Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A study of team effectiveness influenced by the fitting between team personality composition and team virtualization level

With the development of information technology, types of organizations and the nature of management have changed, and boundaries between organizations have diminished. The newest type of work group to emerge is the “virtual team”. Team composition affects team effectiveness. Most team composition researches focused on the visible variable characteristics, such as demographic variables, but the implicit personality variables were ignored. Based on “Big Five” factors, including neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness, we explore the effect of team personality composition on team virtualization level and team effectiveness. The study sample consisted of 62 completed team questionnaires (filled out by 62 team leaders and 234 team members) from 49 enterprises in the information and electronic industries. The results are as follows: “Positive and active” team and “negative and passive” team were classified according to team personality composition. Compared to a negative and passive team, a positive and active team personality has higher conscientiousness, extraversion and lower neuroticism, and positive and active team's virtualized level has better effect towards task performance and cooperation satisfaction.
D2 receptor occupancy in conscious rat brain is not significantly distinguished with [3H]‐MNPA, [3H]‐(+)‐PHNO, and [3H]‐raclopride

Positron emission tomography (PET) antagonist ligands such as [11C]‐raclopride are commonly used to study dopamine D2 receptor (D2) binding of antipsychotics. It has been suggested that agonist radioligands bind preferentially to the high‐affinity state of D2 receptor and may provide a more relevant means of assessing D2 occupancy. The main objective of this study was to determine if D2 receptor occupancy (RO) could be differentiated with agonist and antagonist radioligands in vivo. Agonist radioligands [3H]‐MNPA and [3H]‐(+)‐PHNO were synthesized and compared to antagonist [3H]‐raclopride in the in vitro binding and in vivo occupancy studies. In vivo, unanesthetized rats were pretreated with quinpirole (full agonist), aripiprazole (partial agonist), or haloperidol (antagonist) prior to administration of the agonist or antagonist radioligand. All three pretreatment compounds showed equivalent dose‐dependent D2 receptor occupancy in the rat striatum with each radioligand. The in vivo receptor occupancy results suggested that the binding of quinpirole, aripiprazole, and haloperidol to the high or low affinity state of the D2 receptor could not be differentiated using radiolabeled agonists or antagonists, presumably due to a predominance of high affinity states of the D2 receptor in vivo. This hypothesis was supported in part by the in vitro binding results. Our in vitro results show that [3H]‐MNPA binds to D2S transfected CHO cell membranes at a single high affinity site. Displacement of [3H]‐(+)‐PHNO binding by quinpirole and elimination of most [3H]‐(+)‐PHNO binding by the guanine nucleotide GppNHp in striatal membranes suggest that the majority of D2 in striatal tissue is G‐protein coupled. Together, these findings suggest that D2 agonist radioligands produce in vivo receptor occupancy comparable to [3H]‐raclopride. Synapse, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Levodopa treatment reverses endocannabinoid system abnormalities in experimental parkinsonism

Cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous ligands are potent inhibitors of neurotransmitter release in the brain. Here, we show that in a rat model of Parkinson's disease induced by unilateral nigral lesion with 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA), the striatal levels of the endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA) were increased, while the activity of its membrane transporter and hydrolase (fatty‐acid amide hydrolase, FAAH) were decreased. These changes were not observed in the cerebellum of the same animals. Moreover, the frequency and amplitude of glutamate‐mediated spontaneous excitatory post‐synaptic currents were augmented in striatal spiny neurones recorded from parkinsonian rats. Remarkably, the anomalies in the endocannabinoid system, as well as those in glutamatergic activity, were completely reversed by chronic treatment of parkinsonian rats with levodopa, and the pharmacological inhibition of FAAH restored a normal glutamatergic activity in 6‐OHDA‐lesioned animals. Thus, the increased striatal levels of AEA may reflect a compensatory mechanism trying to counteract the abnormal corticostriatal glutamatergic drive in parkinsonian rats. However, this mechanism seems to be unsuccessful, since spontaneous excitatory activity is still higher in these animals. Taken together, these data show that anomalies in the endocannabinoid system induced by experimental parkinsonism are restricted to the striatum and can be reversed by chronic levodopa treatment, and suggest that inhibition of FAAH might represent a possible target to decrease the abnormal cortical glutamatergic drive in Parkinson's disease.
Programmatic and ethical challenges in the implementation of treatment-as-prevention in the context of HIV and drug-resistant tuberculosis co-infection in sub-Saharan Africa

There is limited literature on programmatic challenges in the implementation of a treatment-as-prevention (TasP) strategy among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) co-infected individuals in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper highlights specific programmatic challenges surrounding the implementation of this strategy among HIV and DR-TB co-infected populations in SSA. In SSA, limitations in administrative, human and financial resources and poor health infrastructure, as well as increased duration and complexity of providing long-term treatment for HIV individuals co-infected with DR-TB, pose substantial challenges to the implementation of a TasP strategy and warrant further investigation. A comprehensive approach must be devised to implement TasP strategy, with special attention paid to the sizable HIV and DR-TB co-infected populations. We suggest that evidence-informed and human rights–based guidelines for participant protection and strategies for programme delivery must be developed and tailored to maximise the benefits to those most at risk of developing HIV and DR-TB co-infection. Assessing regional circumstances is crucial, and TasP programmes in the region should be complemented by combined prevention strategies to achieve the intended goals.
Association of timing of initiation of breastmilk expression on milk volume and timing of lactogenesis stage II among mothers of very low-birth-weight infants.

BACKGROUND Feeding breastmilk to premature infants decreases morbidity but is often limited owing to an insufficient milk supply and delayed attainment of lactogenesis stage II. Early initiation of milk expression following delivery has been shown to increase milk production in mothers of very low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. Although recommendations for milk expression in this population include initiation within 6 hours following delivery, little evidence exists to support these guidelines. This study compared milk volume and timing of lactogenesis stage II in mothers of VLBW infants who initiated milk expression within 6 hours following delivery versus those who initiated expression after 6 hours. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Forty mothers of VLBW infants were grouped according to when they initiated milk expression following delivery. Group I began milk expression within 6 hours, and Group II began expression after 6 hours. Milk volume was measured daily for the first 7 days and on Days 21 and 42. Timing of lactogenesis stage II was determined through mothers' perceptions of sudden breast fullness. RESULTS Group I produced more breastmilk during the initial expression session and on Days 6, 7, and 42. No difference in timing of lactogenesis stage II was observed. When mothers who began milk expression prior to 1 hour following delivery were removed from analysis, benefits of milk expression within 6 hours were no longer apparent. CONCLUSIONS Initiation of milk expression within 6 hours following delivery may not improve lactation success in mothers of VLBW infants unless initiated within the first hour.
Research note: the other side of the stage, revealing compositional differences in Flemish amateur theatre audiences

Abstract This research note aims to address the lack of research focused on the audiences of amateur theatre and examines how audiences of artistic- (i.e. participating in festivals with high artistic requirements) and social- (i.e. not participating in those festivals with high artistic requirements) oriented amateur theatre groups differ. This is achieved by performing a quantitative study of eight amateur theatre audiences in Flanders (Belgium). Analyses of 538 standardised questionnaires derived from on-site data collection, show that the audiences of artistic amateur groups significantly differ from the audiences of social-oriented amateur theatre groups. Amateur theatre groups with an explicitly artistic orientation have a significantly younger audience that had participated in other cultural events over the previous six months. They are also often recruited by word of mouth. By contrast, social amateur theatre groups attract a significantly older audience, including those who live in the vicinity.
Antagonistic genetic correlations for milking traits within the genome of dairy cattle

Genome-wide association studies can be applied to identify useful SNPs associated with complex traits. Furthermore, regional genomic mapping can be used to estimate regional variance and clarify the genomic relationships within and outside regions but has not previously been applied to milk traits in cattle. We applied both single SNP analysis and regional genomic mapping to investigate SNPs or regions associated with milk yield traits in dairy cattle. The de-regressed breeding values of three traits, total yield (kg) of milk (MLK), fat (FAT), and protein (PRT) in 305 days, from 2,590 Holstein sires in Japan were analyzed. All sires were genotyped with 40,646 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. A genome-wide significant region (P < 0.01) common to all three traits was identified by regional genomic mapping on chromosome (BTA) 14. In contrast, single SNP analysis identified significant SNPs only for MLK and FAT (P < 0.01), but not PRT in the same region. Regional genomic mapping revealed an additional significant region (P < 0.01) for FAT on BTA5 that was not identified by single SNP analysis. The additive whole-genomic effects estimated in the regional genomic mapping analysis for the three traits were positively correlated with one another (0.830–0.924). However, the regional genomic effects obtained by using a window size of 20 SNPs for FAT on BTA14 were negatively correlated (P < 0.01) with the regional genomic effect for MLK (–0.940) and PRT (–0.878). The BTA14 regional effect for FAT also showed significant negative correlations (P < 0.01) with the whole genomic effects for MLK (–0.153), FAT (–0.172), and PRT (–0.181). These negative genomic correlations between loci are consistent with the negative linkage disequilibrium expected for traits under directional selection. Such antagonistic correlations may hamper the fixation of the FAT increasing alleles on BTA14. In summary, regional genomic mapping found more regions associated with milk production traits than did single SNP analysis. In addition, the existence of non-zero covariances between regional and whole genomic effects may influence the detection of regional effects, and antagonistic correlations could hamper the fixation of major genes under intensive selection.
How Design of Places Promotes or Inhibits Mobility of Older Adults

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the environmental features that best support aging in place. Method: We conducted a realist synthesis, a theory-driven interpretive method of evidence synthesis, of 120+ articles (published 1991-2011) that attempts to explain how place may influence older adults’ decisions about mobility (e.g., physical activity). We developed an initial program theory, reviewed the literature, identified outcomes, analyzed and synthesized patterns, and created a final program theory. Results: Safety was a central mechanism, serving as one of the bridges between environmental components (e.g., connectivity, aesthetics, retail and services) and decisions about mobility. Population density, sidewalk presence, and park proximity did not emerge as key factors. Discussion: Safety considerations are one of the most prominent influences of older adults’ decisions about mobility. Street connectivity, pedestrian access and transit, and retail and services were also important. These factors are amenable to change and can help promote mobility for older adults.
Cannabis; Epidemiological, Neurobiological and Psychopathological Issues: An Update.

BACKGROUND Cannabis is the illicit drug with both the largest current levels of consumption and the highest reported lifetime prevalence levels in the world. Across different countries, the prevalence of cannabis use varies according to the individual income, with the highest use being reported in North America, Australia and Europe. Despite its 'soft drug' reputation, cannabis misuse may be associated with several acute and chronic adverse effects. OBJECTIVE The present article aims at reviewing several papers on epidemiological, neurobiological and psychopathological aspects of the use of cannabis. The PubMed database was here examined in order to collect and discuss a range of identified papers. DISCUSSION Cannabis intake usually starts during late adolescence/early adulthood (15-24 years) and drastically decreases in adulthood with the acquisition of working, familiar and social responsibilities. Clinical evidence supports the current socio-epidemiological alarm concerning the increased consumption among youngsters and the risks related to the onset of psychotic disorders. The mechanism of action of cannabis presents some analogies with other abused drugs, e.g. opiates. Furthermore, it has been well demonstrated that cannabis intake in adolescence may facilitate the transition to the use and/or abuse of other psychotropic drugs, hence properly being considered a 'gateway drug'. Some considerations on synthetic cannabimimetics are provided here as well. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the highest prevalence of cannabis use and the social perception of a relatively low associated risk are in contrast with current knowledge based on biological and clinical evidence. Indeed, there are concerns relating to cannabis intake association with detrimental effects on both cognitive impairment and mental health.
A Toolkit for Developing Neural Network Models of how the Brain Detects and Orients Attention toward Threat

Specific Aim 1: Develop a generalized connectionist neural network model comparison toolkit. Such a toolkit will allow for the quantitative comparison between connectionist models simulating psychological phenomena. The current technique for model comparison uses fixed connection strength parameters for all models. It is likely, however, that a given architecture will perform best with one set of connection strength parameters, while another architecture will perform better with a different set of connection strength parameters. The proposed toolkit will consider each model architecture using its corresponding optimal connection strength parameter when making performance-based comparisons between architectures. This process of model comparison will be handled automatically by the toolkit. Specific Aim 2: Develop a connectionist neural network model prediction generator toolkit. Currently, model parameters are manually modified over a range of values to see how the model behaves under different conditions. This process is used to generate predictions that can be tested experimentally. Using the current methods, each time a parameter is varied, the model is run and the results of the simulation are recorded. This process is very time consuming and requires an unnecessary level of user participation. The prediction generation toolkit will automate this process by providing an interface to models that allows a given parameter to be varied over a given range of values. Further, this toolkit will allow for batch processing, allowing numerous conditions to be compared across various models simultaneously. Specific Aim 3: Test model comparison and hypothesis generator toolkits on an existing connectionist model of how the brain detects and orients attention towards threat.
A low power noncoherent CMOS UWB transceiver ICs

A fully integrated pulse based UWB transmitter and receiver (TRX) using a novel and simple noncoherent architecture is presented. Fabricated in a 0.18/spl mu/m CMOS process, the signal from the transmitter is binary amplitude modulated pulses and meets FCC UWB low frequency band (3.1-5 GHz) specification. The receiver archives a noise figure of 7.5 dB, IIP3 of -14 dBm, and sensitivity of -72 dBm. The TRX can attain a transmission rate up to 50 Mbps without synchronization circuits and consumes 41.4 mW average power.
Acoustic Detection of Violence in Real and Fictional Environments

Detecting violence is an important task due to the amount of people who suffer its effects daily. There is a tendency to focus the problem either in real situations or in non real ones, but both of them are useful on its own right. Until this day there has not been clear effort to try to relate both environments. In this work we try to detect violent situations on two different acoustic databases through the use of crossed information from one of them into the other. The system has been divided into three stages: feature extraction, feature selection based on genetic algorithms and classification to take a binary decision. Results focus on comparing performance loss when a database is evaluated with features selected on itself, or selection based in the other database. In general, complex classifiers tend to suffer higher losses, whereas simple classifiers, such as linear and quadratic detectors, offers less than a 10% loss in most situations.
An exploratory study of the association of adrenergic and serotonergic genotype and gastrointestinal motor functions

Abstract Adrenergic and serotonergic mechanisms alter human gut motor functions. Genotype variation influences phenotype. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that variation in genes that control these functions is associated with gastrointestinal (GI) motor functions in humans with functional GI disorders (FGID). A database of 251 people was assembled by combining genotype data with measurements of gut transit and gastric volumes. Genetic variations evaluated were: α2A adrenergic (C‐1291G), α2C (Del 332‐325), 5‐HT transporter (SLC6A4) and GNβ3 (C825T). We sought associations between motor function or disease groups and genotypes, adjusting for age, gender and body mass index. Among 251 participants, 82 were healthy, 20 with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with mixed bowel habit, 49 with constipation‐predominant IBS, 67 with diarrhoea‐predominant IBS and 33 with functional dyspepsia. For all candidate genes, there was no significant association between motor function and wildtype vs non‐wildtype gene status. There were significant interactions between genotype and motility phenotype, specifically GNβ3 and α2A and gastric emptying at 4 h. Borderline associations were noted for SCL6A4 and α2A and postprandial gastric volume, and for α2C and gastric emptying at 2 h. We conclude that genotype variation may affect gastric motor functions in different FGID phenotypes. However, these candidate genes account for only a limited amount of the variance in gastric function of patients with FGID.
Taking a User Centred Design Approach for Designing a System to Teach Sign Language

User Centred Design (UCD) is today a widely accepted philosophy in systems development. UCD stresses the importance of involving and consulting users throughout the design and development of a system; it puts users and their tasks at the centre of the process. The phases of UCD are not universal and there any many interpretations of how UCD might be applied. Despite the wide acceptance of UCD and its recognised value in terms of designing systems which better meet users’ needs, there is little reported research on the application of UCD in actual development contexts. We describe how we employed UCD to develop a system for teaching sign language. We report on how users were involved and contributed to the design of the system at each of the UCD phases. Finally we reflect on what was learned and propose a model for others wishing to take a UCD approach.
The importance of cigarette packaging in a ‘dark’ market: the ‘Silk Cut’ experience

In a growing number of countries tobacco companies are severely restricted in how they can legally market their products. In these ‘dark’ markets the role of packaging as a promotional and communications tool becomes more pronounced. How packaging is used for the most expensive cigarette brands in dark markets has received limited attention however, even though these ‘premium’ cigarette brands significantly impact upon the profitability of tobacco companies. We outline, using retail trade press journals, how packaging was used for premium brand ‘Silk Cut’ in the UK from 2004 to 2011, following a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotions and sponsorship. From 2004 to 2008 packaging was used to help launch two new variants and during this period Silk Cut market share of the premium sector grew by 1.1%. Overall share of the cigarette market for the Silk Cut house (brand family) fell however due to the continuing decline of the premium sector. From 2008 to 2011 changes to the packaging were much more frequent, including the repeated use of limited-edition designs, and modifications to pack shape, texture, style of opening, cellophane, foil and inner frame. Silk Cut's share of the premium sector grew a further 2.9% from 2008 to 2011, and overall cigarette market share increased. That a premium brand can report any level of growth within such a hostile market, where most advertising, promotion and sponsorship is banned, taxation is among the highest in the world, and in the midst of a recession, is testament to the value of packaging.
Targeted gene replacement at the URA3 locus of the basidiomycetous yeast Pseudozyma antarctica and its transformation using lithium acetate treatment

The basidiomycetous yeast Pseudozyma antarctica is a remarkable producer of industrially valuable enzymes and extracellular glycolipids. In this study, we developed a method for targeted gene replacement in P. antarctica. In addition, transformation conditions were optimized using lithium acetate, single‐stranded carrier DNA and polyethylene glycol (lithium acetate treatment), generally used for ascomycetous yeast transformation. In the rice‐derived P. antarctica strain GB‐4(0), PaURA3, a homologue of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae orotidine‐5′‐phosphate decarboxylase gene (URA3), was selected as the target locus. A disruption cassette was constructed by linking the nouseothricine resistance gene (natMX4) to homologous DNA fragments of PaURA3, then electroporated into the strain GB‐4(0). We obtained strain PGB015 as one of the PaURA3 disruptants (Paura3Δ::natMX4). Then the PCR‐amplified PaURA3 fragment was introduced into PGB015, and growth of transformant colonies but not background colonies was observed on selective media lacking uracil. The complementation of uracil‐auxotrophy in PGB015 by introduction of PaURA3 was also performed using lithium acetate treatment, which resulted in a transformation efficiency of 985 CFU/6.8 μg DNA and a gene‐targeting ratio of two among 30 transformants. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.