Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Quest for Authentic Place: The Production of Suburban Alternatives in Minnesota's St. Croix Valley

The smart growth movement advocates compact, neotraditional neighborhoods and conservation subdivisions as alternatives to conventional suburban and exurban development patterns. Drawing on three case studies and a control neighborhood from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, this study attempts to identify the actors, conflicts, and underlying motivations behind the production of alternative suburban landscapes. The case studies highlight the importance of landscape politics as played out in local planning commissions, smallervolume developers carving out a community and/or environment niche to compete with larger national developers, and homebuyers willing to cross greater social and geographic distances in their quest for places that embody a normative vision of a better place to live. We suggest that these alternative landscapes be viewed as ambivalent—as supporting progressive social and environmental ideals while at the same time enhancing local environmental quality at the expense of the broader environment. Thus they are in essential continuity with the suburban project and represent its increased sophistication rather than its rejection.
The Ambiguity of the Child's ‘Voice’ in Social Research

This article addresses the ambiguity of the child's ‘voice’ in social research. Drawing on a recent research project on young children's communication difficulties, the author argues that the currently popular discourse on ‘listening to children’ is beset with practical and ethical ambiguities that result from the ‘socialness’ of human interaction, discourses and practices. In particular, the author argues that the notion of the child's ‘voice’ is, despite being a powerful rhetorical device, socially constructed. This article illustrates and discusses ambiguities that arose from fieldwork in two ‘special needs’ settings, considering their epistemological implications for social research, and offers reflexivity as a strategy for ethical research conduct.
Primary, Secondary, and Enclave Labor Markets: A Training Systems Approach

While research on ethnic enclaves has shown that workers employed in the enclave appear to enjoy at least some of the advantages associated with the primary sector, this « enclave effect » has not been adequately explained. In contrast to existing explanations that conceptualize the enclave as a special case of the primary sector, we emphasize the distinctive characteristics of ethnic economies, and explain the « enclave effect » using a single, consistent account of recruitment and skill acquisition processes in primary, secondary, and enclave labor markets. Unlike other sectors of the economy, the ethnic enclave is characterized by an external, informal training system that shapes the employment relationship and increases the availability and quality of information for workers and employers. We apply the concept to a case study of the New York garment industry
Evaluation of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and to assess the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in this population. The HADS was sent to 205 patients with PD, together with three quality-of-life (QoL) instruments, i.e., the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), the EQ-5D, and a visual analogue scale (VAS). Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale scores were also compared with Hoehn-Yahr (H&Y) scores. Eighty-six percent of the patients returned the questionnaires. The quality of the data was good. Cronbach &agr; for the HADS was 0.88. Test-retest reliability over 2 weeks was 0.84 for the sum score of the HADS (intraclass correlation coefficient) and ranged from 0.42–0.76 for individual items (weighted kappa). Factor analysis revealed two factors, accounting for 51.9% of the variance. One factor represented anxiety, the other depression. Correlations with PDQ-39, EQ-5D, VAS, and H&Y were 0.72, −0.59, −0.59, and 0.32, respectively (p values < 0.001). Depression scores accounted for 52% of the variance in QoL, whereas disease severity explained 24%. Using the cut-off values proposed by the developers indicated that possible and probable anxiety were present in 29.4% and 19.8% of the patients, respectively. Percentages for possible and probable depression were 21.5 and 16.9. The psychometric performance of the HADS in patients with PD is satisfactory. In addition, almost 50% of the patients displayed symptoms of anxiety, whereas nearly 40% showed signs of depression.
CAREER ORIENTATIONS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND COMPANIES: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF WEST GERMAN, BRITISH AND US INDUSTRIAL R&D PROFESSIONALS[1]

This study examined dimensions and levels of career orientations and their correlation with work-related outcome criteria among industrial R&D professionals. Questionnaire data were obtained in 11 West German, 4 British, and 2 US R&D units of large industrial companies. Respondents were 729 West German, 217 British, and 124 US scientists and engineers. Managerial career orientation and professional/scientific career orientation emerged from factor and scale analyses as two independent orientation dimensions with similar meaning across the three countries and the 17 R&D organizations. Results indicated significant cross-country differences in levels of professional/scientific career orientation, but not in levels of managerial career orientation. Significant differences in levels of both orientation dimensions were detected between R&D units within countries. Distinctive characteristics of West German firms employing R&D staff with particularly strong professional/scientific or managerial career orientations are suggested. Managerial and professional/scientific career orientations were found to be differentially related to objective indicators and self-ratings of research performance. Directions for future research and managerial implications for selecting and rewarding R&D employees with different patterns of career orientations are discussed.
Distinguishing melanocytic nevi from melanoma by DNA copy number changes: comparative genomic hybridization as a research and diagnostic tool

ABSTRACT: Cancer typically results in loosened control over genomic integrity, resulting in alterations of the genome of cancer cells. Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a method that can be used on DNA extracted from routinely fixed tissue to assess the entire genome for the presence of changes in DNA copy number. CGH analysis has revealed that melanoma differs from melanocytic nevi by the presence of frequent chromosomal aberrations. In contrast, melanocytic nevi typically show no chromosomal aberrations, or have a restricted set of alterations with basically no overlap to melanoma. These marked differences between aberration patterns in melanomas and melanocytic nevi can be exploited diagnostically to classify melanocytic tumors that are ambiguous based on histopathologic assessment. In addition to potential diagnostic applications, detailed analyses of recurrent aberrations can lead to the identification of genes relevant in melanocytic neoplasia.
Responsibility for Control: Ethics of Patient Preparation for Self-Management of Chronic Disease

Patient self-management (SM) of chronic disease is an evolving movement, with some forms documented as yielding important outcomes. Potential benefits from proper preparation and maintenance of patient SM skills include quality care tailored to the patient's preferences and life goals, and increase in skills in problem solving, confidence and success, generalizable to other parts of the patient's life. Four central ethical issues can be identified. 1) insufficient patient/family access to preparation that will optimize their competence to SM without harm to themselves, 2) lack of acknowledgement that an ethos of patient empowerment can mask transfer of responsibility beyond patient/family competency to handle that responsibility, 3) prevailing assumptions that preparation for SM cannot result in harm and that its main purpose is to deliver physician instructions, and 4) lack of standards for patient selection, which has the potential to exclude individuals who could benefit from learning to SM. Technology assessment offers one framework through which to examine available data about efficacy of patient SM and to answer the central question of what conditions must be put in place to optimize the benefits of SM while assuring that potential harms are controlled.
Scheduling Tightly-Coupled Applications on Heterogeneous Desktop Grids

Platforms that comprise volatile processors, such as desktop grids, have been traditionally used for executing independent-task applications. In this work we study the scheduling of tightly-coupled iterative master-worker applications onto volatile processors. The main challenge is that workers must be simultaneously available for the application to make progress. We consider three additional complications: (i) one should take into account that workers can become temporarily reclaimed and, for data-intensive applications; (ii) one should account for the limited bandwidth between the master and the workers; and (iii) workers are strongly heterogeneous, with different computing speeds and availability probability distributions. In this context, our first contribution is a theoretical study of the scheduling problem in its off-line version, i.e., when processor availability is known in advance. Even in this case the problem is NP-hard. Our second contribution is an analytical approximation of the expectation of the time needed by a set of workers to complete a set of tasks and of the probability of success of this computation. This approximation relies on a Markovian assumption for the temporal availability of processors. Our third contribution is a set of heuristics, some of which use the above approximation to favor reliable processors in a sensible manner. We evaluate these heuristics in simulation. We identify some heuristics that significantly outperform their competitors and derive heuristic design guidelines.
Secular trends in histologic types of lung cancer.

The histology pattern of lung cancer in Los Angeles County was reviewed for a 10-year period, 1972-81. In men, the total lung cancer incidence has been fairly constant, but there has been a shift in the histology pattern with an increase in adenocarcinoma and a decrease in "other" cell type (i.e., carcinoma not otherwise specified, large-cell and undifferentiated tumors). This changing histology pattern may be partly due to changes in diagnostic standards and practices. With the assumption that these changes are comparable in men and women, the "true" annual rate of change was estimated for each lung cancer cell type in women. All lung cancer types have increased in women; of the cell types squamous cell carcinoma, small-cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma, small-cell carcinoma showed the largest rate of annual increase and adenocarcinoma, the smallest.
Is There an Optimal Number of Alternatives for Likert Scale Items? Study I: Reliability and Validity

GivEN that rating scales are so widely used in the social sciences, both as research tools and in practical applications, determination of the optimal number of rating categories becomes an important consideration in the construction of such scales. As Garner (1960) pointed out, the basic question is whether for any given rating instrument there is an optimum number of rating categories, or at least a number of rating categories beyond which there is no further improvement in discrimination of the rated items. Garner and Hake
Prehistorically modified soils of central Amazonia: a model for sustainable agriculture in the twenty-first century

Terra Preta soils of central Amazonia exhibit approximately three times more soil organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus and 70 times more charcoal compared to adjacent infertile soils. The Terra Preta soils were generated by pre-Columbian native populations by chance or intentionally adding large amounts of charred residues (charcoal), organic wastes, excrements and bones. In this paper, it is argued that generating new Terra Preta sites (‘Terra Preta nova’) could be the basis for sustainable agriculture in the twenty-first century to produce food for billions of people, and could lead to attaining three Millennium Development Goals: (i) to combat desertification, (ii) to sequester atmospheric CO2 in the long term, and (iii) to maintain biodiversity hotspots such as tropical rainforests. Therefore, large-scale generation and utilization of Terra Preta soils would decrease the pressure on primary forests that are being extensively cleared for agricultural use with only limited fertility and sustainability and, hence, only providing a limited time for cropping. This would maintain biodiversity while mitigating both land degradation and climate change. However, it should not be overlooked that the infertility of most tropical soils (and associated low population density) is what could have prevented tropical forests undergoing large-scale clearance for agriculture. Increased fertility may increase the populations supported by shifting cultivation, thereby maintaining and increasing pressure on forests.
Transcription of DWARF4 Plays a Crucial Role in Auxin-Regulated Root Elongation in Addition to Brassinosteroid Homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana

The expression of DWARF4 (DWF4), which encodes a C-22 hydroxylase, is crucial for brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis and for the feedback control of endogenous BR levels. To advance our knowledge of BRs, we examined the effects of different plant hormones on DWF4 transcription in Arabidopsis thaliana. Semi-quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR showed that the amount of the DWF4 mRNA precursor either decreased or increased, similarly with its mature form, in response to an exogenously applied bioactive BR, brassinolide (BL), and a BR biosynthesis inhibitor, brassinazole (Brz), respectively. The response to these chemicals in the levels of β-glucuronidase (GUS) mRNA and its enzymatic activity is similar to the response of native DWF4 mRNA in DWF4::GUS plants. Contrary to the effects of BL, exogenous auxin induced GUS activity, but this enhancement was suppressed by anti-auxins, such as α-(phenylethyl-2-one)-IAA and α-tert-butoxycarbonylaminohexyl-IAA, suggesting the involvement of SCFTIR1-mediated auxin signaling in auxin-induced DWF4 transcription. Auxin-enhanced GUS activity was observed exclusively in roots; it was the most prominent in the elongation zones of both primary and lateral roots. Furthermore, auxin-induced lateral root elongation was suppressed by both Brz application and the dwf4 mutation, and this suppression was rescued by BL, suggesting that BRs act positively on root elongation under the control of auxin. Altogether, our results indicate that DWF4 transcription plays a novel role in the BR-auxin crosstalk associated with root elongation, in addition to its role in BR homeostasis.
Using a Marginal Structural Model to Design a Theory-Based Mass Media Campaign

Background The essential first step in the development of mass media health campaigns is to identify specific beliefs of the target audience. The challenge is to prioritize suitable beliefs derived from behavioral theory. The purpose of this study was to identify suitable beliefs to target in a mass media campaign to change behavior using a new method to estimate the possible effect size of a small set of beliefs. Methods Data were drawn from the 2010 Japanese Young Female Smoker Survey (n = 500), conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Survey measures included intention to quit smoking, psychological beliefs (attitude, norms, and perceived control) based on the theory of planned behavior and socioeconomic status (age, education, household income, and marital status). To identify suitable candidate beliefs for a mass media health campaign, we estimated the possible effect size required to change the intention to quit smoking among the population of young Japanese women using the population attributable fraction from a marginal structural model. Results Thirteen percent of study participants intended to quit smoking. The marginal structural model estimated a population attributable fraction of 47 psychological beliefs (21 attitudes, 6 norms, and 19 perceived controls) after controlling for socioeconomic status. The belief, “I could quit smoking if my husband or significant other recommended it” suggested a promising target for a mass media campaign (population attributable fraction = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.02–0.23). Messages targeting this belief could possibly improve intention rates by up to 12% among this population. The analysis also suggested the potential for regulatory action. Conclusions This study proposed a method by which campaign planners can develop theory-based mass communication strategies to change health behaviors at the population level. This method might contribute to improving the quality of future mass health communication strategies and further research is needed.
Blood Cell Telomere Length Is a Dynamic Feature

There is a considerable heterogeneity in blood cell telomere length (TL) for individuals of similar age and recent studies have revealed that TL changes by time are dependent on TL at baseline. TL is partly inherited, but results from several studies indicate that e.g. life style and/or environmental factors can affect TL during life. Collectively, these studies imply that blood cell TL might fluctuate during a life time and that the actual TL at a defined time point is the result of potential regulatory mechanism(s) and environmental factors. We analyzed relative TL (RTL) in subsequent blood samples taken six months apart from 50 individuals and found significant associations between RTL changes and RTL at baseline. Individual RTL changes per month were more pronounced than the changes recorded in a previously studied population analyzed after 10 years’ follow up. The data argues for an oscillating TL pattern which levels out at longer follow up times. In a separate group of five blood donors, a marked telomere loss was demonstrated within a six month period for one donor where after TL was stabilized. PCR determined RTL changes were verified by Southern blotting and STELA (single telomere elongation length analysis). The STELA demonstrated that for the donor with a marked telomere loss, the heterogeneity of the telomere distribution decreased considerably, with a noteworthy loss of the largest telomeres. In summary, the collected data support the concept that individual blood cell telomere length is a dynamic feature and this will be important to recognize in future studies of human telomere biology.
The nonstructural small glycoprotein sGP of Ebola virus is secreted as an antiparallel-orientated homodimer.

The nonstructural small glycoprotein sGP, which unlike the transmembrane GP is synthesized from primary nonedited mRNA species, is secreted from infected cells as a disulfide-linked homodimer. Site-directed mutagenesis of all cysteine residues revealed that dimerization is due to an intermolecular disulfide linkage between cysteine residues at positions 53 and 306. Formic acid hydrolysis of sGP demonstrated that sGP dimers consist of monomers in antiparallel orientation. Another editing product of the GP gene of Ebola virus (ssGP), which shares 295 amino-terminal amino acid residues with sGP, is secreted from cells in a monomeric form due to the lack of the carboxyl-terminal part (present in sGP), including cysteine at position 306.
The Validity of Career Maturity Attitude Measures Among Black and White High School Students

To investigate the validity of five career maturity attitude measures among Black and White high school students, the Counseling Form of the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale and a measure of appropriateness of career choices were administered to 83 Black and 239 White high school students. White students scored significantly higher than Black students on Involvement, Independence, and Compromise in Career Decision Making, and on Appropriateness of Career Choices. Reliability coefficients are mostly in the . 50s and . 60s. None of the five Attitude Scale subscales are related to appropriateness of career choices of Black students, and only one subscale, Compromise, is significantly correlated with appropriateness of career choices of White students. The data do not support the theoretical expectation that career maturity attitudes are related to appropriateness of career choices, and raise questions regarding the validity of inferences made about the career maturity of both Black and White students. Some practical and theoretical implications of the study are identified.
Sport and Physical Education and the New World Order: Dare We Be Agents of Social Change?

This lecture explores the content and context of the discourse of “a new world order” because this discourse has become part of the public discourse. Meanings about the new world order are part of a “contested terrain,” and as such they are part of a larger component of political, economic, and cultural conflicts, the outcomes of which are not preordained to favor the governing elites and monied interests. Scholars and educators, besides being a part of a large professional network, are citizens as well, and social conditions and problems affect everyone. Definitions and proposed trajectories of a new world order need to be problematized to provide impetus for transcending the classroom, the gymnasium, the department chair's and dean's office, and for becoming involved in constructing our society for the future. By emphasizing the socially constructed nature of, and hence the need to make problematic what is taken for granted, the possibility for alternatives in the wider society will be opened up.
A graph‐theoretic approach to the partition of individuals into full‐sib families

We present an algorithm to partition a single generation of individuals into full‐sib families using single‐locus co‐dominant marker data. Pairwise likelihood ratios are used to create a graph that represents the full‐sib relationships within the data set. Connected‐component and minimum‐cut algorithms from the graph theory are then employed to find the full‐sib families within the graph. The results of a large‐scale simulation study show that the algorithm is able to produce accurate partitions when applied to data sets with eight or more loci. Although the algorithm performs best when the distribution of allele frequencies and family sizes in a data set is uniform, the inclusion of more loci or alleles per locus allows accurate partitions to be created from data sets in which these distributions are highly skewed.
Execution of Dataflow Process Networks on OpenCL Platforms

The trend in computing systems is to combine various kinds of processing elements (PEs) to build more parallel architectures. This trend leads to more heterogeneous computing systems, for which abstractions are needed to efficiently program the systems without increasing the programming cost. This has lead to new programming languages and application programming interfaces (APIs). Parallel programming has always been a holy grail in computer science and dataflow programming promises a way to automatically provide parallel constructs for the programmer. This paper provides an approach to translate dataflow process networks (DPNs) into programs running some of the computations on the Open Computing Language (OpenCL) platform, supporting running programs on massively parallel hardware such as graphics processing units (GPUs). We show that certain DPN programs could run very efficiently on data-parallel architectures but also that there are certain patterns in DPN programs that prove problematic.