Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
‘Making children count’: an exploration of the implementation of the Every Child Matters agenda

This paper reports on the findings of a funded research project that explores the implementation of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda within the Greater Merseyside area. The research team explore how primary schools and external agencies are currently working together to deliver this agenda in order to highlight areas of good practice as well as potential sites of conflict. The aim is to develop an effective response to the challenges currently faced by schools and other agencies in meeting the requirements of the principles underpinning the ECM agenda. The research project implemented a mixed-method case-study approach, using questionnaires, policy documentation and stakeholder interviews as data sources. Responses were elicited from members of school staff, parents and professionals from the education welfare, health and social services to gauge their perceptions of how well they felt schools and agencies were responding to the challenges of implementing the ECM agenda. There is strong evidence of effective multi-agency working, particularly in relation to children who are ‘at risk’ or have special educational needs, and in terms of contributions to the curriculum and life of the school for all pupils. There are also clearly identified areas for further development, for example on shared operational frameworks. There are also concerns that poor resourcing and a lack of practical support could hamper the embedding of reforms.
Sport, Culture and Socialization

In the article the author makes explicit the relationship between culture and socialization. Much past work in sport socialization has ignored the impact and influence of culture on the socialization process. This paper critiques past ap proaches to socialization from a cultural perspective, and demonstrates, through the use of ethnographic data, an interactionist approach to the process.
Ti/TiO2 Nanotube Array/Ti Capacitive Device for Non-polar Aromatic Hydrocarbon Detection

In this paper, highly repeatable aromatic hydrocarbon [such as benzene (B), toluene (T) and xylene (X) (BTX)] sensing performance of Ti/TiO2 nanotube (NT) array/Ti sandwiched device structure, in the capacitive mode, is reported. The sensing layer was synthesized via electrochemical route and the capacitive performance of the device, toward organic vapors having low dielectric constant (e.g. BTX), was investigated. For a detection range of 10-200 ppm (at 150 °C), the sensor offered a highly promising performance. TiO2 NT array, being a highly oriented and freestanding nanostructure, offered sufficient intertubular and intratubular free space, which can be easily filled up by the target gas/vapor species, causing a significant change in the effective dielectric constant and therefore in the resultant capacitance of the sensor device. An equivalent circuit model was developed to demonstrate the underlying mechanistic framework of the capacitive type gas/vapor sensor considering the effects of the external factors, viz., temperature and target vapor concentrations.
Midnight serum cortisol as a marker of increased cardiovascular risk in patients with a clinically inapparent adrenal adenoma.

OBJECTIVE There is scant information on the morbidity associated with subclinical Cushing's syndrome in patients with a clinically inapparent adrenal adenoma. In the present study, we have determined the prevalence of alterations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in such patients and examined whether any correlation between endocrine data and the clinical phenotype exists. DESIGN AND METHODS A multi-institutional retrospective study was carried out on 210 patients (135 women and 75 men aged 19-81 years) with an adrenal adenoma detected serendipitously between 1996 and 2000 in four referral centers in Italy. RESULTS Hypertension was observed in 53.8%, obesity in 21.4% and hyperglycemia in 22.4% of patients. The 47 patients with midnight serum cortisol >5.4 microg/dl, a value corresponding to the 97th centile of 100 controls, were older and displayed greater fasting glucose (120.4+/-52.2 mg/dl vs 105.1+/-39.2 mg/dl, P = 0.04) and systolic blood pressure (148.3+/-14.6 mmHg vs 136.4+/-16.2 mmHg, P = 0.0009) than the 113 patients with normal cortisol levels. The difference in systolic blood pressure remained statistically significant (P = 0.009) when age was used as a covariate. The percentage of hypertensive patients undergoing treatment was not different between the two groups (90.5 and 97.1%) but the percentage of patients with controlled hypertension was significantly lower among the hypercortisolemic patients (12.5 vs 32.4%, P = 0.04). Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were higher in the hypercortisolemic diabetic patients (8.9+/-1.1% vs 7.1+/-1.3%, P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS Elevated midnight cortisol concentration is a reliable test to select a subgroup of patients with a clinically inapparent adrenal adenoma with an adverse cardiovascular risk profile.
Specialisation within the semantic system

Abstract Three issues related to impairments within the semantic domain are considered. It is argued that the access failure/degraded store dichotomy remains useful. Problems are shown in the more parsimonious explanations of the visual/verbal semantic processing discrepancies and category-specific effects put forward by Riddoch, Humphreys, Coltheart, and Funnell (this volume).
Persuasion Wars: Practicing social influence

This article describes a series of learning activities called “Persuasion Wars. ” These in‐class exercises use an active, collaborative learning approach in which student teams fight persuasion battles, using the “weaponry” provided by the lecture and readings. Each battle is waged in a different task domain to provide practice in the wide range of situations in which students might use or encounter social influence. Student feedback via course evaluations and an Internet survey indicate that this learning tool is both enjoyable and enhances understanding of the material.
Evaluation of an Observer Form of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations

The present study evaluates a prospective observer form of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) by comparing the two forms in terms of factor structure, mean differences, reliability, and examining correlations between self-report and peer ratings. A total of 163 pairs of friends complete the CISS and an observer form of the CISS. Confirmatory factor analysis results indicate that for both rating forms, the four-factor solution fits better. Although self-rating data fit the theoretical model better, the peer ratings show higher reliability. The correlation between self and peer latent factors is moderate for Avoidance-oriented coping and for its subscales, but low for Task- and Emotion-oriented coping. Internal consistency coefficients for the CISS scales are high across type of rating, and a significant cross-form mean difference is found on the Task latent factor. Overall, the results provide evidence of substantial measurement equivalence between the self-rating form and the observer form, and the authors propose its use in dispositional coping research.
Sunitinib rechallenge in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients

Sunitinib was a standard initial therapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Given the fact that many patients progressed through many available therapies and antitumor activity had been demonstrated with sequential vascular endothelial growth factor‐targeting approaches, a retrospective review was performed of the experience of rechallenge with sunitinib in sunitinib‐refractory mRCC.
Duration of Unemployment among Men in Northern Ireland: Regional Inequality or Denominational Discrimination?

Male unemployment in Northern Ireland from 1926 to 1973 is examined by using aggregate time series and individual life-history data. County-specific and sector-specific unemployment rates are derived from various published statistics by using an entropy-maximising procedure. These aggregate data show a systematic relative improvement in male unemployment in the predominantly Protestant eastern counties and a corresponding deterioration in the more Catholic western counties. A model for investigating the factors affecting the duration of unemployment of individuals is presented. It is applied to the lifetime unemployment histories of a sample of men in Northern Ireland who were aged between eighteen and sixty-five during August 1973. With controls for other factors, it was found that the probability of reemployment was generally lower for Catholics than Methodists and members of the Church of Ireland, but it was not markedly lower than for Presbyterians. These differentials are also modified by several other interacting factors.
Using composite metrics to measure student diversity in higher education

The role and impact of diversity in higher education has permeated conversations about student access and achievement for many years. Language articulated by various courts suggests that higher education policies should reflect a broad conceptualisation of diversity beyond that of the magnitude and proportion of race and ethnicity, yet institutions struggle to measure diversity in a manner that effectively supports the management of diversity goals and meets the legal requirements for targeted strategies. Building on methodologies from biology and political science, this paper proposes a new way of conceptualising and measuring diversity that addresses the limitations of traditional diversity metrics and accounts for race and race-neutral attributes within a single model. Using data from over 1500 colleges and universities, the development of a composite diversity index is demonstrated as a strategy for meeting organisational need to account for and measure multiple diversity attributes.
Curiosity, Information Gaps, and the Utility of Knowledge

We propose an integrated theoretical framework that captures the diverse motives driving the preference to obtain or avoid information. Beyond the conventional desire for information as an input to decision making, people are driven by curiosity, which is a desire for knowledge for its own sake, even in the absence of material benefits, and people are additionally motivated to seek out information about issues they like thinking about and avoid information about issues they do not like thinking about (an “ostrich effect”). The standard economic framework is enriched with the insights that knowledge has valence, that ceteris paribus people want to fill in information gaps, and that, beyond contributing to knowledge, information affects the focus of attention.
Wavelength reuse for efficient packet-switched transport in an AWG-based metro WDM network

Metro wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) networks play an important role in the emerging Internet hierarchy; they interconnect the backbone WDM networks and the local-access networks. The current circuit-switched SONET/synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH)-over-WDM-ring metro networks are expected to become a serious bottleneck-the so-called metro gap-as they are faced with an increasing amount of bursty packet data traffic and quickly increasing bandwidths in the backbone networks and access networks. Innovative metro WDM networks that are highly efficient and able to handle variable-size packets are needed to alleviate the metro gap. In this paper, we study an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG)-based single-hop WDM metro network. We analyze the photonic switching of variable-size packets with spatial wavelength reuse. We derive computationally efficient and accurate expressions for the network throughput and delay. Our extensive numerical investigations-based on our analytical results and simulations-reveal that spatial wavelength reuse is crucial for efficient photonic packet switching. In typical scenarios, spatial wavelength reuse increases the throughput by 60% while reducing the delay by 40%. Also, the throughput of our AWG-based network with spatial wavelength reuse is roughly 70% larger than the throughput of a comparable single-hop WDM network based on a passive star coupler (PSC).
La microfinance combinée: aperçu en Amérique latine et dans les Caraïbes

La microfinance ne se limite plus uniquement au microcredit. Ce nouveau consensus est le reflet d’une realite dans laquelle nous observons des systemes qui offrent aujourd’hui un grand choix de services financiers. Le present article reconnait trois grands types de services microfinanciers, qui peuvent etre combines : le microcredit, la micro-epargne et la micro-assurance. Il definit les articulations de ces services comme des « systemes de microfinance combinee ». Il propose un apercu de la diversite de ces systemes en Amerique latine et dans les Caraibes en questionnant leur presence, leur forme, la clientele touchee et l’articulation des produits qui les constituent. Cette recherche confirme la presence croissante de ces mecanismes dans la region concernee, au sein de systemes qui ont le credit comme point de depart, en particulier dans les milieux cooperatif et banquier [1] . JEL – G21, G22, L31, O54.
SOCS1, SOCS3, and PIAS1 Promote Myogenic Differentiation by Inhibiting the Leukemia Inhibitory Factor-Induced JAK1/STAT1/STAT3 Pathway

ABSTRACT We recently showed that a leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF)-engaged signaling pathway consisting of JAK1, STAT1, and STAT3 plays dual roles in myogenic differentiation: while it participates in myoblast proliferation, it also actively represses differentiation. Downregulation of this pathway is required at the onset of differentiation. However, it remained unclear how this is achieved mechanistically. We now show that SOCS1, SOCS3, and PIAS1 promote myogenic differentiation by specifically inhibiting the LIF-induced JAK1/STAT1/STAT3 pathway via distinct targets; whereas SOCS1 and SOCS3 selectively bind and inhibit JAK1 and gp130, respectively, PIAS1 targets mainly the activated STAT1 and prevents its binding to DNA. We further demonstrated that the SUMO E3-ligase activity of PIAS1 is dispensable for its role in myogenic differentiation. Collectively, our current study revealed a molecular mechanism that explains how the LIF-induced JAK1/STAT1/STAT3 pathway is downregulated upon myogenic differentiation.
Regulation of endotoxin-induced keratitis by PECAM-1, MIP-2, and toll-like receptor 4.

PURPOSE Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS, endotoxin) is a potent stimulator of inflammatory responses and is likely to contribute to microbial keratitis and to the pathogenesis of sterile corneal ulcers. The purpose of the present study was to identify specific mediators of endotoxin-induced keratitis. METHODS The corneal epithelium of BALB/c, C3H/HeJ, and C3H/HeN mice was abraded, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa endotoxin (10 microg in 1 microL) was added. Stromal thickness and haze were measured by in vivo scanning confocal microscopy, and neutrophil recruitment determined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS Pseudomonas endotoxin induced a significant increase in stromal thickness and haze compared with untreated control corneas at each time point examined, and the severity coincided with neutrophil infiltration into the corneal stroma. Furthermore, systemic depletion of neutrophils completely abrogated endotoxin-induced increases in stromal thickness and haze, indicating an essential role for these cells. Expression of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)-1 on vascular endothelium and production of macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2 in the corneal stroma were also significantly elevated after exposure to endotoxin, and antibody blockade inhibited neutrophil recruitment to the cornea and abrogated endotoxin-induced increases in stromal thickness and haze. In LPS-hyporesponsive C3H/HeJ mice, PECAM-1 and MIP-2 were not upregulated after exposure to endotoxin, and endotoxin-induced keratitis did not develop in these mice. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate that endotoxin-induced keratitis is regulated by toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4)-dependent expression of PECAM-1 and MIP-2, which are essential for recruitment of neutrophils to this site and for development of endotoxin-induced stromal disease.
Structure of the gene 2.5 protein, a single-stranded DNA binding protein encoded by bacteriophage T7

The gene 2.5 protein (gp2.5) of bacteriophage T7 is a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein that has essential roles in DNA replication and recombination. In addition to binding DNA, gp2.5 physically interacts with T7 DNA polymerase and T7 primase-helicase during replication to coordinate events at the replication fork. We have determined a 1.9-Å crystal structure of gp2.5 and show that it has a conserved OB-fold (oligosaccharide/oligonucleotide binding fold) that is well adapted for interactions with ssDNA. Superposition of the OB-folds of gp2.5 and other ssDNA binding proteins reveals a conserved patch of aromatic residues that stack against the bases of ssDNA in the other crystal structures, suggesting that gp2.5 binds to ssDNA in a similar manner. An acidic C-terminal extension of the gp2.5 protein, which is required for dimer formation and for interactions with the T7 DNA polymerase and the primase-helicase, appears to be flexible and may act as a switch that modulates the DNA binding affinity of gp2.5.
Tailored Thienopyridine Therapy: No Urgency for CYP2C19 Genotyping

Between 20% and 50% of cardiovascular patients treated with clopidogrel, an anti‐P2Y12 drug, display high on‐treatment platelet reactivity (HTPR) and are not adequately protected from major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Despite a minor influence of the CYP2C19*2 genetic variant on the pharmacodynamic response to clopidogrel (5% to 12%) and a limited or absent value for predicting stent thrombosis and MACE, this latter polymorphism is currently considered an important candidate to tailor anti‐P2Y12 therapy during percutaneous coronary intervention. Seven studies have examined the value of CYP2C19*2 for predicting HTPR in comparison to a specific pharmacodynamic assay (VASP assay). Overall, the summarized sensitivity of the CYP2C19*2 genotype for predicting HTPR was 37.6% (95% CI: 32.2 to 43.3%), yielding a negative likelihood ratio of only 0.77 (95% CI: 0.68 to 0.86) which confirms its limited value as a routine clinical aid. A tailored anti‐P2Y12 treatment strategy restricted to CYP2C19*2 carriers may be of some help, but this restrictive approach leaves out noncarriers with HTPR. As for platelet function testing, there is currently no convincing data to support that using CYP2C19*2 genotyping as a tailored anti‐P2Y12 treatment would be an effective strategy and there is no urgency for CYP2C19 genotyping in clinical practice. Strategies incorporating genotyping, phenotyping, and clinical data in a stratified and sequential approach may be more promising.
On Groups and Counter Automata

We study finitely generated groups whose word problems are accepted by counter automata. We show that a group has word problem accepted by a blind n-counter automaton in the sense of Greibach if and only if it is virtually free abelian of rank n; this result, which answers a question of Gilman, is in a very precise sense an abelian analogue of the Muller–Schupp theorem. More generally, if G is a virtually abelian group then every group with word problem recognized by a G-automaton is virtually abelian with growth class bounded above by the growth class of G. We consider also other types of counter automata.
Conceptualization, Measure Development and Empirical Assessment of Career Oriented Attitudes and Employability of Technology Graduates

The present study is an attempt to develop a theoretical framework of career oriented attitudes (COAs) and employability of technology graduates from Indian institutions and also to develop scales to measure the same. Secondly, in this study, (a) the existing levels of such attitudes (viz., career-task involvement, career-goal sensitivity, career-purpose social networking and career-linked self-efficacy) and competitive strength for employability (CSEMP) have been measured and (b) the impact of such career oriented attitudes on competitive strength for employability of those graduates has been assessed. The two scales were administered to 222 technology graduates from three different segments of selected technology institutions. Career-purpose social networking was found very strong and the other three attitudes as well as CSEMP were found strong among the technology graduates. Correlation analysis shows that all the four attitudes are correlated with each other and regression analysis reveals that such attitudes have positive impact on Competitive Strength for Employability of the Indian technology graduates. The theoretical framework presented in this article and the measures developed for COAs and CSEMP are significant value addition to the body of knowledge in the organization and management area.
CEO Career Variety: Effects on Firm-Level Strategic and Social Novelty

We introduce the concept of “CEO career variety”—defined as the array of distinct professional and institutional experiences an executive has had prior to becoming CEO. Using a longitudinal sample of Fortune 250 CEOs, we hypothesize, and find strong evidence for the assertion, that CEO career variety is positively associated with firm-level strategic novelty—manifested in strategic dynamism (period-on-period change) and strategic distinctiveness (deviance from industry central tendencies). We also find mixed evidence that CEO career variety is positively associated with social novelty—manifested in top management team turnover and heterogeneity
Contribution Co-targeting Deoxyribonucleic Acid e Dependent Protein Kinase and Poly ( Adenosine Diphosphate-Ribose ) Polymerase-1 Promotes Accelerated Senescence of Irradiated Cancer Cells

Co-targeting Deoxyribonucleic AcideDependent Protein Kinase and Poly(Adenosine Diphosphate-Ribose) Polymerase-1 Promotes Accelerated Senescence of Irradiated Cancer Cells Arun Azad, PhD,*,z Patricia Bukczynska, MSc,* Susan Jackson,* Ygal Haput, PhD,*,k Carleen Cullinane, PhD,*,k Grant A. McArthur, PhD,*,y,x,k and Benjamin Solomon, PhD*,y,x,k *Division of Cancer Research and yDivision of Cancer Medicine, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Departments of zPathology and xMedicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; and kSir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Monitoring Bacterial Community of Human Gut Microbiota Reveals an Increase in Lactobacillus in Obese Patients and Methanogens in Anorexic Patients

Background Studies of the bacterial communities of the gut microbiota have revealed a shift in the ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in obese patients. Determining the variations of microbial communities in feces may be beneficial for the identification of specific profiles in patients with abnormal weights. The roles of the archaeon Methanobrevibacter smithii and Lactobacillus species have not been described in these studies. Methods and Findings We developed an efficient and robust real-time PCR tool that includes a plasmid-based internal control and allows for quantification of the bacterial divisions Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Lactobacillus as well as the methanogen M. smithii. We applied this technique to the feces of 20 obese subjects, 9 patients with anorexia nervosa, and 20 normal-weight healthy controls. Our results confirmed a reduction in the Bacteroidetes community in obese patients (p<0.01). We found a significantly higher Lactobacillus species concentration in obese patients than in lean controls (p = 0.0197) or anorexic patients (p = 0.0332). The M. smithii concentration was much higher in anorexic patients than in the lean population (p = 0.0171). Conclusions Lactobacillus species are widely used as growth promoters in the farm industry and are now linked to obesity in humans. The study of the bacterial flora in anorexic patients revealed an increase in M. smithii. This increase might represent an adaptive use of nutrients in this population.