Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
*In-Company Training in Catalonia: Organizational Structure, Funding, Evaluation and Economic Impact

This study describes the status of training in Catalonias large companies, from an economic and organizational point of view. The results are based on empirical-descriptive research conducted with a sample of large and medium-sized businesses. It analyses the organizational structure of the businesses and the type of organizational structure in relation to training. From the economic point of view it seeks to identify the cost of training and the importance assigned to the different levels of evaluation of that training in the companies. This study also compares the status of training in Catalonias large companies with what happens in other countries and regions that may have similarly diverse economies. The final conclusions emphasize factors such as the consolidation of the training department within the companies organizational structures, the size of the enterprises and their turnover, as key variables of training provision. Another important feature is the significant differences between the types of organizational structure and the role of training. Lastly, it considers how training and its evaluation impact on the various economic and financial aspects of the companies.
Cultural and Biological Determinants in the Evaluation of Urban Green Spaces

Dramatically increasing urbanization is observable worldwide and brings pressure on space within urban areas as the built environment intensifies. Considerable evidence suggests that contact with nature is important for city dwellers, although it is not known whether residents’ appreciation of the forms of urban green spaces is constant across different contexts. More specifically, it has not yet been shown whether our appreciation of nature is innate and inherently human, is cultural and something that we learn, or is a mixture of both. This article describes an exploratory study consisting of 17 interviews carried out in Zurich, Switzerland. Kelly’s repertory grid technique is used to identify preferred urban landscapes, which were contrasted with identified rejected landscapes. Principle components analysis and multidimensional scaling reveal a clear separation of cultural and biological modes of landscape assessment in some respondents. The research contributes to an understanding of the meanings of urban green spaces, which would in turn provide planners with a tool to match urban natural resource management with the needs of residents.
Comparative evaluation of the INNO-LIA syphilis score and the MarDx Treponema pallidum immunoglobulin G Marblot test assays for the serological diagnosis of syphilis

We evaluated the performance of two immunoblot assays: the INNO-LIA Syphilis Score (LIA) and the MarDx T. pallidum IgG Marblot Test (TWB), as compared with that of the Murex ICE Syphilis enzyme immunoassay (EIA), the Serodia Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) assay and the fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-abs) assay, for the serological diagnosis of syphilis using serum samples of 135 attendees of the social hygiene clinics of the Department of Health in Hong Kong newly diagnosed with syphilis and provided with clinical stages (39 in primary, 20 in secondary, 18 in early latent and 58 in latent of unknown duration) and of 43 normal healthy subjects between October and December 2004. The differences in the overall sensitivities of the LIA assay and the EIA/TPPA/FTA-abs assays were not statistically significant (P > 0.05) whereas the overall sensitivity of the TWB assay was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than the overall sensitivities of the EIA, the TPPA and the FTA-abs assays. The LIA assay had an overall sensitivity of 94.1% (95% CI 88.7–97.0%) whereas the TWB assay 65.2% (95% CI 56.8–72.7%). Both the LIA and the TWB assays have a specificity of 100%. When consensus results were derived from the most predominant results of the EIA, the TPPA and the FTA-abs assays, the LIA assay had a positive agreement with the consensus results of 98.5% (95% CI 94.5–99.6%) whereas the TWB assay 68.2% (95% CI 59.8–75.6%). Therefore, the LIA assay performed significantly better (P < 0.05) than the TWB assay. The LIA assay can be considered to be a valid alternative confirmatory test for the serological diagnosis of syphilis.
Several Different Lactase Persistence Associated Alleles and High Diversity of the Lactase Gene in the Admixed Brazilian Population

Adult-type hypolactasia is a common phenotype caused by the lactase enzyme deficiency. The −13910 C>T polymorphism, located 14 Kb upstream of the lactase gene (LCT) in the MCM6 gene was associated with lactase persistence (LP) in Europeans. This polymorphism is rare in Africa but several other variants associated with lactase persistence were observed in Africans. The aims of this study were to identify polymorphisms in the MCM6 region associated with the lactase persistence phenotype and to determine the distribution of LCT gene haplotypes in 981 individuals from North, Northeast and South Brazil. These polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR based methods and sequencing. The −13779*C,−13910*T, −13937*A, −14010*C, −14011*T LP alleles previously described in the MCM6 gene region that acts as an enhancer for the LCT gene were identified in Brazilians. The most common LP allele was −13910*T. Its frequency was highly correlated with European ancestry in the Brazilian populations investigated. The −13910*T was higher (0.295) in southern Brazilians of European ancestry and lower (0.175) in the Northern admixed population. LCT haplotypes were derived from the 10 LCT SNPs genotyped. Overall twenty six haplotypes previously described were identified in the four Brazilian populations studied. The Multidimensional Scaling analysis showed that Belém, in the north, was closer to Amerindians. Northeastern and southern Afro-descendants were more related with Bantu-speaking South Africans whereas the Southern population with European ancestry grouped with Southern and Northern Europeans. This study shows a high variability considering the number of LCT haplotypes observed. Due to the highly admixed nature of the Brazilian populations, the diagnosis of hypolactasia in Brazil, based only in the investigation of the −13910*T allele is an oversimplification.
Fronthaul and backhaul requirements of flexibly centralized radio access networks

Cloud radio access networks promise considerable benefits compared to decentralized network architectures, but they also put challenging requirements on the fronthaul and backhaul network. Flexible centralization can relax these requirements by adaptively assigning different parts of the processing chain to either the centralized baseband processors or the base stations based on the load situation, user scenario, and availability of fronthaul links. In this article, we provide a comprehensive overview of different functional split options and analyze their specific requirements. We compare these requirements to available fronthaul technologies, and discuss the convergence of fronthaul and backhaul technologies. By evaluating the aggregated fronthaul traffic, we show the benefits of flexible centralization and give guidelines on how to set up the fronthaul network to avoid over- or under-dimensioning.
Interactive, Collaborative Professional Development in Early Literacy Instruction: Supporting the Balancing Act.

Project RIME, Reading Instructional Methods of Efficacy, is an interactive, collaborative professional development project designed to support early elementary and special education teachers as they integrate more explicit instruction for children at risk for reading failure into their curricula. Two components of the model are described: the interactive course and the yearlong school collaboration. This article focuses on 11 teachers from two schools and compares them to teachers from two other schools. Several evaluations, including measures of teachers' attitudes and knowledge, are described. Results indicate that although teachers became more positive and knowledgeable toward using explicit instruction, their orientation toward implicit, whole-language approaches remained stable. In contrast, teachers' attitudes and knowledge in the comparison schools were unchanged. Results from student performance are also summarized. The perceptions of 3 teachers were explored further using qualitative data analysi.
Applying Black Threat Theory, Urban Regime Theory, and Deracialization: The Memphis Mayoral Elections of 1991, 1995, and 1999

ABSTRACT: Until 1991 Memphis was the only major US city with a majority-black population that had not elected a black mayor. Various explanations, including in-fighting and competition among black city leaders and citizen aversion to candidates who attempt cross-racial appeals, have been offered to explain the lack of an elected black mayor of Memphis prior to 1991. We first investigate how Herenton overcame these electoral obstacles to become Memphis’ first elected black mayor in 1991, and then won reelection in two consecutive reelection attempts. We then apply Herenton’s campaign strategy and the vote in these elections to several popular theories of voting and election strategy in urban elections—black-threat theory, urban regime theory, and deracialization. Our findings point to the new trend of biracial coalitions in the urban setting and suggest the importance of reconsidering the traditional theories of racial politics, such as the black threat thesis.
Moderating Effects of Personal Cognitions on Experienced and Perceived Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace

This study investigated actual and perceived sexual harassment (SH), as well as the discrepancy between them of women in the workplace, as related to several factual and perceptual variables which were selected on the basis of theoretical considerations and previous findings (i.e., harasser status, workplace sex ratio, and perceptions of intensity of intergender interaction, normative beliefs about SH, and personal attractiveness). The sample included 138 women. employed in four organizations, who responded to anonymous questionnaires. Results showed that women reported engagement in diverse actual SH episodes, which varied in frequency (2% to 27%) along five levels of SH severity continuum. Only 10.1% of the women perceived these episodes as sexual harassing. It was found that the higher the severity of the SH episode, the stronger was the tendency to perceive it as sexual harassing. While actual SH was found to be significantly correlated with all research variables (R= .49), perceived SH was only related to normative beliefs about SH (r= .38), and the discrepancy mainly to personal attractiveness (r= -.21). Various implications of the findings were discussed in light of social judgment perspective.
Differences in Sexual Behaviors and Teen Dating Violence among Black, Hispanic, and White Female Adolescents

We examined differences in sexual behaviors among White, Black, and Hispanic adolescent females exposed to dating or sexual violence (DSV) using the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. We also examined the interaction effect of exposure to DSV and race or ethnicity on sexual behaviors. Sexual behaviors were significantly associated with both race or ethnicity and DSV; DSV was a stronger predictor of sexual behaviors than race or ethnicity; and the effect of DSV on condom use was more pronounced among Hispanic adolescents, whereas the effect of DSV on birth control use was more pronounced among both Black and Hispanic adolescents. Adolescent health programs should simultaneously address DSV and sexual risk reduction, with particular emphasis on birth control and condom use among ethnic minority populations.
Minimal Realization Problems for Hidden Markov Models

This paper addresses two fundamental problems in the context of hidden Markov models (HMMs). The first problem is concerned with the characterization and computation of a minimal order HMM that realizes the exact joint densities of an output process based on only finite strings of such densities (known as HMM partial realization problem). The second problem is concerned with learning a HMM from finite output observations of a stochastic process. We review and connect two fields of studies: realization theory of HMMs, and the recent development in spectral methods for learning latent variable models. Our main results in this paper focus on generic situations, namely, statements that will be true for almost all HMMs, excluding a measure zero set in the parameter space. In the main theorem, we show that both the minimal quasi-HMM realization and the minimal HMM realization can be efficiently computed based on the joint probabilities of length N strings, for N in the order of O(logd(k)). In other words, learning a quasi-HMM and an HMM have comparable complexity for almost all HMMs.
Preliminary evidence for good psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Brief Problems Monitor (BPM)

Abstract Background: Methods to assess intervention progress and outcome for frequent use are needed. Objective: To provide preliminary information about psychometric properties for the Norwegian version of the Brief Problems Monitor. Method: Cronbach's alpha scores and intra-class correlation coefficients as indicators for internal consistency (reliability) and Pearson correlation coefficients between corresponding subscales of the long and short ASEBA form versions as well as multiple regression coefficients to explore the predictive power of the reduced item-set related to the corresponding scale-scores of the long version were calculated in large, representative data sets of Norwegian children and adolescents. Results: Cronbach's alpha scores of the Norwegian version of the BPM subscales varied between 0.67 (attention BPM-youth) and 0.88 (attention BPM-teacher) and between 0.90 (BPM-youth) and 0.96 (BPM-teacher) for its total problem score. Corresponding subscales from the long versions and the BPM as well as the total problems scores were closely correlated with coefficients of high effect size (all r > 0.80). The variance of the items of the BPM explained about three-quarters or more of the variance in the corresponding subscales of the long version. Conclusions: The Norwegian BPM has good psychometric properties in terms of 1) being acceptable to good internal consistency and in terms of 2) regression coefficients of high effect size from the BPM items to the problem-scale scores of the long versions as validity indicators. Its use in clinical practice and research can be recommended.
Reconsidering the role of the primary special educational needs co‐ordinator: policy, practice and future priorities

This article considers the impact of recent policy designed to define the roles and responsibilities of special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCos). The international drive towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs within the mainstream has led many schools to reconsider their structures and practices. In the UK, the SENCo role lies at the heart of these structures and the Government has sought to define this role both within a revised Code of Practice for special educational needs and in a set of national standards. In this article, Christine Szwed, Director of Studies for Initial Teacher Education at the University of Birmingham, reports the findings of a survey examining the context of SENCo role management within a group of primary schools. The findings indicate that the role cannot be generalisd and that SENCos are operating in increasingly complex contexts within very different management structures. Christine Szwed argues that, to be effective, SENCos must be enabled to work at a whole-school level and that the co-ordination of special needs is a development issue for the whole staff.
High-dose recombinant interleukin-2 therapy in patients with metastatic melanoma: long-term survival update.

PURPOSE To update response duration and survival data for patients with metastatic melanoma receiving the high-dose IV bolus recombinant interleukin (IL)-2 regimen. PATIENTS AND METHODS Two hundred seventy assessable patients were entered into eight clinical trials conducted between 1985 and 1993. IL-2 600,000 or 720,000 IU/kg was administered by 15-minute intravenous infusion every 8 hours for up to 14 consecutive doses over 5 days as clinically tolerated with maximum support, including pressors. A second, identical cycle of treatment was scheduled following 6 to 9 days of rest, and courses could be repeated every 6 to 12 weeks in stable or responding patients. Responding patients received up to five courses (two cycles/course) of treatment. All data were updated through December 1998 using report forms completed by the clinical investigators. RESULTS The objective overall response rate was unchanged from the previous report. Tumor responses were seen in 16% of patients, with complete responses in 17 (6%) and partial responses in 26 (10%). Median survival for the group as a whole is now 12 months. Median follow-up time for surviving patients exceeds 7 years. Median duration of response for the 43 responding patients and the 26 patients with partial responses remained unchanged at 8.9 and 5.9 months, respectively. Response durations ranged from 1.5 to > 122 months. The median duration of complete responses has yet to be reached, but is at least 59 months. Thirty-one patients (11%) were alive as of last contact; 28 were confirmed, including 18 responding patients. Three patients were lost to follow-up at > 1, > 13, and > 104 months. Twelve responding patients remained continually disease- or progression-free from > 70 to > 150 months following initiation of therapy. Disease progression was not observed in any patient who was responding as of the last report or in any patient responding for longer than 30 months. CONCLUSION These data continue to support the notion that high-dose IL-2 produces durable responses in some patients with metastatic melanoma and should be considered a therapeutic option for appropriately selected patients with this disease.
Cognitive Load and Alternative Conceptions in Learning Genetics: Effects from Provoking Confusion

ABSTRACT Only recently has cognitive load theory been applied in conceptual change approaches. To the authors’ knowledge, theirs is the first study to examine the effects on students’ cognitive load of an approach contrary to a refutation text design. The authors combined computer and textbook instruction with involving alternative conceptions (ACs) to instruct 398 ninth-grade students. They determined the number of scientific conceptions learned within a pretest, posttest, and retention test design while measuring the students’ mental effort during the instruction. The groups whose instruction involved ACs did not show any significant long-term increase in the number of scientific conceptions learned compared to the control group. The textbook instruction with ACs resulted in the students unnecessarily investing higher mental effort. Further research is needed to clarify the effect.
Current Pathophysiological Findings in Bipolar Disorder and in its Subtypes

There have been many studies that have examined various aspects of the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder, with many positive findings in several areas of neuroimaging and metabolic abnormality. These studies might allow some conclusions to be drawn about the underlying pathophysiology. Additionally, it is of significant interest to determine if there are pathophysiological differences between patients with bipolar disorder type I (BPD-I) and those with bipolar disorder type II (BPD-II). The present review examines imaging studies in bipolar patients of possible structural changes (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) functional changes (focusing on functional MRI (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)), and those examining brain chemistry (utilizing magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)). Metabolic studies reviewed were those that examined 3-methoxy-4- hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), cellular calcium, and protein kinase C (PKC). The results clearly suggest that BPD patients differ from controls on many of these measures. However, while there is evidence from genetic studies suggesting possible differences between BPD-II patients and BPD-I patients, the neuroimaging and metabolic studies to date do not support this, and there appear to be no consistent pathophysiologica differences between these subtypes from evidence available at present.
Probing the steroid binding domain-like I (SBDLI) of the sigma-1 receptor binding site using N-substituted photoaffinity labels.

Radioiodinated photoactivatable photoprobes can provide valuable insights regarding protein structure. Previous work in our laboratory showed that the cocaine derivative and photoprobe 3-[ (125)I]iodo-4-azidococaine ([ (125)I]IACoc) binds to the sigma-1 receptor with 2-3 orders of magnitude higher affinity than cocaine [Kahoun, J. R. (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 89, 1393-1397]. Using this photoprobe, we demonstrated the insertion site for [ (125)I]IACoc to be Asp188 [Chen, Y. (2007) Biochemistry 46, 3532-3542], which resides in the proposed steroid binding domain-like II (SBDLII) region (amino acids 176-194) [Pal, A. (2007) Mol. Pharmacol. 72, 921-933]. An additional photoprobe based on the sigma-1 receptor ligand fenpropimorph, 1- N-(2-3-[ (125)I]iodophenyl)propane ([ (125)I]IAF), was found to label a peptide in both the SBDLII and steroid binding domain-like I (SBDLI) (amino acids 91-109) [Pal, A. (2007) Mol. Pharmacol. 72, 921-933]. In this report, we describe two novel strategically positioned carrier-free, radioiodinated photoaffinity labels specifically designed to probe the putative "nitrogen interacting region" of sigma-1 receptor ligands. These two novel photoprobes are (-)-methyl 3-(benzoyloxy)-8-2-(4-azido-3-[ (125)I]iodobenzene)-1-ethyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2. 1]octane-2-carboxylate ([ (125)I]-N-IACoc) and N-propyl- N-(4-azido-3-iodophenylethyl)-3-(4-fluorophenyl)propylamine ([ (125)I]IAC44). In addition to reporting their binding affinities to the sigma-1 and sigma-2 receptors, we show that both photoaffinity labels specifically and covalently derivatized the pure guinea pig sigma-1 receptor (26.1 kDa) [Ramachandran, S. (2007) Protein Expression Purif. 51, 283-292]. Cleavage of the photolabeled sigma-1 receptor using Endo Lys C and cyanogen bromide (CNBr) revealed that the [ (125)I]-N-IACoc label was located primarily in the N-terminus and SBDLI-containing peptides of the sigma-1 receptor, while [ (125)I]IAC44 was found in peptide fragments consistent with labeling of both SBDLI and SBDLII.
An experimental investigation of daytime monitoring for sleep-related threat in primary insomnia

An experimental manipulation was conducted to test the hypothesis that monitoring for sleep-related threat during the day triggers a cycle of cognitive processes that includes increased negative thinking, increased use of safety behaviours, increased perceived impairment in functioning, and increased self-reported sleepiness. Forty-seven individuals with primary insomnia were randomly assigned to a monitoring group (instructed to monitor their body sensations), a no-monitoring group (instructed to distract from their body sensations), or a no-instruction group. The manipulations to monitor or not monitor were administered immediately on waking and participants were asked to continue the manipulation throughout the experimental day. The monitoring group reported more negative thoughts, the use of more safety behaviours, and more sleepiness during the day relative to the no-instruction group. These findings offer support to a recent cognitive model, which identifies daytime monitoring for sleep-related threat as a key factor in the maintenance of the daytime distress and difficulty functioning in chronic insomnia.