Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
There are Children Here: Service Learning for Social Justice

We describe what happens in a justice-oriented, service learning course and field experience and what university participants thought about it. Based on this examination, we consider promises and problems for service learning for social justice, and we suggest next steps for this kind of work. In this article, we consider one Alternative Spring Break experience. We ponder ways in which a service learning course and its field component shaped university students' perceptions of social justice. Two questions guide the article: (1) What happens in a service learning experience for social justice, and (2) What do students think about it? In response to our examination of these questions, we suggest pitfalls and promises of this service learning approach.
Analysis and design of admission control systems in web-server systems

All service control nodes, for example web sites or Mobile Switching Centers, can be modeled as server systems with one or more servers processing the incoming requests. To avoid overload at the service control node different types of admission control mechanisms are usually implemented. In this paper we discuss, from a control point of view, the modeling of a service control-node. The queue is assumed to be an M/G/l-system and is modeled by a nonlinear flow model and a simplified discrete-time model is used in the analysis and design of the system. An admission control system based on a PI-controller combined with an anti-reset windup feature is developed. The stability of the admission control system is analyzed and the stability of the closed loop system is proved. The re-sults from the simplified queue model are verified through discrete-event simulations of the system.
Risk reporting by the largest UK companies: readability and lack of obfuscation

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine risk disclosures by UK companies within their annual reports. Tests are performed to measure the level of the readability of the risk disclosures and to assess whether directors are deliberately obscuring bad risk news. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws upon methodologies developed in prior empirical studies of annual report readability. Thus it uses the Flesch Reading Ease formula to measure the readability of the risk disclosures and coefficients of variation are used to measure obfuscation. A content analysis approach is adopted to identify risk disclosures. Findings - The paper finds that the mean Flesch reading ease ratings for the sample companies are all below 50 indicating that the level of readability of the risk disclosures is difficult or very difficult and this supports prior research examining the readability of sample passages in annual reports. No evidence is found to suggest that directors are deliberately obfuscating or concealing bad risk news through their writing style. Research limitations/implications - The paper also finds that the Flesch reading ease ratings measure the readability, not the understandability, of disclosures and whilst actions can be taken to minimise problems associated with reliability when performing content analysis they cannot be wholly eliminated. Practical implications - The paper shows that there have been calls for improved risk disclosures to enable stakeholders to better understand a company's risk position. Requiring directors to issue extra risk information will not, however, lead to enhanced risk communication unless the readability of the risk disclosures is also improved. Originality/value - In this paper it is shown that there have been no prior studies that focus upon testing for readability and obfuscation in risk disclosures. It is important that transparent risk information is provided to the marketplace and therefore this study is valuable in its examination of the clarity of communication of published risk information.
Phonological and morphological awareness in first graders

ABSTRACT Phonological awareness is thought to be related to children's success in learning to read because it indicates an awareness of the internal structure of words. Morphological awareness, which has been found to be related to reading achievement for older students, may offer a more comprehensive measure of linguistic sensitivity because it entails not only phonological awareness, but also other aspects of linguistic knowledge. The research study reported herein was designed to investigate the extent to which phonological awareness contributes to the morphological awareness of first graders and to determine the extent to which phonological and morphological awareness account for variance in word reading. Two tasks of morphological awareness were used, one assessing judgments of morphological relations and the other assessing the production of inflected and derived forms.
Identification of Neutrophil Activation Markers as Novel Surrogate Markers of CF Lung Disease

Background and aims Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lung disease is characterized by progressively declining lung function and represents a major factor contributing to the high morbidity and mortality associated with CF. However, apart from spirometry, respiratory disease surrogate markers reliably indicating CF lung disease and the occurrence of pulmonary exacerbations (PEx) are still lacking. Within this study, we aimed to identify new experimental biomarkers for the detection of CF lung disease. Methods 54 adult and 26 pediatric CF patients were included in the study and serum concentrations of MMP-1, -2, -8, -9, -13, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, YKL-40, hyaluronic acid, procollagen III peptide were quantified by ELISA. CF lung disease was diagnosed by lung function test, PEx was defined based on a clinical scoring established by Rosenfeld in 2001. Results Adults and children with moderate to severe CF lung disease exhibited significantly increased serum expression of MMP-8, MMP-9, YKL-40 and TIMP-1. Further, MMP-8, MMP-9 and YKL-40 were significantly increased in adult CF patients suffering from PEx compared to those without clinical signs of respiratory exacerbation. MMP-8, MMP-9, YKL-40, and TIMP-1 serum levels were unaffected by the presence or absence of CF liver disease or pancreatic insufficiency. Conclusions MMP-8, MMP-9, and YKL-40 might serve as novel non-invasive biomarkers of CF lung disease and PEx.
Active Greens

This article investigates green party members’ activism in the environmental movement and tests how a number of predictors, theoretically suggested in the past yet rarely empirically tested, can account for it. The authors’ analysis is based on an extensive data set of members of 15 green parties in 12 European countries (N = 6,639). This article finds that members’ activism can be accounted for largely by network and identity variables, as suggested by social movements’ scholars, whereas “new social movements” theories did not adequately explain environmental activism. Thus, network or identity variables, such as past activism, membership in environmental organizations, and activism in other social movements, are significant in the multivariate model. A number of alternative models are significant alone but not when network or identity variables are added to the model: postmaterialism, a “new environmental paradigm” worldview, and political attitudes. Although age, rational choice considerations, and new middle-class placement remain statistically significant, yet—for the latter case—its effect is negative. Macro-level variables, such as the green party’s governmental experience, the country’s quality of natural environment as well as environmental policies, were also found to have statistically significant effects on activism.
Efectos psicopatológicos del maltrato doméstico

Domestic violence is an aversive situation that causes a strong psychological distress. Usually, it has been considered its effect on the adaptation of the victims to their daily life and on their mental health. This paper analyses its psychological consequences in a sample of 70 battered women. Results support previous researches about the posttraumatic symptoms, showing an important percentage of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Subsyndromal among battered women. Comorbidity with depression has been found too. However, the percentage of women who suffered another anxiety disorder was lower than those found in previous studies. No women presented alcohol or substances abuse. Level of general inadaptation and low self-esteem are also described as concomitants variables. Finally, there are some suggestions for treatment according to the specific symptomatology found in the study.
Leaders as Planners and Movers: Supervisors' Regulatory Modes and Subordinates' Performance

In three field studies, we found that leaders high in both locomotion and assessment tendencies (Studies 1 and 2: evaluated by subordinates; Study 3: evaluated by leaders themselves) elicited higher levels of performance from their subordinates (Studies 1 and 3: as assessed by the subordinates themselves; Study 2: as assessed by their supervisors) than leaders low in one or both of these tendencies. The research supports the notion that locomotion and assessment constitute critical regulatory functions whose conjunction is indispensible for successful performance, whether on the level of the individual (Kruglanski et al., 2000) or the group (Mauro et al., 2009).
Mental health teamwork in primary care

The historical context is important when considering developments which are relatively recent and still in the process of being developed. Traditionally, general practitioners dealt on their own with their clinical workload but, following the doctor’s charter of 1965, there was a rapid move towards GPs working in group practices. This predated the concept of a primary health care team, but was associated with a rapid growth in the number of community nurses and health visitors with clear links with local GPs. The increase in formal and informal links with mental health professionals has been much slower, although this is currently a growth area. However, even now, it is important to remember how much variability there is in working arrangements; although the national average for single-handed general practitioners is 10%, it is much higher than this in many inner-city areas. Research over a similar time frame, i.e. the last 30 years, has established the range and extent of psychological morbidity presenting to primary care. There is now general agreement that 25± 30% of those attending their GP will have some psychological component to their presentation, and this means that the average GP with a list size of 2,000 patients will see an average of 460 patients per year with mental health problems (Goldberg & Huxley, 1992).
Competence and trust guardians as key elements of building trust in east‐west joint ventures in Russia

This paper summarises the author 's doctoral research on the development of interpersonal/interorganisational trust in relationships between expatriate and Russian staff working in east-west enterprises in Russia. There is strong evidence from a variety of researchers to suggest that in order for western businesses investing in Russia to succeed, the dif.cult process of building trust needs to be understood and managed since in the Russian business climate western standards and norms of ethical business have not yet been established. According to research.ndings, western investors doing business in Russia and the long-term, personal trust that characterises family and friend relationships more congenial and more productive than formal, arm's-length contacts and contracts. In such a context, it becomes important to identify what creates and destroys trust in the post-Soviet business environment. This paper describes the causal factors leading to trust or lack of trust in relationships within western-invested strategic alliances in Russia. The key relationship under consideration is the one between expatriate western staff and managers seconded to the venture on the one hand, and their local Russian staff, counterparts and superiors on the other.
Governance Lessons

Charter schools are one of the newest, most frequent, and controversial approaches to introducing parental choice and competition in educational systems. The policy questions raised by charter schools involve not only organizational and management concerns but also key issues of governance. This article examines how the theories, arguments, and findings of earlier studies on the use of other market mechanisms in local governance may inform the current debate about charter schools. By highlighting the presuppositions and results of the local government reform experience, the authors conclude that the use of market mechanisms like charter schools should be approached with caution.
Quality-Driven Auction-Based Incentive Mechanism for Mobile Crowd Sensing

The recent paradigm of mobile crowd sensing (MCS) enables a broad range of mobile applications. A critical challenge for the paradigm is to incentivize phone users to be workers providing sensing services. While some theoretical incentive mechanisms for general-purpose crowdsourcing have been proposed, it is still an open issue as to how to incorporate the theoretical framework into the practical MCS system. In this paper, we propose an incentive mechanism based on a quality-driven auction (QDA). The mechanism is specifically for the MCS system, where the worker is paid off based on the quality of sensed data instead of working time, as adopted in the literature. We theoretically prove that the mechanism is truthful, individual rational, platform profitable, and social-welfare optimal. Moreover, we incorporate our incentive mechanism into a Wi-Fi fingerprint-based indoor localization system to incentivize the MCS-based fingerprint collection. We present a probabilistic model to evaluate the reliability of the submitted data, which resolves the issue that the ground truth for the data reliability is unavailable. We realize and deploy an indoor localization system to evaluate our proposed incentive mechanism and present extensive experimental results.
Comparative Study of Laparoscopically Assisted Radical Vaginal Hysterectomy and Open Wertheim-Meigs in Patients With Early-Stage Cervical Cancer: Eleven Years of Experience

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the feasibility, safety, and survival outcomes of Coelio-Schauta (CS) procedure versus open Wertheim-Meigs (WM) as primary surgical treatment of early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: Observational study on the consecutive cases of cervical cancer undergoing CS during the last 11 years at our institution was performed. Data on clinical characteristics of patients, surgical performance, long-term morbidity, and survival were prospectively analyzed and compared with a historical series of 23 consecutive WM performed at the same hospital in the immediate previous period. Results: Sixty-seven patients were included in the study group (CS). Cases and controls were comparable in age, body mass index, stage, tumor size, and histological diagnosis. The number of pelvic nodes, disease-free margin, and complications rate were similar in both groups, but blood loss and blood transfusion rate were marginally less in the CS group. Operating time was longer in the first 20 CS patients, but it became comparable to WM once the learning curve was overcome. Hospital stay was significantly shorter in the CS group as well as the bladder function recovery time. However, no differences were seen regarding long-term urinary and bowel function between groups. Four patients (5.9%) from the CS group and 3 (13%) in the WM group had recurrence. Mortality rates were 3% and 8.7%, respectively (P = not significant). Conclusions: The CS procedure is a suitable alternative to WM for small-volume, early-stage cervical cancer, showing a good safety profile, shorter postoperative recovery time, and similar survival outcomes.
Semantic systems or system? Neuropsychological evidence re-examined

Abstract In this paper we consider whether our stored conceptual knowledge about stimuli is represented within a single semantic system which is indifferent to the modality of stimulus presentation, or whether conceptual knowledge is represented in different semantic systems according to either the modality of stimulus presentation or the nature of the concept (e.g. whether the concept specifies visual or verbal knowledge about an object). Previous work suggests three areas of neuropsychological research which are relevant to this issue: modality-specific aphasias, modality-specific priming on semantic access disorders, and modality-specific aspects of semantic memory disorders. Evidence from each of these areas is reviewed and we argue that there is only equivocal support for the multiple semantic systems position. We outline an alternative account which distinguishes between a single a modal semantic system and modality-specific perceptual recognition systems, and we discuss the evidence in light of thi.
Transcriptional Regulation of the SCL Locus: Identification of an Enhancer That Targets the Primitive Erythroid Lineage In Vivo

ABSTRACT The stem cell leukemia (SCL) gene, also known as TAL-1, encodes a basic helix-loop-helix protein that is essential for the formation of all hematopoietic lineages, including primitive erythropoiesis. Appropriate transcriptional regulation is essential for the biological functions of SCL, and we have previously identified five distinct enhancers which target different subdomains of the normal SCL expression pattern. However, it is not known whether these SCL enhancers also regulate neighboring genes within the SCL locus, and the erythroid expression of SCL remains unexplained. Here, we have quantitated transcripts from SCL and neighboring genes in multiple hematopoietic cell types. Our results show striking coexpression of SCL and its immediate downstream neighbor, MAP17, suggesting that they share regulatory elements. A systematic survey of histone H3 and H4 acetylation throughout the SCL locus in different hematopoietic cell types identified several peaks of histone acetylation between SIL and MAP17, all of which corresponded to previously characterized SCL enhancers or to the MAP17 promoter. Downstream of MAP17 (and 40 kb downstream of SCL exon 1a), an additional peak of acetylation was identified in hematopoietic cells and was found to correlate with expression of SCL but not other neighboring genes. This +40 region is conserved in human-dog-mouse-rat sequence comparisons, functions as an erythroid cell-restricted enhancer in vitro, and directs β-galactosidase expression to primitive, but not definitive, erythroblasts in transgenic mice. The SCL +40 enhancer provides a powerful tool for studying the molecular and cellular biology of the primitive erythroid lineage.
AeroRP: A Geolocation Assisted Aeronautical Routing Protocol for Highly Dynamic Telemetry Environments

With the increasing importance of networked systems for telemetry, there is a need for efficient routing algorithms in aeronautical environments. Unlike traditional mobile networks, the highly dynamic nature of airborne networks results in extremely short-lived paths, especially for multi-hop scenarios thereby necessitating domain-specific protocols. In this paper, we present the detailed design and evaluation of AeroRP, a cross-layered routing protocol designed specifically for airborne telemetry applications. AeroRP exploits the broadcast nature of the wireless medium along with the physical node location and trajectory to improve the data delivery in Mach-speed mobile scenarios. We present a multi-modal protocol that addresses various operational scenarios of test and telemetry networks. Preliminary simulation results show that AeroRP significantly outperforms traditional MANET routing protocols while limiting the overhead.
Gender, sexual citizenship and HIV/AIDS

An analysis of the AIDS epidemic from a gender perspective allows us to discern the impact that the cultural constructs of ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ have on HIV transmission and its effects. The cultural symbolization of sexual difference has had a profound mark on human existence. While sexual differences form the basis for a particular distribution of social roles most human activity classified as masculine or feminine is not ‘naturally’ determined by biology. Instead these classifications are socially determined through processes of gender construction. Gender constructions do not deny the existence of biological differences between the sexes but go beyond them to emphasize that these differences as such do not justify the imbalance of power and social inequality between men and women. The role of gender is perhaps best understood as a set of norms beliefs prescriptions and cultural representations that a society establishes about male and female behaviour. These vary according to historical period society and social class but always differentiate between what is expected of men and what is expected of women. (excerpt)
The Impact of Decriminalisation on the Number of Sex Workers in New Zealand

Abstract In 2003, New Zealand decriminalised sex work through the enactment of the Prostitution Reform Act. Many opponents to this legislation predicted that there would be increasing numbers of people entering sex work, especially in the street-based sector. The debates within the New Zealand media following the legislation were predominantly moralistic and there were calls for the recriminalisation of the street-based sector. This study estimated the number of sex workers post-decriminalisation in five locations in New Zealand: the three main cities in which sex work takes place as well as two smaller cities. These estimations were compared to existing estimations prior to and at the time of decriminalisation. The research suggests that the Prostitution Reform Act has had little impact on the number of people working in the sex industry.
Interpreters' Conceptions of Australian Aboriginal Culture and Heritage: Implications for Interpretive Practice

Fourteen interpreters (including 8 Aboriginals) with experience in the design, management, or both, of Aboriginal interpretation programs were interviewed regarding their understanding of Aboriginal culture and heritage and their views on its interpretation. Two different ways of conceiving Aboriginal culture are identified, with implications for the aims, content, and strategies of interpretation programs. If Aboriginal culture is understood as contemporary and evolving rather than as a thing of the past, interpreters need to begin to address postcontact issues, including both the positive role played by Aboriginals in Australian society and the past injustices committed against Aboriginal people. Recommendations include adopting a consultative approach under the control of the local Aboriginal community and the use of face-to-face interpretive experiences.
Jack Tizard Memorial Lecture: Children's Understanding of Inheritance and Family

It is widely argued that a more general ‘genetic literacy’ of the public is required so that appropriate use is made of the new human genetic technologies, such as DNA testing, and there is effective public participation in debates about the regulation and development of new technologies. Despite a century of popularisation and school education in Mendelian genetics, public understanding remains very limited. An hypothesis is put forward that suggests that the limited public understanding results from the existence of a lay understanding of inheritance that conflicts with the scientific account of Mendelian genetics and impedes its uptake. It is further proposed that the lay understanding of inheritance is derived by children from a developmentally earlier social understanding of kinship relations. Given that the lay knowledge of inheritance is grounded in social concepts of kinship that are sustained by every day social activities and relationships, it may be particularly resistant to change. A test of the hypothesis is described and evidence relating to the development of concepts of inheritance and family in children is discussed.