathogenesis of Bacterial Infections, 1985, and M. S. Blake and E. C. Gotschlich, p. 377-400, in M. Inouye, ed., Bacterial Outer Membranes as Model Systems, 1986). A noncompetitive inhibition assay used previously to determine the carbohydrate structures recognized by the major hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor was modified to determine the gonococcal LOS structures that bind Opa proteins (R. T. Lee, Targeted Diagn. Ther. Ser. 4:65-84, 1991). The LOS carbohydrates used in these assays were LOS structures purified from pyocin LOS mutants of Neisseria gonorrhoeae 1291 described by K. C. Dudas and M. A. Apicella (Infect. Immun. 56:499-504, 1988) and further characterized by C. M. John et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 266:19303-19311, 1991). Purified gonococcal Opa proteins were incubated with each of the parent and mutant LOS, and the amount of binding of Opa proteins was measured by a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using the Opa-specific monoclonal antibody 4B12. The affinities of the Opa proteins for each of the LOS were determined indirectly by measuring the concentrations of Opa proteins that noncompetitively inhibited 50% of the binding of LOS-specific monoclonal antibodies. This concentration is inversely proportional to the affinity of the inhibitor (R. T. Lee, Targeted Diagn. Ther. Ser. 4:65-84, 1991). Our data suggest that the gonococcal Opa proteins tested had the highest affinity for the Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc residue present on the gonococcal lactoneoseries LOS. This affinity was comparable to that reported for the binding of the major hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor to glycoconjugates containing terminal galactose and N-acetylgalactosamine (R. T. Lee, Targeted Diagn. Ther. Ser. 4:65-84, 1991). After sialylation of the lactoneoseries LOS, presumably on the terminal galactose residue, the interaction with the Opa proteins was ablated. Therefore, the gonococcal Opa-LOS and mammalian epithelial cell asialoglycoprotein receptor-carbohydrate interactions have quite similar specificities.
Widely Tunable 4th Order Switched G $_m$-C Band-Pass Filter Based on N-Path Filters

A widely tunable 4th order BPF based on the subtraction of two 2nd order 4-path passive-mixer filters with slightly different center frequencies is proposed. The center frequency of each 4-path filter is slightly shifted relative to its clock frequency (one upward and the other one downward) by agm-C technique. Capacitive splitting of the input signal is used to reduce the mutual loading of the two 4-path BPFs and increase their quality factors. The filter is tunable from 0.4 GHz to 1.2 GHz with approximately constant bandwidth of 21 MHz. The in-band 1-dB compression point of the filter is -4.4 dBm while the in-band IIP3 of the filter is +9 dBm and the out-of-band IIP3 is + 29 dBm (Δf=+50 MHz). The ultimate rejection of the filter is >; 55 dB and the NF of the filter is 10 dB. The static and dynamic current consumption of the filter are 2.8 mA from 2.5 V and 12 mA from 1.2 V, respectively (at 1 GHz). The LO leakage power to the input port is <; - 60 dBm. The filter has been fabricated in CMOS LP 65 nm technology and the active area is 0.127 mm2.
Intensity-modulated radiotherapy for gliomas:dosimetric effects of changes in gross tumor volume on organs at risk and healthy brain tissue

Aim The aim of this study was to explore the effects of changes in the gross tumor volume (GTV) on dose distribution in organs at risk (OARs) and healthy brain tissue in patients with gliomas. Methods Eleven patients suffering from gliomas with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans treated with a simultaneous integrated boost technique planned before therapy (initial plans) were prospectively enrolled. At the end of radiotherapy, patients underwent repeat computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and IMRT was replanned. The GTV and dosimetric parameters between the initial and replanned IMRT were compared using the Wilcoxon two-related-sample test, and correlations between the initial GTV and the replanned target volumes were assessed using the bivariate correlation test. Results The volume of the residual tumor did not change significantly (P>0.05), the volume of the surgical cavity decreased significantly (P<0.05), and the GTV and target volumes decreased significantly at the end of IMRT (all P<0.05). The near-maximum dose to OARs and volumes of healthy brain tissue receiving total doses of 10–50 Gy were lower in the replanned IMRT than in the initial IMRT (all P<0.05). The GTV in the initial plan was significantly positively correlated with the changes in the GTV and planning target volume 1 that occurred during IMRT (all P<0.05). Conclusion The reduction in the GTV in patients with gliomas resulted from shrinkage of the surgical cavity during IMRT, leading to decreased doses to the OARs and healthy brain tissue. Such changes appeared to be most meaningful in patients with large initial GTV values.
Energy/performance evaluation of the multithreaded extension of a multicluster VLIW processor

In this paper we address the problem of architectural exploration from the energy/performance point of view of a VLIW processor for embedded systems. We also consider an architectural modification we introduced in order to extend the reference processor so that it can exploit both instruction level parallelism and thread level parallelism. A power model obtained by applying an instruction-level power estimation technique is presented and validated with experimental results. This power model was plugged in a parametric cycle-accurate simulator in order to support architectural exploration. Experimental results derived from the proposed framework show a comparison among different implementations of the reference processor: single and dual cluster implementations, and dual cluster with multithreaded extension.
Time-series forecasting using Bagging techniques and reservoir computing

In this paper we present a general procedure to use Bagging techniques for time series processing and forecasting problems Bagging is one of the most used techniques for combining several predictors in order to produce a highly accurate method. The method uses bootstrap replications of the original training set and for each replicate sample one predictor is generated. After that the method combines the predictors using the majority vote for classification problems and the average function for regression problems In temporal learning tasks, the order serial of the data precludes to realize bootstrap samples Here, we present an approach which uses a recurrent neural network to transform the spatio-temporal information of the input data in a new larger space In this new space is possible to apply bootstrap techniques. In this initial paper, we evaluate our approach on 4 time series benchmarks using linear regressions Although, the idea presented here is more general and can be used with other kind of statistical methods such that CART, SVM, and so on. The empirical results show the power of this new approach to achieve good performances in temporal learning tasks.
Formation Control between a Human and a Mobile Robot based on Stereo Vision

This paper presents a reactive nonlinear formation control between a human and a mobile robot based on stereo vision. The human, who is considered the leader of the formation, is positioned behind the robot and moves around the environment while the robot executes movements according to human movements. The robot has a stereo vision system mounted on it and the images acquired by this system are used to detect the human face and estimate its 3D coordinates. These coordinates are used to determine the relative pose between the human and robot, which is sent to the controller in order to allow the robot to achieve and keep a desired formation with the human. Experimental results were performed with a human and a mobile robot, the leader and follower respectively, to show the performance of the control system. In this paper a load was put on a mobile robot in which the nonlinear controller was applied, allowing the transportation of this load from a initial point to a desired position. In order to verify the proposed method some experiments were performed and shown in this paper.
Conversion of statistics calculated from the coordinates of the power matrix to those of principal meridional representation of power

Principal meridional powers of thick astigmatic systems, like the eye, are not necessarily at right angles. The consequence is a class of phenomena included in the category commonly described as irregular astigmatism. The conventional principal meridional representation of power, however, is unsuited to quantitative analysis. The coordinates of the power matrix are scalars well suited to quantitative analysis. In a sizeable sample of such data it would be tedious to contemplate all the individual observations to obtain knowledge of the material. A standard summary in a manageable form is needed for concise reliable description to deal with all of the data. This paper is concerned with measures of dispersion of a data sample of coordinates of the power matrix, conversion to dispersion of principal meridional representation of power (or any other clinical or scientific power representation), and the nature of the dispersion.
Eyelid complications in trachoma: diagnosis and management

Abstract. We present our experience (at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) with the management of the trachomatous eyelid disease. Four major eyelid complications: cicatricial entropion, eyelid retraction, secondary blepharospasm and brow ptosis, are described and their management outlined. Nine hundred sixty patients with cicatricial entropion are presented with thorough discussion of the surgical procedures and results. The surgical management of eyelid retraction, blepharospasm and brow ptosis is geared to provide the ophthalmologist with a complete overview of the disease pattern.
Content-Analysis Research: An Examination of Applications with Directives for Improving Research Reliability and Objectivity

This article provides an empirical review and synthesis of published studies that have used content-analysis methods. Harold Kassarjian's critical guidelines for content-analysis research were used to examine the methods employed in 128 studies. The guidelines were expanded by providing an empirical investigation of multiple dimensions of objectivity. Reliability issues were also assessed by examining factors central to the replication and interjudge coefficient calculations. The findings indicate a general need for improvement in the application of content-analysis methods. Suggestions for calculating reliability coefficients and for improving the objectivity and reliability of research are offered. Copyright 1991 by the University of Chicago.
Robust Submodular Maximization: A Non-Uniform Partitioning Approach

We study the problem of maximizing a monotone submodular function subject to a cardinality constraint $k$, with the added twist that a number of items $\tau$ from the returned set may be removed. We focus on the worst-case setting considered in Orlin et al., 2016, in which a constant-factor approximation guarantee was given for $\tau = o(\sqrt{k})$. In this paper, we solve a key open problem raised therein, presenting a new Partitioned Robust (PRo) submodular maximization algorithm that achieves the same guarantee for more general $\tau = o(k)$. Our algorithm constructs partitions consisting of buckets with exponentially increasing sizes, and applies standard submodular optimization subroutines on the buckets in order to construct the robust solution. We numerically demonstrate the performance of PRo in data summarization and influence maximization, demonstrating gains over both the greedy algorithm and the algorithm of Orlin et al., 2016.
Laser pointers and a touch screen: intuitive interfaces for autonomous mobile manipulation for the motor impaired

El-E ("Ellie") is a prototype assistive robot designed to help people with severe motor impairments manipulate everyday objects. When given a 3D location, El-E can autonomously approach the location and pick up a nearby object. Based on interviews of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we have developed and tested three distinct interfaces that enable a user to provide a 3D location to El-E and thereby select an object to be manipulated: an ear-mounted laser pointer, a hand-held laser pointer, and a touch screen interface. Within this paper, we present the results from a user study comparing these three user interfaces with a total of 134 trials involving eight patients with varying levels of impairment recruited from the Emory ALS Clinic. During this study, participants used the three interfaces to select everyday objects to be approached, grasped, and lifted off of the ground. The three interfaces enabled motor impaired users to command a robot to pick up an object with a 94.8% success rate overall after less than 10 minutes of learning to use each interface. On average, users selected objects 69% more quickly with the laser pointer interfaces than with the touch screen interface. We also found substantial variation in user preference. With respect to the Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R), users with greater upper-limb mobility tended to prefer the hand-held laser pointer, while those with less upper-limb mobility tended to prefer the ear-mounted laser pointer. Despite the extra efficiency of the laser pointer interfaces, three patients preferred the touch screen interface, which has unique potential for manipulating remote objects out of the user's line of sight. In summary, these results indicate that robots can enhance accessibility by supporting multiple interfaces. Furthermore, this work demonstrates that the communication of 3D locations during human-robot interaction can serve as a powerful abstraction barrier that supports distinct interfaces to assistive robots while using identical, underlying robotic functionality.
Evolution of Stage 1 Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS): Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives: The natural history of stage 1 Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) remains unclear and its optimal management is yet to be established. The main aims of this meta-analysis were to quantify the incidence of progression in stage 1 TTTS and to ascertain survival in these pregnancies. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library were searched. Reference lists within each article were hand-searched for additional reports. The outcomes included incidence of progression and survival in stage 1 TTTS. Randomized controlled trials, cohort and case-control studies were included. Case reports, studies including three or fewer cases of stage 1 TTTS, and editorials were excluded. Proportion meta-analysis was used for analysis (Registration number: CRD42016036190). Results: The search yielded 3,085 citations; 18 studies were included in the review (172 pregnancies to assess progression and 433 pregnancies to assess the survival). The pooled incidence of progression in stage 1 TTTS was 27% [95% CI 16–39%]. The pooled overall survival, double survival and at least one survival in the pregnancies managed expectantly were 79% [95% CI 62–92%], 70% [95% CI 54–84%] and 87% [95% CI 69–98%], respectively. In those undergoing amnioreduction, the corresponding figures were 77% [95% CI 68–85%], 67% [95% CI 57–76%] and 86% [95% CI 76–94%], respectively. The survival rates were 68% [95% CI 54–81%], 54% [95% CI 36–72%], and 81% [95% CI 69–90%], when laser surgery was performed. Conclusions: The optimal initial management of stage 1 TTTS remains in equipoise. The ongoing randomized trial comparing immediate laser surgery versus conservative management should provide a definitive answer.
Greedy spanners are optimal in doubling metrics

We show that the greedy spanner algorithm constructs a $(1+\epsilon)$-spanner of weight $\epsilon^{-O(d)}w(\mathrm{MST})$ for a point set in metrics of doubling dimension $d$, resolving an open problem posed by Gottlieb. Our result generalizes the result by Narasimhan and Smid who showed that a point set in $d$-dimension Euclidean space has a $(1+\epsilon)$-spanner of weight at most $\epsilon^{-O(d)}w(\mathrm{MST})$. Our proof only uses the packing property of doubling metrics and thus implies a much simpler proof for the same result in Euclidean space.
Real-time Gender Classification from Human Gait for Arbitrary View Angles

In this paper, we investigate an important but understudied problem, gender classification from human gaits. And we have proved the ability of using GEI (Gait Energy Image) as a representation of human gait for arbitrary view angles. Using GEI as a discriminative feature, we construct angle classifiers and gender classifiers from different approaches. Experiments show that our system achieved a good performance in real-time and is able to be applied to real-world application.
Detection of ALK Rearrangement by Immunohistochemistry in Lung Adenocarcinoma and the Identification of a Novel EML4-ALK Variant

Introduction: The echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK) fusion gene has been identified as a potent oncogenic driver in non–small-cell lung cancer, in particular adenocarcinoma (ADC). It defines a unique subgroup of lung ADC, which may be responsive to ALK inhibitors. Detection of ALK rearrangement by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) or reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is considered to be the standard procedure, but each with its own limitation. We evaluated the practical usefulness of immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect ALK expression as a reliable detection method of ALK rearrangement in lung ADC. Methods: We tested 373 lung ADCs for ALK rearrangement by IHC and FISH. Multiplex RT-PCR was performed to confirm the fusion variants. Results: Twenty-two of 373 lung ACs (5.9%) were positive for ALK immunoreactivity. ALK-positive tumor cells demonstrated strong and diffused granular staining in the cytoplasm. All the ALK IHC-positive cases were confirmed to harbor ALK rearrangement, either by FISH, or RT-PCR. Two cases with positive ALK protein expression, but negative for breakapart FISH signal were shown to harbor EML4-ALK variant 1 by RT-PCR. None of the ALK IHC-negative cases were FISH-positive. In addition, we identified a novel EML4-ALK fusion variant (E3:ins53A20), and its potent transformation potential has been confirmed by in vivo tumorigenicity assay. Conclusion: IHC can effectively detect ALK rearrangement in lung cancer. It might provide a reliable and cost-effective diagnostic approach in routine pathologic laboratories for the identification of suitable candidates for ALK-targeted therapy.