Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The headscarf debates: conflicts of national belonging

respectability in order to prove their ‘racial fitness’ and to distance themselves from the African Americans. The case that the Irish in nineteenth-century America were seen predominantly in racial terms rather than in terms of class or religion is based on shaky evidence, largely gathered by the dredging up of a few by now familiar caricatures and quotations that get copied from one writer of self-serving history to another. Duffy uses a very strained definition of race: ‘Though they [the Irish] had the skin color necessary for naturalization, they were lacking in other racial standards, namely class and religion’(9). Blurring the concept of race in this way does not advance our understanding and it denies the independent importance of both class and religion. In context, it seems to be a way of dealing with the hostile comments of her informants, including the new arrivals from Ireland, about the local African Americans, whom they refer to as lazy, disorderly people living off welfare. Even here the link is uncertain, since the same informants describe the local West Indian and Mexican immigrants, whom they nonetheless regard as racially distant, as hard-working. If I were an African American feeling threatened by and seeking to challenge the Irish claim of having overcome intense discrimination through industry and virtue alone, I would be inclined to cite historical evidence that the Irish often rose up the ethnic hierarchy through their corrupt control of municipal government. Jobs were reserved for members of their own group and competing Italian, German, Jewish and African American applicants were kept out. Local government was affirmative action for the Irish, as indeed was the Roman Catholic Church. A decent Polish priest would have stood little chance of becoming a bishop in an Irish-dominated hierarchy, which indeed led to a schism with many Poles leaving the Church. The author’s grasp of economics, which can be summed up as ‘neo-liberalism is bad’, and of the reasons why Irish people tend to have more problems with alcohol than individuals of other nations, which she sees as a ‘postcolonial’ phenomenon or as an act of defiance, is somewhat lacking in sophistication. It reads as if the author had been told that her perfectly good descriptive account was ‘under-theorized’ and needed to be pushed through untestable, value-laden grids. All too often it reads like a political tract. There is no reason why people should not write political tracts, but is it really the business of a respected university press to publish them?
Therapeutic Touch and Agitation in Individuals With Alzheimer's Disease

Limited effective strategies exist to alleviate or treat disruptive behaviors in people with Alzheimer's disease. Fifty-one residents of a long-term care facility with Alzheimer's disease were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups. A multiple time series, blinded, experimental design was used to compare the effectiveness of therapeutic touch, simulated therapeutic touch, and usual care on disruptive behavior. Three forms of disruptive behavior comprised the dependent variables: physical aggression, physical nonaggression, and verbal agitation. Physical nonaggressive behaviors decreased significantly in those residents who received therapeutic touch compared with those who received the simulated version and the usual care. No significant differences in physically aggressive and verbally agitated behaviors were observed across the three study groups. The study provided preliminary evidence for the potential for therapeutic touch in dealing with agitated behaviors by people with dementia. Researchers and practitioners must consider a broad array of strategies to deal with these behaviors.
Developing Detailed Rubrics for Assessing Critique Writing: Impact on EFL University Students' Performance and Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to develop specific rubrics for assessing critiques in English 202, an English as a foreign language course at the Lebanese American University to explore the effectiveness of these rubrics on students' writing and to investigate students' attitudes and reactions to the use of these rubrics. After development of the rubrics, students wrote an in-class critique of an article, using the rubrics as a guide. Based on teachers' comments and grades on the rubrics, students revised and wrote the second draft. Students were then administered an anonymous online survey asking them for feedback on the use of rubrics. A t-test comparing students' grades on the first and second drafts revealed a significant difference, suggesting that use of the rubrics helped students effectively revise their drafts. The survey results support this hypothesis because students revealed positive attitudes and reactions. Based on the findings, we recommend that consistent use of well-developed rubrics can enhance outcomes for English learners enrolled in writing courses.
An Investigation into the Relationship between Self-esteem, Proficiency Level, and the Reading Ability of Iranian EFL Language Learners

The current study aimed at investigating the any probable relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ self esteem, proficiency level, and also their reading scores. To do so, 120 male and female Iranian language learners were picked out and grouped into three beginning, intermediate, and advanced-level groups using a reading comprehension test. Then the other instrument of the study, a questionnaire on self-esteem, was employed to measure their degree of self-esteem. Having run two correlations and one regression SPSS programs, the results revealed that there was a significant but weak correlation between the learners’ self-esteem and their reading performance. In addition, a strong significant correlation was observed between the proficiency-level of language learners and their self-esteem. Finally, the result indicated that of the two independent variables of the study, it was the proficiency level that was a better predictor of language learners’ reading ability. Conducting studies like the present one may contribute effectively on the better teaching of language to learners.
Differential Role of Cyclooxygenase 1 and 2 Isoforms in the Modulation of Colonic Neuromuscular Function in Experimental Inflammation

This study examines the role played by cyclooxygenase (COX) isoforms (COX-1 and -2) in the regulation of colonic neuromuscular function in normal rats and after induction of colitis by 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (DNBS). The expression of COX-1 and COX-2 in the colonic neuromuscular layer was assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. The effects of COX inhibitors on in vitro motility were evaluated by studying electrically induced and carbachol-induced contractions of the longitudinal muscle. Both COX isoforms were constitutively expressed in normal colon; COX-2 was up-regulated in the presence of colitis. In normal and inflamed colon, both COX isoforms were mainly localized in neurons of myenteric ganglia. In the normal colon, indomethacin (COX-1/COX-2 inhibitor), SC-560 [5-(4-chloro-phenyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-trifluoromethylpyrazole] (COX-1 inhibitor), or DFU [5,5-dimethyl-3-(3-fluorophenyl)-4-(4-methylsulfonyl)phenyl-2(5H)-furanone] (COX-2 inhibitor) enhanced atropine-sensitive electrically evoked contractions. The most prominent effects were observed with indomethacin or SC-560 plus DFU. In the inflamed colon, SC-560 lost its effect, whereas indomethacin and DFU maintained their enhancing actions. These results were more evident after blockade of noncholinergic pathways. In rats with colitis, in vivo treatment with superoxide dismutase or S-methylisothiourea (inhibitor of inducible nitric-oxide synthase) restored the enhancing motor effect of SC-560. COX inhibitors had no effect on carbachol-induced contractions in normal or DNBS-treated rats. In conclusion, in the normal colon, both COX isoforms act at the neuronal level to modulate the contractile activity driven by excitatory cholinergic pathways. In the presence of inflammation, COX-1 activity is hampered by oxidative stress, and COX-2 seems to play a predominant role in maintaining an inhibitory control of colonic neuromuscular function.
Metabolic Tumor Volume of [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Predicts Short-Term Outcome to Radiotherapy With or Without Chemotherapy in Pharyngeal Cancer

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether metabolic tumor volume (MTV) measured from [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) predicts short-term outcome to radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with pharyngeal cancers. Experimental Design: The MTVs of primary sites with or without neck nodes were measured in 82 patients. Short-term outcome was assessed using the treatment response evaluation by the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors and recurrence events during follow-up (complete response/no recurrence or residual disease/recurrence). Results: A total of 64 patients had complete response/no recurrence as of the last follow-up. A cutoff of 40 mL for the MTV was the best discriminative value for predicting treatment response. By univariate analyses, patients with MTV >40 mL showed a significantly lower number of complete response/no recurrence than did patients with MTV ≤40 mL [68.2% versus 87.8%; hazard ratio (HR), 3.34; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.09-10.08; P = 0.03], as is the same in tumor-node-metastasis stage (87.5% for I-II versus 90% for III versus 63.8% for IV; P = 0.02). However, MTV was only a significant predictor of short-term outcome by multivariate analyses (HR, 4.09; 95% CI, 1.02-16.43; P = 0.04). MTV >40 mL indicated a significantly worse DFS than MTV ≤40 mL (HR, 3.42; 95% CI, 1.04-11.26;P = 0.04). The standardized uptake value for the primary tumor did not show any correlation with treatment outcome or DFS. Conclusion: MTV has a potential value in predicting short-term outcome and DFS in patients with pharyngeal cancers. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(18):5861–8)
Different mechanisms of saturated versus polyunsaturated FFA-induced apoptosis in human endothelial cells Published, JLR Papers in Press, August 5, 2008. This study was supported by a Charlotte-Bühler grant (H222-B11) from the Austrian Science Fund, Vienna, Austria (M.A.).

Apoptosis and underlying mechanisms were evaluated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), in target tissues of late diabetic vascular complications [human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) and human retinal endothelial cells (HRECs)], and in endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) exposed to FFAs, which are elevated in obesity and diabetes. Saturated stearic acid concentration dependently induced apoptosis that could be mediated via reduced membrane fluidity, because both apoptosis and membrane rigidity are counteracted by eicosapentaenoic acid. PUFAs triggered apoptosis at a concentration of 300 μmol/l in HUVECs, HAECs, and EPCs, but not HRECs, and, in contrast to stearic acid, involved caspase-8 activation. PUFA-induced apoptosis, but not stearic acid-induced apoptosis, strictly correlated (P < 0.01) with protein expression of E2F-1 (r = 0.878) and c-myc (r = 0.966). Lack of c-myc expression and activity owing to quiescence or transfection with dominant negative In373-Myc, respectively, renders HUVECs resistant to PUFA-induced apoptosis. Because c-myc is abundant in growing cells only, apoptosis triggered by PUFAs, but not by saturated stearic acid, obviously depends on the growth/proliferation status of the cells. Finally, this study shows that FFA-induced apoptosis depends on the vascular origin and growth/proliferation status of endothelial cells, and that saturated stearic acid-induced apoptosis and PUFA-induced apoptosis are mediated via different mechanisms.
A Dance Between the Reduction and Reflexivity: Explicating the "Phenomenological Psychological Attitude"

This article explores the nature of "the phenomenological attitude," which is understood as the process of retaining a wonder and openness to the world while reflexively restraining pre-understandings, as it applies to psychological research. A brief history identifies key philosphical ideas outlining Husserl's formulation of the reductions and subsequent existential-hermeneutic elaborations, and how these have been applied in empirical psychological research. Then three concrete descriptions of engaging the phenomenological attitude are offered, highlighting the way the epoche of the natural sciences, the psychological phenomenological reduction and the eidetic reduction can be applied during research interviews. Reflections on the impact and value of the researcher's stance show that these reductions can be intertwined with reflexivity and that, in this process, something of a dance occurs—a tango in which the researcher twists and glides through a series of improvised steps. In a context of tension and contradictory motions, the researcher slides between striving for reductive focus and reflexive self-awareness; between bracketing pre-understandings and exploiting them as a source of insight. Caught up in the dance, researchers must wage a continuous, iterative struggle to become aware of, and then manage, pre-understandings and habitualities that inevitably linger. Persistance will reward the researcher with special, if fleeting, moments of disclosure in which the phenomenon reveals something of itself in a fresh way.
An Exploratory Study of Database Integration Processes

One of the central problems of database integration is schema matching, that is, the identification of similar data elements in two or more databases or other data sources. Existing definitions of "similarity" in this context vary greatly. As a result, schema matching has given rise to a large number of heuristics software tools. However, the empirical understanding of this process in humans is very limited so that little guidance can be offered to the further development of heuristics and tools. This paper presents an exploratory process tracing study of the similarity judgement process in humans. The similarity judgements of 12 data integration professionals on a range of integration problems are recorded and analyzed. Implications for future empirical and applied research in this area are discussed.
Understanding Interpersonal Trust in a Confucian-influenced Society

Adopting a qualitative methodology, this exploratory study examined the construct of trust and its factors of trustworthiness as perceived in a Confucian-influenced society. The findings of our study indicated that there are emic differences in the meaning of trust as perceived in a Confucian-influenced setting. Specifically, we found a heavy reliance on affective factors of trustworthiness in the decision to trust. In addition, we found a number of factors unique to the context that facilitates the development of trust: diligence, perseverance, filial piety, thriftiness, respect for authority, a shared value of collective effort, harmonious relationship in the office, humbleness and magnanimous behavior. Implications are drawn and future research directions suggested.
Perception and cognition.

For more than a century, most psychologists have based their discussions of human thinking on the cardinal assumption that basic cognitive processes are the same for all normal adult human beings, whether in the plains of Central Asia, the villages of East Africa, or the urban centers of Europe and North America. Cultural differences influence the content of minds, or the domains of thinking to which cognitive strategies are applied. For example, children in the Amazon might categorize snake varieties with the same interest that children in suburban America categorize video game varieties. Although what people think about varies considerably across cultures, the very habits of thought-the information processing strategies that people use recurrently in order to know the world around them—have been assumed to be the same everywhere. Several historical developments in psychology have conspired to uphold cognitive universality as a foundational assumption in much of theorizing and research. First, the origins of psychology have been profoundly influenced by biology (Benjamin, 1988), leading to an assumption of universality in at least two respects: much research on the biological basis of human psychology is conducted analogically in other species. But if we begin with the view that humans in one culture share psychological mechanisms with other species, it follows that these same psychological mechanisms are assumed to be shared universally within humans themselves. Furthermore, to the extent psychology is grounded in biology, it inherits the theoretical foundation of evolutionary theory as well (Barkow, Cosmides, & Tooby, 1992; Pinker, 1997). Because evolutionary reasoning depends on the assumption of a shared species-wide genome, this theoretical foundation encourages psychologists to accept psychic unity as a 3 given, rather than as a testable hypothesis. Learning theorists that influenced much of early experimental psychology in the mid-twentieth century also believed that they were looking at mechanisms that applied not only to all humans but to most other animals as well. The cognitive revolution, from its earliest development, until nearly the end of the 20 th century, rejected the learning theorists' behaviorism yet embraced the same universalistic position that was undoubtedly encouraged by the analogy between the human mind and the computer: brain equaled hardware, cognitive procedures equaled operating principles and native software (Block, 1995). Because the " inputs " could be radically different across cultures given variation in ecological and social conditions, " outputs " in the form of beliefs and behaviors would also be …
The Relationship of Language Brokering to Academic Performance, Biculturalism, and Self-Efficacy among Latino Adolescents

Children who interpret for their immigrant parents are referred to as language brokers. The present study examines the relationship of language brokering to academic performance, biculturalism, academic self-efficacy, and social self-efficacy. The many adultlike experiences of children who broker on a regular basis suggest that their cognitive and socioemotional development may be accelerated relative to children of immigrant families who broker infrequently or not at all. Latino adolescents (n = 122) from immigrant families were participants in the study. Results showed that, as expected, language brokering was positively related to biculturalism, and in turn, both of these variables were positively related to academic performance. In addition, the strongest predictor of academic performance was academic self-efficacy. Results also indicated that, to some degree, language brokering is a gendered activity, with females reporting more brokering than males.
Customer Equity: Measurement, Management and Research Opportunities

Despite the recent academic interest in the study of customer equity (CE henceforth), a comprehensive discussion of the prevailing research issues has not been provided. There is a shift in the interest of managers and researchers from a traditional focus on product management to a more recent focus on customer relationship management (CRM). We believe that research on CE could provide the necessary tools to link CRM to long-term financial performance. In this paper, we (a) discuss the academic and strategic importance of CE, (b) provide an extensive literature review, and (c) prioritize future research. We argue that there are two major agendas for future research in CE. The first is to provide better measures (e.g. the measurement of customer lifetime value), and the second is to identify the strategies that lead to CE maximization. We emphasize modeling approaches that have been used or could be used to tackle the suggested research questions. A special focus is given to statistical models that are capable of incorporating long-run dynamics.
Stroke-Related Disease Comorbidity and Secondary Stroke Prevention Practices Among Young Stroke Survivors

ABSTRACT Background: Although ischemic stroke incidence has been in decline over the past 60 years, the same has not been observed among individuals younger than 55 years. Recent reports have shown a substantial increase in young stroke incidence, yet little is known about young stroke survivors. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the disease comorbidity profile and secondary prevention practices in stroke survivors younger than 50 years. Methods: This study used a retrospective data analysis of secondary stroke prevention practices among young stroke survivors using data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey. Results: Approximately 57% of the sample reported having hypertension; 33%, high cholesterol; 13%, diabetes; and 7%, heart disease. In the past 12 months, more than 60% had seen a general doctor, neurologist, or specialist, and more than 75% were following low-dose aspirin advice or taking prescribed medications for blood pressure or cholesterol. Similarly, 84% had their blood pressure checked, and 66% had their cholesterol checked, but only 50% had a fasting test for their blood sugar in the past 12 months. Conclusions: Many young stroke survivors exhibit comorbid disease conditions that are similar to older stroke survivors. A large percentage are engaged in general chronic disease and secondary stroke prevention practices, yet less than two-thirds had seen a general doctor in the past 12 months. Primary care doctors and other health professionals are critical to the implementation of disease management strategies that consider their age, secondary stroke risk, expected life spans, and other issues that differ from older adult stroke survivors.
Does the Impact of Anti-Drinking and Driving Public Service Announcements Differ Based on Message Type and Viewer Characteristics?

The purpose of this study was to inform future Public Service Announcement (PSA) development by examining the potential effectiveness of different types of anti-driving under the influence (DUI) PSAs for persons with different characteristics. PSAs utilizing empathy, fear, and informational approaches were shown to persons recruited from psychology courses (n = 137) and individuals that were mandated to treatment following a DUI offense (n = 17). The empathy approach was perceived to be the most effective and evoked the most negative affect, followed by fear and informational approaches. Less experience with DUI, lower sensation seeking, higher motivation to change, and higher perception of dangerousness of DUI all emerged as good predictors of higher perceived effectiveness of anti-DUI PSAs. Gender differences in perceived effectiveness were examined for fear and empathy PSAs, with inconclusive findings.
Difference and similarities between younger and older marriages across cultures: A comparison of american and israeli retired nondistressed marriages

Abstract This study investigated the similarities and differences between older and younger couples and between couples of different ages and cultures using measurement instruments in which normative data are available for comparison. Results show the older Israeli and American samples to be more similar to each other and different from both the Israeli and American younger couples. Older retired nondistressed couples had significantly lower levels of distress, less desire for change in their marriage, and better perceptual accuracy of the changes desired by their partners than younger Israelis and younger Americans. The types of changes desired by the older samples include more desire far social contact with family and friends than do younger couples in both cultures, more desire for husbands' attention to appearances, and less sex-role-stereotyped responses for both sexes. However, some universal concerns of all married couples were pinpointed, including a wish to receive more attention when needed and .