Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship Clean-Up Time: Using Meta-Analysis and Path Analysis to Clarify Relationships Among Job Satisfaction, Perceived Fairness, and Citizenship Behaviors †

Although perceived fairness and job satisfaction predict organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), researchers have pondered the conceptual relationships among these constructs. Using path analysis on meta-analytically derived coefficients, the authors compared four models: full mediation (job satisfaction mediates fairness-OCB relationships), partial mediation, independent effects, and a spurious effects model (the job satisfaction—OCB relationship is spurious because perceived fairness is a common cause). The authors found greatest support for the independent effects model: Job satisfaction and different types of perceived fairness accounted for unique variance in OCB dimensions. The article discusses implications for research and practice, and offers suggestions to advance theory in this area.
The role of team leadership in Portuguese child protection teams

The majority of team leadership studies have ignored the specific context in which that leadership takes place and the cyclical correlation of inputs and processes on ongoing performance. It is our contention that leadership is a mediator of team processes and team effectiveness on ongoing functioning of multidisciplinary teams (MDT). The members of 126 multidisciplinary teams responded to a survey on several aspects related to the functioning and leadership of their teams. The results support the hypothesis that leadership does mediate the relationship between reflexivity and effectiveness (i.e. team management performance, boundary spanning and satisfaction) within the team. Theoretically, these findings challenge those of linear models that typically analyse the impact of leadership as something that happens in isolation. Future research should describe and consider not just the team type and tasks but also investigate the roles that context and time play in team leadership.
International Union of Pharmacology. LVI. Ghrelin Receptor Nomenclature, Distribution, and Function

Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide originally isolated from rat stomach and is cleaved from a 117-amino acid precursor. The sequence of the mature peptide from rats and mice differs by two amino acids from that of human ghrelin. Alternative splicing of the ghrelin gene transcript can result in the translation of a second biologically active peptide, des-Gln14-ghrelin. Both peptides have a unique post-translational modification, octanoylation of Ser3, which is essential for the binding to receptors in hypothalamus and pituitary and stimulating the release of growth hormone from the pituitary. The growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R1a, Swiss-Prot code Q92847, LocusLink ID 2693), a rhodopsin-like seven transmembrane spanning G protein-coupled receptors belonging to Family A, was cloned in 1996 from the pituitary and hypothalamus and shown to be the target of growth hormone secretagogues (GHS), a class of synthetic peptide and nonpeptide compounds causing growth hormone release from the anterior pituitary. In 1999, ghrelin was identified as the endogenous cognate ligand for this receptor. The purpose of this review is to propose an official International Union of Pharmacology Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification (NC-IUPHAR) nomenclature designating GHS-R1a as the ghrelin receptor to follow the convention of naming receptors after the endogenous agonist, abbreviated where necessary to GRLN.
Climatology of intrusions into the tropical upper troposphere

Regions of upper tropospheric equatorial westerly winds, observed over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans during northern fall to spring, are important for extratropical‐tropical interactions. This paper focuses on one feature of these “westerly ducts” that has received relatively little attention to date: the occurrence of Rossby wave breaking events that transport tongues of extratropical air deep into the tropics, mix tropical and subtropical air, and can affect deep convection. A climatology of these “intrusion” events formed from 20 years of meteorological analyses shows a strong dependence on the basic‐state flow. Notably, intrusion events are found to occur almost exclusively within westerly ducts, with more events in the presence of stronger equatorial westerlies. It is also found that there is strong interannual variability in the frequency of Pacific events, with fewer events during the warm phases of ENSO (consistent with the changes in the basic flow). Since these intrusion events laterally mix trace constituents and have been linked to tropical convection, their spatial and temporal variability may cause related variability in the distribution of trace constituents and tropical convection.
Dispositional perfectionism and well-being: A test of the 2 × 2 model of perfectionism in the sport domain.

In the 2 2 model of dispositional perfectionism, we posit that four within-person combinations of self-oriented (SOP) and socially prescribed (SPP) perfectionism (i.e., high/high, high/low, low/high, low/low) can be distinguished on the basis of their distinct etiological and functional features. The goal of this study was to examine whether subtypes of perfectionism are distinctively associated with subjective wellbeing (i.e., positive affect, subjective vitality, and life-satisfaction) in the sport domain. Showing that pure SOP is associated with either better (Hypothesis 1a), worse (Hypothesis 1b), or equivalent (Hypothesis 1c) psychological outcomes (compared to nonperfectionism) would respectively support the potentially healthy, unhealthy, and neutral nature of SOP. Conversely to prior literature, pure SPP is hypothesized to be the most damaging subtype of perfectionism in the 2 2 model of perfectionism (Hypothesis 2). As such, the tenets of the 2 2 model differ from the literature by suggesting that mixed perfectionism is potentially less harmful compared to a subtype of pure SPP (Hypothesis 3), but potentially more harmful compared to a pure SOP (Hypothesis 4). Results of moderated multiple regression analyses have shown that pure SOP is associated with equally high levels of positive affect and vitality, and to significantly higher levels of life-satisfaction compared to nonperfectionism. Furthermore, pure SPP was associated with significantly lower levels of positive affect, vitality, and life-satisfaction compared to other subtypes of perfectionism. This study provided initial support for most of the hypotheses of the 2 2 model of perfectionism in the sport domain.
Using Dictionaries in Modern Language GCSE Examinations

In 1998 the GCSE examination boards permitted candidates to use bilingual dictionaries in their Modern Language written examinations. In the run-up period to this change several publishers updated their dictionaries and in the process it became uncertain whether the 'playing field' for candidates using different dictionaries remained level. The dictionary project described here was funded by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and studies the effects of three groups of candidates each using a different type of dictionary. In addition to comparing the quantitative impact, time was also spent observing how the candidates used their dictionary and the impact the dictionary had on their use of language.
Using Public Feedback and Competitive Rewards to Increase the Safe Driving of Pizza Deliverers

Abstract This study investigated the effects of a safe driving competition facilitated by publicly-posted individual feedback. The turn-signal use, safety-belt use, and complete intersection stopping of 82 pizza deliverers were observed at two experimental and three control stores, as well as among the civilian population. After baseline observations, pizza deliverers received posted weekly individual feedback on their turn-signal use (at Store A) or complete intersection stops (at Store B). The deliverers' safe driving scores were posted individually on a vertical scale along with their names. Each week the deliverer with the highest average performance was rewarded with a free vehicle-maintenance coupon. Turn-signal use among drivers at Store A (n= 24) increased 22 percentage points from baseline to the intervention phase which was maintained into the withdrawal phase. Complete intersection stopping among drivers at Store B (n= 21) increased 17 percentage points from baseline to the intervention phase and was maintained into the withdrawal phase. Although the winners of the weekly competitions had the greatest increase in performance, non-winners also increased their instances of safe driving during the competition.
Monitoring chronic infection with a field strain of Aleutian mink disease virus

Astroviruses are becoming a growing concern in veterinary and public health. To date there are no registered vaccines against astrovirus-induced disease, mostly due to the difficulty to cultivate astroviruses to high titer for vaccine development using conventional techniques. As means to circumvent this drawback, we have developed stably transfected mink fetal cells and BHK21 cells constitutively expressing the full-length and truncated capsid proteins of two distinct genotypes of mink astrovirus. Protein expression in these stably transfected cells was demonstrated by strong signals as evaluated by in-situ PLA and IFA, and confirmed by Western blotting. The recombinant full-length and truncated proteins induced a high level of antibodies in mink, evaluated by ELISA, demonstrating their immunogenicity. In a challenge experiment in mink, a reduction in presentation clinical signs and virus shedding was observed in mink kits born from immunized females. The gene integration and protein expression were sustained through cell passage, showing that the used approach is robust and reliable for expression of functional capsid proteins for vaccine and diagnostic applications.
Longer Sleep – Slimmer Kids: The ENERGY-Project

Background Few studies have differentiated between weekday and weekend day sleep duration in their association with indicators of weight status in children. Therefore, we examined the association of week and weekend day sleep duration with indicators of body composition in 10–12 year old European school children. Methods and Findings Multi-level linear regression analysis was performed to examine the association between parent-reported week and weekend day sleep duration and objectively assessed child BMI and WC, adjusting for socio-demographic variables and energy balanced related behaviours EBRBs (i.e. dietary, physical and sedentary behaviour). Compared to sleeping 10 hrs/night or more, sleeping on average less than 10 hrs/night during weekdays was associated with higher BMI (for example, B = 0.86 and CI = [0.27;1.45] when sleeping ≤7 hrs) and WC (for example, B = 1.99 and CI = [0.32;3.65] when sleeping ≤7 hrs). Sleeping 9 hrs/night during weekend days, but not ≤8 hrs, was associated with higher WC (B = 0.66; CI = [0.04;1.28]) compared to sleeping more than 10 hrs/night. Average (week and weekend) sleep duration less than 10 hrs/night was associated with higher values for BMI (B = 0.98; CI = [0.24;1.73] and WC (B = 2.35; CI = [0.08;4.31]). Conclusions Weekday sleep duration seems more strongly associated with body composition in European school children than weekend day sleep duration. Promoting adequate sleep duration may contribute to healthy weight in children.
Screening Survivors of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia for Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, and Insulin Resistance

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors were screened for risk factors of cardiovascular disease. Forty-four ALL survivors in first remission were enrolled. Twenty-six also received 12–18 Gy cranial radiotherapy (RT). Patients’ body mass indexes (BMIs) at dignosis and during the study were compared. Metabolic syndrome (MS) evaluation was performed in patients, parents, and siblings older than 6 years. Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) index of the survivors was also calculated. In survivors with impaired fasting glucose levels, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed. Thyroid functions and IGF-1 and/or IGFBP-3 levels of the survivors who received cranial RT were evaluated. Median age of the survivors was 11.5 years (6–23). At diagnosis, mean BMI percentile was 46.7 (3–95) and mean z-score was −0.09 ± 1.14; during the study, these values rose to 71.1 ± 25.6 (3–100) and 0.8 ± 0.94, respectively (P < .001). One patient (2.2%) and nine survivors (20%) were obese at diagnosis and during the study, respectively (P = .005). Survivors had significantly higher BMI percentile and BMI z-score compared to their siblings (P = .006 and P = .011, respectively). The study group was small and we could not show a correlation of the patients’ obesity with RT, thyroid functions, IGF-1, and IGFBP-3 levels. In three survivors (6.8%), there was MS. Maternal and paternal MS was not found as a risk factor for MS of the survivors (P = .1, P = .5, respectively). The HOMA index revealed insulin resistance (IR) in 12 (27.2%) of the survivors, whereas OGTT revealed abnormal glucose regulation and/or IR in four. As a conclusion, ALL survivors have high risk for obesity and MS.
Cognitive Profiles of Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Students: Implications for Identification of the Gifted

Performance on tests of specific abilities commonly associated with intelligence was contrasted between 13-year-olds identified as extremely precocious (top 1 in 10,000) in either verbal or mathematical reasoning ability. Such students differ cognitively. Verbally precocious students scored higher on verbal and gerieral knowledge types of tests, and mathematically precocious students scored higher on tests of nonverbal reasoning, spatial ability, and memory. Results from the factor analysis of test scores (excluding memory test scores) yielded three factors: spatial/speed, verbal, and nonverbal. Mathematically talented students had higher scores on the nonverbal and speed factors; verbally talented students had higher scores on the verbal factor. Thus, at least two distinct forms of giftedness seem to exist (i.e., verbal and nonverbal). Their evolution, moreover, appeared to follow different developmental paths, consistent with Gagne (1985).
Mutations in the NSD1 gene in patients with Sotos syndrome associate with endocrine and paracrine alterations in the IGF system.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of nuclear receptor Su-var, 3-9, enhancer of zeste, trithorax (SET) domain-containing protein 1 (NSD1) gene alteration in patients with Sotos syndrome on plasma IGFs and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs), as well as on the IGF/IGFBP system activity at the tissue level. DESIGN Twenty-nine patients suspected of Sotos syndrome were divided into two groups: patients with heterozygous deletions or mutations in the NSD1 gene (NSD1(+/-)) (n=11) and subjects without (NSD1(+/+)) (n=18). Plasma samples (n=29) and skin fibroblasts (n=23) were obtained. The results of both groups were compared and related to reference values. METHODS IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3, IGFBP-4 and IGFBP-6 levels were determined by RIAs. The mitogenic response of fibroblasts to IGFs was investigated by [methyl-(3)H]thymidine incorporation. IGFBP-3 levels in the culture media were measured by RIA. IGFBP-3 mRNA expression was determined by real time RT-PCR. RESULTS NSD1(+/-) patients showed significantly altered levels of IGF-I (mean-1.2 SDS), IGF-II (-1.2), IGFBP-3 (-1.7), IGFBP-4 (-0.4), IGFBP-2 (+0.8) and IGFBP-6 (+1.5). The NSD1(+/+) patients did not differ from the reference, with the exception of the mean IGFBP-3 level (-1.3). Basal proliferation and mitogenic response to IGFs was diminished in NSD1(+/-) fibroblasts compared with NSD1(+/+) (basal, P=0.02; IGF-I, P<0.001; IGF-II, P=0.02). Compared with control fibroblasts, only the mitogenic response was diminished (basal, P=0.07; IGF-I, P=0.04; IGF-II, P=0.04). A trend of higher IGFBP-3 secretion after IGF-I stimulation (P=0.09) and 3.5-5 times higher mRNA expression of IGFBP-3 in basal conditions was found in NSD1(+/-) fibroblasts in comparison to controls. CONCLUSIONS NSD1(+/-) patients show endocrine and paracrine changes in the IGF system. These changes may contribute to the abnormal growth pattern.
Effects of Brief Wilderness Programs in Relation to Adolescents' Race

This research assessed effects of brief wilderness programs on adolescents' self-concepts, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and environmental attitudes and contrasted effects for adolescents in five racial groups. A pretest-posttest design compared adolescents who particpated in wilderness outings (n = 67) with adolescents on a waiting list to participate in wilderness outings (n = 76). Questionnaires were completed by adolescents, their primary caregivers, and outing leaders. Contrary to expectation, no differential improvement was found for program participants. Among African-American outing participants, reported self-concept decreased between pretest and posttest. Findings suggest that brief wilderness programs may not beneficially affect adolescents' self-concept, behaviors, or environmental attitude, perhaps because participants do not experience the presumed effective ingredients of wilderness programs in these outings.
Assessment in Youth Justice: Professional Discretion and the Use of Asset

The introduction of Asset as a common assessment tool for all Youth Offending Teams in England and Wales has sometimes been viewed as part of a ‘managerialist’ agenda which replaces professional discretion with an uncritical routinised approach to practice. This paper explores the challenges inherent in introducing such a tool into the complex world of youth justice, recognising that there can be both positive and negative effects. It argues that, if used appropriately by practitioners, managers and the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, it is possible to combine the benefits of Asset - greater structure, transparency and accountability in assessment practice - with professionalism and a focus on young people’s individual needs.
An NMR Spectroscopic Investigation of Aluminosilicate Gel in Alkali-Activated Fly Ash in a CO2-Rich Environment

The present study investigated aluminosilicate gel in alkali-activated fly ash exposed to a CO2-rich environment by means of NMR spectroscopy. The alkali-activated fly ash was exposed to an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 10% after curing at 80 °C initially for 24 h. Under high concentrations of CO2, highly reactive components Na and Al, which completely reacted within the first few hours, were unaffected by carbonation, while Si, with relatively slower reactivity, behaved differently. Despite a lower degree of the reaction in the carbonated sample, the monomeric silicates rapidly became of higher polymerization, meaning that exposure to high concentrations of CO2 caused Si to form a binding gel phase. Consequently, the carbonated sample possessed a higher amount of binding gel. The obtained results may be useful to understand the fundamental chemistry and behavior of aluminosilicate gel under high concentrations of CO2.
Educational Development and Reform in Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe, as elsewhere in Africa, the advent of independence after prolonged colonial domination brought a vast expansion in the educational system paralleling a policy shift from an elite system of education to one of mass education. ' The imperative to provide mass education had both an ideological as well as a political rationale. It was not only a response by the newly elected leaders to the popular demand for education from the electorate but was also perceived by them to be the main instrument for creating a more egalitarian society, for expanding and modernizing the economy, and as an essential element in the process of nation building.2 Individual demand for greater provision of education was conditioned by an instrumental perception of the value of education developed during the colonial period in which education was seen to be the only route to salaried employment in the modern sector of the economy, providing security, affluence, prestige, and a modern style of life.3 The inability of the expanded education system to fulfill these expectations for all has not significantly diminished the demand. Strategies for achieving mass education appear to be similar throughout sub-Saharan Africa despite differing political ideologies. The problems that have ensued also bear a remarkable resemblance from country to country. In this case study of education in Zimbabwe since independence, the social, economic, and political imperatives that have influenced the dynamic expansion of the system are examined together with the problems
CHROMagar Candida, a new differential isolation medium for presumptive identification of clinically important Candida species

CHROMagar Candida is a novel, differential culture medium that is claimed to facilitate the isolation and presumptive identification of some clinically important yeast species. We evaluated the use of this medium with 726 yeast isolates, including 82 isolated directly on the medium from clinical material. After 2 days of incubation at 37 degrees C, 285 C. albicans isolates gave distinctive green colonies that were not seen with any of 441 other yeast isolates representing 21 different species. A total of 54 C. tropicalis isolates also developed distinctive dark blue-gray colonies with a halo of dark brownish purple in the surrounding agar. C. krusei isolates (n = 43) also formed highly characteristic rough, spreading colonies with pale pink centers and a white edge that was otherwise encountered only rarely with isolates of C. norvegensis. Trichosporon spp. (n = 34) formed small, pale colonies that became larger and characteristically rough with prolonged incubation. Most of the other 310 yeasts studied formed colonies with a color that ranged from white to pink to purple with a brownish tint. The only exceptions were found among isolates identified as Geotrichum sp. or Pichia sp. , some of which formed colonies with a gray to blue color and which in two instances formed a green pigment or a dark halo in the agar. The specificity and sensitivity of the new medium for the presumptive identification of C. albicans, C. krusei, and C. tropicalis exceeded 99% for all three species. A blinded reading test involving four personnel and 57 yeast isolates representing nine clinically important species confirmed that colonial appearance after 48 h of incubation on CHROMagar Candida afforded the correct presumptive recognition of C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C, krusei, and Trichosporon spp. None of nine bacterial isolates grew on CHROMagar Candida within 72 h, and bacteria (Escherichia coli) grew from only 4 of 104 vaginal, 100 oral, and 99 anorectal swabs. The new medium supported the growth of 19 of 23 dermatophyte fungi tested and 41 of 43 other molds representing a broad range of fungal pathogens and contaminants. In parallel cultures of 348 clinical specimens set up on Sabourand agar and CHROMagar Candida, both media grew yeasts in the same 78 instances. CHROMagar Candida is recommended as a useful isolation medium capable of the presumptive identification of the yeast species most commonly isolated from clinical material and facilitating recognition of mixed yeast cultures.