Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Religion and Mediation: The Role of Faith-Based Actors in International Conflict Resolution

Religion has often been thought of as playing a crucial role in generating conflicts, particularly internal ones. While it may often be a source of conflict, its role in the overall peace process has all too often been overlooked. In this paper we emphasize the importance of religion and religious actors in the process of mediation. We examine the general conditions that facilitate mediation in international relations and assess how much these hold true in the case of faith-based mediation. We find that aspects such as legitimacy and leverage have a major impact on the success or failure of mediation. We examine how these factors manifest themselves in the case of religious mediators, and we show that legitimacy and leverage are still crucial to successful mediation but have a very different meaning and content in the case of religious actors. We explore the consequences of these differences and explain how religious mediation may work best in tandem with the more traditional forms of mediation.
The Linkage of Continuing Professional Development and the Classroom Experience of Pupils: barriers perceived by senior managers in some secondary schools

Abstract The work reported in this article forms the first part of an extended study to elucidate linkages between continuing professional development and the classroom experience of pupils. It serves to place in context the current pressures and support offered by policy-makers to ensure firm linkage between professional development and the raising of standards and attainment in individual schools. The perceptions of senior managers from 15 secondary schools are explored with respect to such linkage, and their views concerning barriers to organisational translation of professional development into improved pupil performance are elucidated. In engaging the views of senior managers, possible sources of weakness in the transfer of teacher learning to classrooms are identified. Although senior managers represent only one group of stakeholders within individual schools, the work provides suggestions for possible actions as a basis for further study concerning the individual learning of teachers and its transmission into enhanced learning for all pupils.
The Human-in-the-Loop Design Approach to the Longitudinal Automation System for an Intelligent Vehicle

This paper presents a safe and comfortable longitudinal automation system which incorporates human-in-the-loop technology. The proposed system has a hierarchical structure that consists of an adaptive detection area, a supervisory control, and a regulation control. The adaptive detection area routes the information from on-board sensors to ensure the detection of vehicles ahead, particularly when driving on curves. Based on the recognized target distance from the adaptive detection area, the supervisory control determines the desired velocity for the vehicle to maintain safety and smooth operation in different modes. The regulation control utilizes a soft-computing technique and drives the throttle to execute the commanded velocity from the supervisory control. The feasible detection range is within 45 m, and the high velocity for the system operation is up to 100 km/h. The throttle automation under low velocity at 10-30 km/h can also be well managed by the regulation control. Numerous experimental tests in a real traffic environment exhibit the system's validity and achievement in the desired level of comfort through the evaluation of international standard ISO 2631-1.
Comparative value of 99mTc-sestamibi scintimammography and sonography in the diagnostic workup of breast masses.

OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to assess the relative roles of 99mTc-sestamibi scintimammography and sonography in the evaluation of breast lesions that are indeterminate or suspicious on mammography or clinical examination. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Twenty-five patients with 33 biopsy-proven breast lesions underwent both scintimammography and sonography. Lesions were categorized as benign or requiring biopsy on the basis of the absence or presence of a focus of increased activity on scintimammography and the shape, orientation, and echogenicity of the lesion on sonography. RESULTS Sensitivity and specificity in detecting breast cancer were 92% and 95%, respectively, for scintimammography and 100% and 48%, respectively, for sonography. The higher specificity of scintimammography was statistically significant (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION Although the overall accuracy of 99mTc-sestamibi scintimammography in the diagnosis of breast cancer was high, it has several disadvantages in comparison with sonography. Scintimammography has a slightly higher false-negative rate for breast cancer, is unable to reveal cysts, is more expensive, takes longer to perform, and involves ionizing radiation. For these reasons, scintimammography with 99mTc-sestamibi is unlikely to either replace sonography or be frequently used in addition to sonography.
Between Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith

Preface First Sunday Introduction Revival: Strange Meetings PROPHETIC ENGAGEMENT Monday "Of the Meaning of Progress" Tuesday Gratitude and Empathy Revival: Reading Church History Wednesday Righteous Discontent Revival: "Are We a Church or a Social Change Organization? " PRIESTLY TRANSFORMATION Thursday Televangelism (and Shifting Discourses of Progress) Revival : "Loosed Women" Friday Financial Priorities Saturday Sexual Politics Second Sunday Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
The double-deficit hypothesis for the developmental dyslexias.

The authors propose an alternative conceptualization of the developmental dyslexias, the double-deficit hypothesis (i.e., phonological deficits and processes underlying naming-speed deficits represent 2 separable sources of reading dysfunction). Data from cross-sectional, longitudinal, and cross-linguistic studies are reviewed supporting the presence of 2 single-deficit subtypes with more limited reading impairments and 1 double-deficit subtype with more pervasive and severe impairments. Naming-speed and phonological-awareness variables contribute uniquely to different aspects of reading according to this conception, with a model of visual letter naming illustrating both the multicomponential nature of naming speed and why naming speed Should not be subsumed under phonological processes. Two hypotheses concerning relationships between naming-speed processes and reading are considered. The implications of processing speed as a second core deficit in dyslexia are described for diagnosis and intervention.
Supporting Approximate Similarity Queries with Quality Guarantees in P2P Systems

In this paper we study how to support similarity queries in peer-to-peer (P2P) systems. Such queries ask for the most relevant objects in a P2P network, where the relevance is based on a predeflned similarity function; the user is interested in obtaining objects with the highest relevance. Retrieving all objects and computing the exact answer over a large-scale network is impractical. We propose a novel approximate answering framework which computes an answer by visiting only a subset of network peers. Users are presented with progressively reflned answers consisting of the best objects seen so far, together with continuously improving quality guarantees providing feedback about the progress of the search. We develop statistical techniques to determine quality guarantees in this framework. We propose mechanisms to incorporate quality estimators into the search process. Our work makes it possible to implement similarity search as a new method of accessing data from a P2P network, and shows how this can be achieved e‐ciently.
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Hyphae Alter Soil Bacterial Community and Enhance Polychlorinated Biphenyls Dissipation

We investigated the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) hyphae in alternation of soil microbial community and Aroclor 1242 dissipation. A two-compartment rhizobox system with double nylon meshes in the central was employed to exclude the influence of Cucurbita pepo L. root exudates on hyphal compartment soil. To assess the quantitative effect of AMF hyphae on soil microbial community, we separated the hyphal compartment soil into four horizontal layers from the central mesh to outer wall (e.g., L1–L4). Soil total PCBs dissipation rates ranged from 35.67% of L4 layer to 57.39% of L1 layer in AMF inoculated treatment, which were significant higher than the 17.31% of the control (P < 0.05). The dissipation rates of tri-, tetrachlorinated biphenyls as well as the total PCBs were significantly correlated with soil hyphal length (P < 0.01). Real-time quantitative PCR results indicated that the Rhodococcus-like bphC gene was 2–3 orders of magnitude more than that of Pseudomonas-like bphC gene, and was found responded positively to AMF. Phylogenetic analyses of the 16S rDNA sequenced by the Illumina Miseq sequencing platform indicated that AMF hyphae altered bacterial community compositions. The phylum Betaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria were dominated in the soil, while Burkholderiales and Actinomycetales were dominated at the order level. Taxa from the Comamonadaceae responded positively to AMF and trichlorinated biphenyl dissipation, while taxa from the Oxalobacteraceae and Streptomycetaceae responded negatively to AMF and PCB congener dissipation. Our results suggested that the AMF hyphal exudates as well as the hyphae per se did have quantitative effects on shaping soil microbial community, and could modify the PCBs dissipation processes consequently.
Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter: The Popular Press and the Diffusion of Management Practices

The transformation of management practices has recently become the object of many theoretical and empirical works. While most of these works focus mainly on universities, business schools and consulting firms, our paper aims at investigating the still largely unexplored role of the popular press in the production and legitimation of management ideas and practices. Based on the content analysis of the articles on human resource management published in the last decade in leading newspapers and magazines in Italy, we argue that popular press is the arena where the legitimacy of management ideas and practices is produced. We also suggest that the dynamics of management practice legitimation in Italy, described in this paper, is representative of similar processes occurring in other European countries.
Children's use of gestural and verbal behavior in communicative misunderstandings

ABSTRACT This inquiry examined strategies used by young children when receiver feedback indicated that their gestural communicative attempts were not understood. The children were grouped according to their vocabulary sizes and number of coding rules for two-word utterances. The results indicated that the children, although capable of semantically equivalent verbal behavior, tended to persist in the use of a gesture when experiencing communicative failure. The gestural persistance was not found to be related to the children's lexical or syntactic abilities. It was concluded that the children may not have realized that a verbal behavior can serve as a replacement or an adjunct to a gestural communication.
Studies on the Biodiversity of Halophilic Microorganisms Isolated from El-Djerid Salt Lake (Tunisia) under Aerobic Conditions

Bacterial and archaeal aerobic communities were recovered from sediments from the shallow El-Djerid salt lake in Tunisia, and their salinity gradient distribution was established. Six samples for physicochemical and microbiological analyses were obtained from 6 saline sites in the lake for physico-chemical and microbiological analyses. All samples studied were considered hypersaline with NaCl concentration ranging from 150 to 260 g/L. A specific halophilic microbial community was recovered from each site, and characterization of isolated microorganisms was performed via both phenotypic and phylogenetic approaches. Only one extreme halophilic organism, domain Archaea, was isolated from site 4 only, whereas organisms in the domain Bacteria were recovered from the five remaining sampling sites that contained up to 250 g/L NaCl. Members of the domain Bacteria belonged to genera Salicola, Pontibacillus, Halomonas, Marinococcus, and Halobacillus, whereas the only member of domain Archaea isolated belonged to the genus Halorubrum. The results of this study are discussed in terms of the ecological significance of these microorganisms in the breakdown of organic matter in Lake El-Djerid and their potential for industry applications.
Elements Underlying Community Policing: Validation of the Construct

The four dimensions of community policing identified in 1997 by Cordner were used to explore the factor structure of the construct. A police department’s definition of community policing was interpreted using Cordner’s dimensions, and for each dimension items that represented underlying policing elements were generated. The content validity of the items associated with Cordner’s philosophical, strategic, tactical, and organizational dimensions was assessed using subject matter experts (SMEs). Confirmatory (CFA) and exploratory factor analyses (EFA) were conducted to assess the construct factorial validity of the factor structure. A confirmatory model of the four dimensions identified by Cordner was not supported. The EFA, however, identified a six‐factor model that indicated an adequate fit to the data. The six factors were labeled as philosophical, strategic, tactical, organizational, psycho‐social, and information. The findings confirmed Cordner’s original dimensions, and introduced psycho‐social and information as two new ones. The study explored the policy implications for management programs of interpreting the dimensions in the context of a department’s own community policing practices. Limitations of the study and future directions were discussed.
Anti-obesity drugs

Background: Recent discoveries about the metabolic and genetic control systems that govern regulation of body weight and energy expenditure have afforded the opportunity to develop pharmacological agents that can be used as adjunctive treatments for patients with obesity. However, the scarcity of medications available or those that have made it to Phase III trials reflects the difficult challenge of manipulating the biology of appetite regulation. Objective: The aim of this study was to inform health professionals about new anti-obesity medications that target neuronal systems within the central nervous system and peripheral humoral proteins that send signals to the central nervous system. Methods: A critical review was conducted of information available from the medical literature. Results/conclusions: An emerging theme is to use combination therapies that are directed towards several targets or leverage existing gastrointestinal satiety hormonal signals. By using combination therapies, it is anticipated that greater weight loss will be achieved compared to monotherapy.
Expectancy, value and psychological distance: A new look at goal gradients

Goal gradients refer to the increase in motivation as a function of goal proximity. We propose that motivation does not always increase closer to the goal, and that in order to predict the shape and steepness of goal gradients one needs to look at how distance affects the two components of motivation—expectancy and value. Furthermore, we distinguish between four aspects of expectancy (probability, difficulty, sufficiency, necessity) and two types of value (value related to high level construal, value related to low level construal), each of which has a unique distance-related dynamics. It is proposed that motivational gradients are determined by the effect that distance has on each of these components. Our study demonstrated gradients of motivation, sufficiency and necessity, but not difficulty. We discuss whether avoidance gradients would be necessarily steeper than approach gradients, as is postulated by Miller’s (1944) conflict models. We also suggest that in some situations (e.g., when gradients reflect necessity) gradients would be moderated by regulatory focus (e.g., would be steeper in a prevention focus than in a promotion focus, Higgins, 1998).
Hsa-miR-301a-3p Acts as an Oncogene in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma via Target Regulation of Smad4

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the second most common malignant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Exploring the molecular indicators of malignant behavior will enhance our knowledge of this type cancer and provide novel options for its prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. MicroRNA might exert regulatory roles as oncogenes or anti-oncogenes. We studied the expression of miR-301a-3p in LSCC tissues and cell lines and conducted a functional analysis of miR-301a-3p to confirm if miR-301a-3p functions as an oncogene in LSCC. We found Smad4 to be one of the potential target genes of miR-301a-3p, and it functioned as a tumor suppressor in LSCC. Hsa-miR-301a-3p participated in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, which is considered to be linked to the process of LSCC development. Our present findings indicate that miR-301a-3p acts as an oncogene by directly regulating the anti-oncogene Smad4, thereby playing a role in the occurrence and development of LSCC. The present findings are expected to help in the development of novel targets for the prevention and treatment of LSCC.
Topic overviews and the processing of topic structure

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated the information included in a topic overview that is accessed during reading. In each experiment, participants read on a computer, 3 expository passages that discussed 6 topics related to a common theme. The type of information found in the overview was manipulated. In all experiments, the presence of topic but not order information (i.e., order of topic appearance) led to faster topic sentence reading times regardless of whether participants read to glean general information from the passage or to attend specifically to the topic structure. Analyses of reading times on sentences indicating a shift in topic revealed that information about global passage structure was also encoded from the overview even in the absence of specific topic structure information. The General Discussion focuses on the type of information readers encoded from overviews as well as mechanisms by which overview information may be accessed during reading.
Active Video Game Exercise Training Improves the Clinical Control of Asthma in Children: Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective The aim of the present study was to determine whether aerobic exercise involving an active video game system improved asthma control, airway inflammation and exercise capacity in children with moderate to severe asthma. Design A randomized, controlled, single-blinded clinical trial was carried out. Thirty-six children with moderate to severe asthma were randomly allocated to either a video game group (VGG; N = 20) or a treadmill group (TG; n = 16). Both groups completed an eight-week supervised program with two weekly 40-minute sessions. Pre-training and post-training evaluations involved the Asthma Control Questionnaire, exhaled nitric oxide levels (FeNO), maximum exercise testing (Bruce protocol) and lung function. Results No differences between the VGG and TG were found at the baseline. Improvements occurred in both groups with regard to asthma control and exercise capacity. Moreover, a significant reduction in FeNO was found in the VGG (p < 0.05). Although the mean energy expenditure at rest and during exercise training was similar for both groups, the maximum energy expenditure was higher in the VGG. Conclusion The present findings strongly suggest that aerobic training promoted by an active video game had a positive impact on children with asthma in terms of clinical control, improvementin their exercise capacity and a reductionin pulmonary inflammation. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01438294
Event-related potential N270 correlates of brand extension

The aim of this study is to investigate the neural mechanism of extending a brand in a specific product category to other product categories. Facing two sequential stimuli in pairs consisting of beverage brand names (stimulus 1) and product names (stimulus 2) in other categories, 16 participants were asked to indicate the suitability of extending the brand in stimulus 1 to the product category in stimulus 2. These stimulus pairs were divided into four conditions depending on the product category in stimulus 2: beverage, snack, clothing, and household appliance. A negative component, N270, was recorded for each condition on the participants' scalps,whereas the maximum amplitude was observed at the frontal area. Greater N270 amplitude was observed when participants were presented with stronger conflict between the brand product category (stimulus 1) and the extension category (stimulus 2). It suggests that N270 can be evoked not only by a conflict of physical attributes (different shapes of words of brand and product names) but also by that of lexical content. From the marketing perspective, N270 can be potentially used as a reference measure in brand-extension attempts.
Is Alzheimer s disease associated with a decreased intracellular level of calcium

The etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains elusive. However, it has been generally accepted that an imbalance of intracellular calcium is a central defect in the disease (1). This would imply that an important clue to AD origin could be related to either high or low calcium level in the neurons of AD patients. Calcium is an important factor which regulates many life processes, including neurotransmission and long-term potentiation (memory formation), functions that are particularly affected in AD. Although it is widely believed that the level of calcium is increased in the brain of the AD patients, (1), the following information suggests that the other possibility should not be ignored.
Social and stylistic variation in spoken French

Many of the assumptions of Labovian sociolinguistics are based on results drawn from US and UK English, Latin American Spanish and Canadian French. Sociolinguistic variation in the French of France has been rather little studied compared to these languages. This volume is the first examination and exploration of variation in French that studies in a unified way the levels of phonology, grammar and lexis using quantitative methods. One of its aims is to establish whether the patterns of variation that have been reported in French conform to those reported in other languages. A second important theme of this volume is the study of variation across speech styles in French, through a comparison with some of the best-known English results. The book is therefore also the first to examine current theories of social-stylistic variation by using fresh quantitative data. These data throw new light on the influence of methodology on results, on why certain linguistic variables have more stylistic value, and on how the strong normative tradition in France moulds interactions between social and stylistic variation.