Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Addiction and Welfare Dependency: Interpreting the Connection

Recent deliberations over welfare reform place a new emphasis on alcohol and drug addiction as a cause of welfare dependency and joblessness. Existing studies show a complex relationship between addiction and welfare dependency, but few studies closely examine the nature of this relationship. We examine several intervening mechanisms–as suggested by human capital theory, social capital arguments, and labeling theory–that help to explain this relationship in event history models of how people leave from and return to welfare programs over a 6-year period. We find that alcohol and drug dependence are not strong predictors of whether or not aid recipients leave welfare for a job, even though explanations focused on work capacity and human capital currently prevail in the debate over welfare reform. Substance dependence is a stronger determinant of leaving welfare due to family disruptions and administrative removals from aid, which is more suggestive of underlying processes involving social capital and institutional labeling. Family and administrative reasons for leaving welfare also produce more unstable exits than exits for work, thus putting people with addictions at higher risk of returning to welfare over time. These findings should encourage us to think more about how addiction to drugs and alcohol penetrates the broader social circumstances of welfare recipients' lives, beyond their experiences in the labor market and capacities to work.
Translation in Global News Agencies

This article presents news agencies as vast translation agencies, structurally designed to achieve fast and reliable translations of large amounts of information. It maintains that translation is of the utmost importance in the news agencies and that it is inseparable from other journalistic practices that intervene in the production of news. Rejecting the naive view that translations are often improvised by people who do not have the necessary training, the article claims that the news editor has the specific skills required for the elaboration of such translations, and that the organisation of news agencies has been conceived in order to facilitate communication flows between different linguistic communities so as to reach global publics with maximum speed and efficiency. If news translation has traditionally been neglected by Translation Studies it is because it usually is in the hands of journalists rather than translators. A detailed examination of the nature and processes involved in news translation problematises central concepts such as authorship and equivalence and leads Translation Studies in new directions.
Monetary Theory in the Laboratory

Empirical tests of macroeconomic and monetary theories are typically conducted using non-experimental field data provided by government agencies. Modern theories, however, have increasingly imposed restrictions on individual behavior that are not embodied in any available field data. An alternative method for testing such theories is to conduct controlled laboratory experiments with paid human subjects. In this article, John Duffy provides a critical survey of recent papers that have used laboratory methods to test modern monetary-theory predictions. While the survey focuses on the results obtained from these laboratory studies, the author also provides a justification for the experimental methodology and discusses experimental design issues.
The effects of the ciliate Paramecium cf. caudatum Ehrenberg on toxin producing Cylindrospermopsis isolated from the Fitzroy River, Australia

The large ciliate Paramecium cf. caudatum Ehrenberg was found to be a successful grazer of toxin producing Cylindrospermopsis in the laboratory. The feeding rate increased with increasing cell concentration to 1367 cell animal hr−1 at 4.1×105 cells mL−1 but declined slightly at cell concentrations greater than this. Preliminary studies on the effects of this grazing on toxin concentrations in cultures of both straight and coiled forms of Cylindrospermopsis resulted in the production of different amounts of the toxin cylindrospermopsin in the different isolates. Differences in toxin production were also found between cultured and field populations from the lower Fitzroy River indicating that toxin production may be influenced by a suite of genetic and environmental factors. The proven ability of this ciliate to graze toxic Cylindrospermopsis provides some insight into interactions that may be able to control some toxic blooms in semiarid Australian conditions. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 16: 489–497, 2001
Efficient Monetary Policy Design near Price Stability

Abstract Using dynamic programming methods, we study the design of optimal monetary policy in a simple, calibrated open-economy model and evaluate the effect of the liquidity trap generated by the zero bound on nominal interest rates. We show that the optimal policy near price stability is asymmetric. As inflation declines, policy turns expansionary sooner and more aggressively than would be optimal in the absence of the zero bound. This introduces an upward bias in the average level of inflation. We also discuss operational issues associated with the interpretation and implementation of policy at the zero bound in relation to the recent situation in Japan. J. Japan. Int. Econ. , December 2000, 14 (4), pp. 327–365. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, D.C. 20551 Copyright 2000 Academic Press. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E31, E52, E58, E61.
A New Histology Scoring System for the Assessment of the Quality of Human Cartilage Repair: ICRS II

Background A reliable and reproducible method is needed to assess cartilage repair. Purpose This study was undertaken to test the reproducibility of 2 established histological scoring systems, the Modified O'Driscoll Scale (MODS) and International Cartilage Research Society (ICRS) Visual Assessment Scale (ICRS I), and subsequently to develop and evaluate a new grading system for cartilage repair. Study Design Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods A total of 107 cartilage biopsy specimens were graded using MODS and ICRS I, and the reader variability was measured. The new grading system, ICRS II, was developed and the inter- and intrareader variability determined by 3 independent readers. Collagen type II deposition was assessed immunohistochemically. Results The MODS and ICRS I demonstrated high interreader variability, with MODS also showing high intrareader variability. A new histological scoring system, ICRS II, was developed comprising 14 criteria to assess parameters related to chondrocyte phenotype and tissue structure. The ICRS II demonstrated lower inter- and intrareader variability compared with MODS or ICRS I. The overall assessment and matrix staining scores had the best correlation coefficients for inter- and intrareader variability (r = .81 and .82, respectively). The extent of collagen type II in cartilage, considered a marker of differentiation toward hyaline cartilage, could represent a measure of good cartilage repair. A correlation coefficient of . 56 was obtained between the extent of collagen type II staining and the overall assessment score. Conclusion The ICRS II represents an improvement over current histological cartilage repair grading systems in terms of reader reproducibility. The clinical relevance and its ability to predict long-term repair durability will be assessed once long-term clinical data become available.
Perception of Suicidal Attempts among College Students in Malaysia

Teenage suicide has become a very serious problem and has been labeled as a growing epidemic by many health professionals worldwide. Through a questionnaire survey, the study aims to examine gender difference in public perceptions on various reasons for and methods used in suicidal attempts among teenagers. 90 college students participated in this study. The results showed a significant difference among males and females for the reasons why teenagers attempt suicide. The reasons were secularism, poor parent-child relationship and atheism. For the methods of suicidal attempts, a significant gender difference was also obtained for the slit wrist method.
A Comparison Effect of Copper Nanoparticles versus Copper Sulphate on Juvenile Epinephelus coioides: Growth Parameters, Digestive Enzymes, Body Composition, and Histology as Biomarkers

Copper nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) are components in numerous commercial products, but little is known about their potential hazard in the marine environments. In this study the effects of Cu-NPs and soluble Cu on juvenile Epinephelus coioides were investigated. The fish were exposed in triplicate to control, 20 or 100 µg Cu L−1 as either copper sulphate (CuSO4) or Cu-NPs for 25 days. The growth performance decreased with increasing CuSO4 or Cu-NPs dose, more so in the CuSO4 than Cu-NPs treatment. Both forms of Cu exposure inhibited activities of digestive enzymes (protease, amylase, and lipase) found in liver, stomach, and intestine. With an increase in CuSO4 and Cu-NPs dose, crude protein and crude lipid decreased, but ash and moisture increased, more so in the CuSO4 than Cu-NPs treatment. The Cu-NPs treatment caused pathologies in liver and gills, and the kinds of pathologies were broadly of the same type as with CuSO4. With an increase in CuSO4 or Cu-NPs dose, the total polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased, but total monounsaturated fatty acids and total saturated fatty acids increased compared to control. Overall, these data showed that Cu-NPs had a similar type of toxic effects as CuSO4, but soluble Cu was more toxic than Cu-NPs.
Shaping leisure/tourism places - the role of holiday home owners: a case study of Courtown, Co. Wexford, Ireland

This article investigates the role played by holiday home owners in shaping leisure/tourism places. Having reviewed recent trends in the holiday home literature, the paper argues that the literature has failed to adequately consider how this group of actors can play a role in developing leisure/tourism places. The research is case study based and reports the findings of a study undertaken in Courtown, a small seaside resort in the Republic of Ireland. Specifically, it investigates the role that holiday home owners played in a controversy that arose with respect to developing tourism accommodation in an area of woodlands. In this case, a local business alliance proposed and planned to undertake this development with the stated aim of improving tourism facilities in the area. The main opposition came from holiday home owners who formed the Save Courtown Woods Campaign. Research questions posed include what motivated the latter's involvement? What sources of power did they draw upon? How did their actions change the local area? The study found that holiday home owners as an identifiable group of actors must not be ignored as potentially important players in the shaping of local development paths. They were committed to protecting the amenity value of the area and achieved their campaign aims by securing an agreement that no development would occur on 55% of the woodland area. A key factor underpinning the group's ability to effectively engage in the local development process was the degree to which they had kinship and social connections with the local area. These gave the group an 'insider-outsider' status that enabled them to access decision-making channels. Social status was found to play a particular role in this respect, facilitating linkages between holiday home owners and the local business and political elites. Social relationships were formative influences shaping the actions taken by the holiday home owners and in particular, may have played a part in limiting their opposition to development in the area.
Chinese employees' interpersonal conflict management strategies

Purpose – The main research purposes of this paper are to: conceptualize Chinese conflict management behaviors as contingent on the hierarchical relations of conflict parties in an organizational context; and investigate individual characteristics as moderators in this contingency framework.Design/methodology/approach – This emic study consisted of two steps: using nine subject matter experts to develop conflict scenarios and conflict management strategies, and using this instrument to collect data from 704 actual employees across China. Multinomial logistic analysis was used to analyze respondents' choice of strategies.Findings – The findings supported the hypotheses. Chinese role‐playing a supervisor in a conflict with their subordinate tended to use direct, assertive strategies to resolve the conflict, but the results depended on age, education, gender, region and work experience. As a subordinate in a conflict with their supervisor, Chinese chose indirect, harmony‐preserving strategies, particularly w.
Model-Based Polarimetric SAR Calibration Method Using Forest and Surface-Scattering Targets

This paper proposes a new polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) (PolSAR) calibration method that applies an incoherent decomposition model to the uncalibrated covariance data measured for the forest and surface and determines the polarimetric distortion matrix (PDM). The Freeman-Durden model is used to express the polarization-dependent signal reflection from and penetration through the forest. Nonlinear equations built for uncalibrated PolSAR data are solved iteratively. This method is applicable to the lower frequency SAR that associates with the polarization-dependent signal penetration through forest canopies. Using the time series Phased-Array-Type L-band SAR (PALSAR) data acquired from the Amazon rainforest for around three years, we confirm that the proposed method succeeds in the PDM estimation and that the calibrated data preserve the polarimetric performance on HH-VV orthogonality, low crosstalks, and ideal polarimetric signature for the corner reflector. This paper also investigates the signal-penetration properties of the forest associated with the L-band SAR.
Identification of GroEL as a constituent of an mRNA‐protection complex in Escherichia coli

An RNA‐binding activity has been identified in Escherichia coli that provides physical protection of RNA against ribonucleases in an ATP‐ and Mg2+‐dependent manner. This binding activity is stimulated under growth conditions known to cause a decrease in the rate of mRNA decay. RNA protection is mediated by a protein complex that contains a modified form of the chaperonin GroEL as an indispensable constituent. These results suggest a new role for GroEL as an RNA chaperone.
A study of genetic algorithm for project selection for analogy based software cost estimation

Software cost estimation is critical for software project management. Many approaches have been proposed to estimate the cost with current project by referring to the data collected form past projects. Analogy based estimation (ABE), which is essentially a case-based reasoning (CBR) approach, is one of such techniques. In order to achieve successful results from ABE, many previous studies proposed effective methods to optimize the weights of the features (feature weighting). However ABE is still criticized for the low prediction accuracy, and the sensitivity to the outliers. To alleviate these drawbacks, we introduce the selection of appropriate project subsets (project selection) by genetic algorithm. The promising results of the proposed method and the comparisons against other ABE model and machine learning techniques indicate our method's effectiveness and potential as a candidate method for software cost estimation.
A psychophysiological analysis of developmental differences in the ability to resist interference

Age-related changes in visual selective attention were studied using an arrow variety of the Eriksen flanker paradigm. Children (5–12 years old) and adults responded to a centrally presented arrow surrounded by congruent or incongruent arrows or neutral diamonds. Overt performance measures showed the typical increase in response latency and error incidence to incongruent stimulus arrays relative to congruent and neutral arrays. Analysis of measures derived from event-related brain potentials suggested that incongruent arrays delay both stimulus evaluation and response activation. The interference effect on stimulus evaluation did not discriminate between age groups. By contrast, the interference effect on correct response activation showed a pronounced age-related reduction. This pattern of findings points to response competition and inhibition as major sources of developmental differences in the ability to resist interference. It was concluded that the current findings are consistent with late-selection or hierarchical models of selective attention development.
Rethinking Public Service Motivation From the Perspective of Person–Environment Fit: Complementary or Supplementary Relationship?

Research on public service motivation (PSM) has paid attention to the concept of fit to identify underlying mechanisms of the relationship between PSM and beneficial outcomes such as higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Nonetheless, there have been rare studies aimed at theoretically comparing PSM with the person–environment (P–E) fit. In this article, PSM is reviewed from the perspective of P–E fit, not only because PSM and P–E fit share some theoretical perspectives, such as job attraction, employee rewards, and individual performance, but also because incorporating the concept of PSM into the fit framework may allow us to better understand PSM and enhance its theoretical development. This article concludes that PSM has a complementary relationship with P–E fit as the two provide more concrete and valid explanations for job applications, outcomes, and rewards when they are incorporated.
Short low-rate non-binary turbo codes

A serial concatenation of an outer non-binary turbo code with different inner binary codes is introduced and analyzed. The turbo code is based on memory-1 time-variant recursive convolutional codes over high order fields. The resulting codes possess low rates and capacity-approaching performance, thus representing an appealing solution for spread spectrum communications. The performance of the scheme is investigated on the additive white Gaussian noise channel with coherent and noncoherent detection via density evolution analysis. The proposed codes compare favorably w.r. t. other low rate constructions in terms of complexity/performance trade-off. Low error floors and performances close to the sphere packing bound are achieved down to small block sizes (k =192 information bits).
Work–Family Role Blurring and Work–Family Conflict

Using border theory and the job demands resources model, we examine the work antecedents of work–family role blurring and its consequences for work-to-family conflict in a national sample of U.S. workers. Job predictors of role blurring include jobs with more authority, excessive work pressures, schedule control, and decision-making latitude. Role blurring is associated with higher levels of work-to-family conflict, though the strength of this association is contingent on workers’ access and exposure to certain job resources and job demands. Specifically, the association is stronger among workers reporting excessive pressures, and weaker among those with decision-making latitude and some schedule control.
French Laïcité and British Multiculturalism: A Convergence in Progress?

This paper compares the ‘laïque’ and ‘multiculturalist’ conceptions of ethnic minorities’ ‘integration’, which prevail in France, for the former, and in the UK, for the latter. It is argued that beyond their surface antagonism there is a clear convergence between the two approaches. Indeed, the British have given up on multiculturalism whose shortcomings have been well documented and publicised. Moreover, they have reactivated the much criticised notion of ‘integration’ through the use of the expression ‘interculturalism’, which has become the new buzz word. Conversely, the French have understood that it is useless and counterproductive to keep on denying the strength of community feelings and bonds, and open up tentatively to the expression and the recognition of individual and group specificities. This is exemplified by their frequent use of the phrase ‘open laïcité’ which describes this new trend. For both nations, it is now essential to reinforce ‘social cohesion’ said to have unravelled dangerously in recent years. The strict regulation of unwanted immigration is also advocated at European level by both countries to control the rise of ‘hyper-diversity’ which is often blamed for the failure of the integration process.
Characterization of the kinetics of RNA annealing and strand displacement activities of the E. coli DEAD-box helicase CsdA

CsdA is one of five E. coli DEAD-box helicases and as a cold-shock protein assists RNA structural remodeling at low temperatures. The helicase has been shown to catalyze duplex unwinding in an ATP-dependent way and accelerate annealing of complementary RNAs, but detailed kinetic analyses are missing. Therefore, we performed kinetic measurements using a coupled annealing and strand displacement assay with high temporal resolution to analyze how CsdA balances the two converse activities. We furthermore tested the hypothesis that the unwinding activity of DEAD-box helicases is largely determined by the substrate’s thermodynamic stability using full-length CsdA and a set of RNAs with constant length, but increasing GC content. The rate constants for strand displacement did indeed decrease with increasing duplex stability, with a calculated free energy between -31.3 and -40 kcal/mol being the limit for helix unwinding. Thus, our data generally support the above hypothesis, showing that for CsdA substrate thermal stability is an important rate limiting factor.
Theory for the Localized Setting of Learning Kernels

We analyze the localized setting of learning kernels also known as localized multiple kernel learning. This problem has been addressed in the past using rather heuristic approaches based on approximately optimizing non-convex problem formulations, of which up to now no theoretical learning bounds are known. In this paper, we show generalization error bounds for learning localized kernel classes where the localities are coupled using graph-based regularization. We propose a novel learning localized kernels algorithm based on this hypothesis class that is formulated as a convex optimization problem using a pre-obtained cluster structure of the data. We derive dual representations using Fenchel conjugation theory, based on which we give a simple yet efficient wrapper-based optimization algorithm. We apply the method to problems involving multiple heterogeneous data sources, taken from domains of computational biology and computer vision. The results show that the proposed convex approach to learning localized kernels can achieve higher prediction accuracies than its global and non-convex local counterparts.
Coat color dilution in mice because of inactivation of the melanoma antigen MART‐1

Melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1 (MART‐1) is a melanoma‐specific antigen, which has been thoroughly studied in the context of immunotherapy against malignant melanoma and which is found only in the pigment cell lineage. However, its exact function and involvement in pigmentation is not clearly understood. Melanoma antigen recognized by T cells 1 has been shown to interact with the melanosomal proteins Pmel17 and OA1. To understand the function of MART‐1 in pigmentation, we developed a new knockout mouse model. Mice deficient in MART‐1 are viable, but loss of MART‐1 leads to a coat color phenotype, with a reduction in total melanin content of the skin and hair. Lack of MART‐1 did not affect localization of melanocyte‐specific proteins nor maturation of Pmel17. Melanosomes of hair follicle melanocytes in MART‐1 knockout mice displayed morphological abnormalities, which were exclusive to stage III and IV melanosomes. In conclusion, our results suggest that MART‐1 is a pigmentation gene that is required for melanosome biogenesis and/or maintenance.