Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
(De)Constructing Homo Politicus: Evidence from Post-Communist World Under EU Integration Asymmetrical Relation

This research deals with transformations of political identities under the influence of EU integration in a contemporary Balkan post-communist context; by this I mean entering and exiting the specific social domain of political action as a result of changed understanding that people make of their identities, individual and collective forces, limitations to understand social realities, and opportunities to change their lives. Beyond the Aristotelian vision of men as being natural political creatures, Machiavelli-inspired understanding of politics as strategic interaction, Tocquevillian image of politics as nets for social protection and Marxist idea of politics as superstructure for protecting and promoting economic interests hides a vast area where people also become involved or detached from politics despite their natural constitution and objective interests. They get in and out of the politics following logic that acts in coordination at different levels of analysis: intentions, motivations, beliefs, mentalities and attitudes. This combination of different levels, far from turning political identity into purely psychological phenomenon, requires a new analysis on the level of inter-subjective meaning.This research, based on a paradigm both interpretative and constructivist, provides findings pertaining to the effects of EU integration on people in two post-communist countries in the Balkans. I take two cases, Bulgaria and Macedonia, as examples of states already within the Union and as examples of those still waiting to become members. I use qualitative methodology, mainly semi-directive in-depth interviews and non-participant ethnographic observations from three field trips to these countries between 2009 and 2011.The findings confirm that these two political communities, far from being settled and static, are in a state of perpetual motion. Informants report moving into different directions regarding their place in politics as a direct result of European integration; through the process of inter-subjective understanding of this integration. People may become political or a-political, the same way as they may become more or less Bulgarian, or Macedonian, or European. These informants may become simultaneously more present in some aspects of political action, such as participation, and less present with others, such as social trust. These variations represent different cultural trajectories dynamically coexisting within national political community.
SAUDI SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENT TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE OF AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC)

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs), special education teachers (SETs), and occupational therapists (OTs) are all expected to encounter individuals with complex communication needs, who need for Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) (Costigan & Light, 2010). This study aimed at investigating special education student teachers’ knowledge of AAC, and its relation to their academic levels and unique- specializations. To achieve this objective, the researcher administered a ten questions test on 30 participants all of whom met the study including criteria. The means and standard deviations relevant to their responses to the test were counted and then analyzed by means of Analysis of Covariance ANCOVA. Results of ANCOVA haven't shown any statistically significant difference in the participants’ knowledge of AAC attributed to their academic levels and unique-specializations. The percentage of fully accurate responses of all participants to the ten tests’ questions was 2.66%. This result suggests an inadequacy of participants’ knowledge of AAC and a dire need for relevant education and training. Results and implications for future research and practices are discussed.
How To Improve Critical Thinking Using Educational Technology.

Critical thinking is highly valued but difficult to teach effectively. The Reason! project at the University of Melbourne has developed the Reason! Able software as part of a general method aimed at enhancing critical thinking skills. Students using Reason! Able appear to make dramatic gains. This paper describes the challenge involved, the theoretical basis of the Reason! project, the Reason! Able software, and results of intensive evaluation of the Reason! approach.
Ageism and Future Cohorts of Elderly: Implications for Social Work

In the field of prejudice and discrimination studies, an emphasis has been on racism and sexism, with comparatively little attention to understanding of ageism. This fact is alarming, particularly in the context of the growing population of older adults around the globe. This article provides a review of evidence of ageism among members of helping professions. The author expresses concern and develops an argument that ageism will increase as Baby Boomers reach retirement years. Implications for social work are then discussed.
ADAPTIVE SEX ALLOCATION IN A SIMULTANEOUS HERMAPHRODITE

When applied to hermaphrodite organisms, the local mate competition hypothesis predicts an increase of the ratio of sperm to ova produced as the number of mates increases. Here we test this prediction using a hermaphroditic platyhelminth parasite (trematode), Echinostoma caproni. This worm inhabits the small intestine of vertebrates, inevitably inducing the formation of highly subdivided populations, a condition known to promote local mate competition. Moreover this echinostome exhibits an unrestricted mating pattern involving both selfing and outcrossing as well as multiple fertilizations. We quantified the investment in reproductive organs by estimations of testes, cirrus sac, ovary, and egg size and fecundity when echinostomes were isolated alone, in pairs, or in groups of 20 worms. Adult body size was also recorded as a covariate. When mating group size increases (singles, pairs, or groups) we observed a significant increase in resource allocation to male function in addition to a significant decrease in ovary size. Smaller ovaries do not seem to affect egg size, but do result in a reduction in fecundity. Finally, our results are in accordance with the expected theoretical relationship between male allocation and the number of potential mates given local mate competition.
GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF AUTOCHTHONOUS CATTLE BREEDS, CIKA AND BUSHA, USING MICROSATELLITES

Slovenian autochthonous Cika and Croatian autochthonous Busha cattle were characterized by using nine microsatellites. For each locus, allelic frequencies and heterozygosity were computed. The number of alleles identified for studied polymorphic loci varied from six to ten in Cika population and from four to eight in Busha population. The mean number of alleles per locus was eight (Cika) and five (Busha), respectively. The average expected heterozygosity (Hexp) for the nine loci ranged between 0.7733 (Cika) and 0.7199 (Busha). The highest Hexp was computed for locus BM2113 (0.8521) in Cika and 0.8099 in Busha, suggesting that this locus could be the most informative for both populations. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.6316 to 0.825 in Cika and from 0.6667 to 1.0 in Busha indicating a high level of polymorphism for this set of markers. The average observed heterozygosity was slightly lower in Cika (0.7403) compared to Busha population (0.7775). Both breeds were in genetic equilibrium according to the HardyWeinberg test. Nei’s standard genetic distance D (Nei, 1978) was 0.065. The genetic difference between the two breeds could be in accordance with their brachycerous origin. The used set of markers proved informative and robust for genotyping in both Cika and Busha breeds. This set of markers can now be applied for screening higher numbers of animals to analyze possible subpopulation structures, improve our knowledge of origin and phylogenetic relationships to other breeds and help to construct efficient preservation plans for these two endangered breeds.
Multiuser power and bandwidth allocation in ad hoc networks with Type-I HARQ under Rician channel with statistical CSI

In this paper, we address the problem of joint power and bandwidth allocation for Type-I hybrid automatic repeat request in military ad hoc networks based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access when only statistical channel state information is available to perform the resource allocation (RA) and when considering practical modulation and coding schemes. The novelty of our work lies in the consideration of the Rician fast fading channel during the RA process, which is a general fading model which can represent the Rayleigh fading channel and the additive white Gaussian noise channel as special cases. The objective of this paper is to propose an algorithm to minimize the sum of the transmit power of each user under a constraint on the minimum useful data rate, and a constraint on the maximum transmit power. An accurate approximation of the coded packet error rate over the Rician fading channel is first proposed, and an efficient algorithm to solve the problem is developed. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated though simulations. Our results point out a significant energy saving when the Rician distribution is explicitly taken into account when performing the RA instead of considering the Rayleigh channel.
New functional families (FunFams) in CATH to improve the mapping of conserved functional sites to 3D structures

CATH version 3.5 (Class, Architecture, Topology, Homology, available at http://www.cathdb.info/) contains 173 536 domains, 2626 homologous superfamilies and 1313 fold groups. When focusing on structural genomics (SG) structures, we observe that the number of new folds for CATH v3.5 is slightly less than for previous releases, and this observation suggests that we may now know the majority of folds that are easily accessible to structure determination. We have improved the accuracy of our functional family (FunFams) sub-classification method and the CATH sequence domain search facility has been extended to provide FunFam annotations for each domain. The CATH website has been redesigned. We have improved the display of functional data and of conserved sequence features associated with FunFams within each CATH superfamily.
Hypoxia Tolerance in Adult and Larval Cicindela Tiger Beetles Varies by Life History but Not Habitat Association

ABSTRACT Flooding exposes terrestrial organisms to severe hypoxia. Among the best- studied insects that are frequently exposed to flooding are tiger beetle (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) larvae. In previous studies with a limited number of species, a correlation was found between habitat and hypoxia tolerance. In the current study, we examined hypoxia tolerance among third instars of six Cicindela species that vary in habitat association; we also tested adult survival of these species. We found that larvae of the different species survived an average of between 60 and 120 h of submersion in severely hypoxic water at 20°C, with larvae that occur in dry sand having somewhat lower survival times. However, among larvae, there was no correlation between survival times and habitat risk of flooding. We found surprisingly high survival times among adult tiger beetles with a range of 10 h to 46 h. Adult Cicindela formosa formosa Say that are associated with dry sand and are active in the spring and fall survived submersion for >40 h, longer than any previously reported adult terrestrial insect exposed to hypoxia at moderate environmental temperatures. The lengthy survival times of adult tiger beetles are likely a result of adaptations to immersion during periods of inactivity. Our study suggests that additional insect species and life stages should be examined for hypoxia tolerance regardless of perceived threat of immersion.
Empathic Experience and Attitudes Toward Stigmatized Groups: Evidence for Attitude Generalization

Two studies investigated the extent to which empathizing with a single member of a stigmatized group can yield positive attitudes toward other stigmatized groups. Participants read a scenario in which a member of a socially stigmatized group described the experiences of group membership. Participants then reported their attitudes toward the target group and a second group. Both studies revealed a generalization effect such that experiencing empathy for the target was associated with more positive attitudes, both toward the target group and the second group. Study 2 demonstrated that this generalization effect is confined to those groups located within the same superordinate category. Implications of these findings for attempts to structure people's orientation to stigmatized groups are discussed.
Use of an alkaline phosphatase-labeled synthetic oligonucleotide probe for detection of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli

A commercially available synthetic nucleic acid probe (SNAP) conjugated to alkaline phosphatase was compared with standard culture techniques for detecting Campylobacter species. The SNAP was able to detect either 5 ng of C. jejuni DNA or 10(5) CFU of bacteria. The SNAP could also detect DNA extracted from 10(5) CFU in mock-infected stool samples. The SNAP detected C. jejuni and C. coli but showed no reactivity with C. laridis, C. fetus subsp. fetus, C. fetus subsp. venerealis, C. fennelliae, "C. upsaliensis," C. cinaedii, C. fecalis, C. hyointestinalis, C. mucosalis, or Helicobacter (Campylobacter) pylori. The SNAP also showed no cross-reactivity with other enteric pathogens. When applied to pure cultures, the SNAP detected 55 clinical isolates of C. jejuni and 11 clinical isolates of C. coli, with an accuracy of 100%. When applied directly to clinical specimens, the SNAP detected Campylobacter spp. in 19 of 23 culture-positive stool specimens (sensitivity, 82.6%; specificity, 100%). Pure cultures of the Campylobacter strains isolated from the four probe-negative, culture-positive stool specimens gave positive reactions with the SNAP. While the SNAP had excellent sensitivity and specificity for isolated bacterial colony isolates, the main limitation to the Campylobacter probe detection kit may be the sensitivity limit on direct detection of Campylobacter organisms in stools.
Social Comparison and Reciprocity in Director Compensation

In this article, we develop theory regarding one set of mechanisms through which increases in the compensation of directors are transmitted throughout the director labor market. In a longitudinal study using director compensation data from 1996 to 2005, we test hypotheses about how directors’ use of social comparison processes, and reciprocity between CEOs and the board, drive up the compensation level for boards of directors. Specifically, we argue and find that directors’ home firms and interlocked boards serve as salient comparison groups for board members.
Screening for macroamylase in a community hospital.

We evaluated the polyethylene glycol precipitation test (Gastroenterology 83: 378-382, 1982), looking for macroamylase in the serum of 66 patients whose values for serum amylase were above normal. Three patients (4.5%) were identified by this method as having macroamylase , and this was confirmed by gel-filtration chromatography and electrophoresis. We find this to be the test of choice as a screening procedure for macroamylasemia because of its speed, simplicity, and apparent reliability. Diagnosis of macroamylasemia is important in preventing needless treatment and investigation for pancreatitis.
Phase-Variable Expression of lptA Modulates the Resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides

ABSTRACT Phosphoethanolamine (PEA) decoration of lipid A produced by Neisseria gonorrhoeae has been linked to bacterial resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides/proteins (CAMPs) and in vivo fitness during experimental infection. We now report that the lptA gene, which encodes the PEA transferase responsible for this decoration, is in an operon and that high-frequency mutation in a polynucleotide repeat within lptA can influence gonococcal resistance to CAMPs.
MODERATING INFLUENCE OF TEACHER EFFICACY ON INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANISATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN COAST PROVINCE, KENYA

This study explored the extent to which demographic, policy, student and community-related factors influence teachers' job satisfaction and the extent to which teacher efficacy moderates the relationship. The study was conducted among a sample of 123 primary school teachers in Mombasa. A researcher-developed self-report questionnaire was administered. Descriptive statistics in the form of percentages, means and frequencies were used for analysis and presentation. In addition T-test and multiple regression analysis was used to predict relationships between variables. Demographic variables only influenced job satisfaction when interacting with teacher efficacy. Policy, student and community-related factors were strong predictors of teacher job satisfaction. It was recommended that deliberate measures be put in place to improve teacher efficacy, improvements in policies for teachers and positive community involvement in their children's education.
Fission yeast autophagy induced by nitrogen starvation generates a nitrogen source that drives adaptation processes

Autophagy is a conserved bulk protein degradation process that is proposed to play a role in events that arise when organisms are forced to radically change their fate, including nutritional starvation, differentiation and development. In our present study, we have identified fission yeast autophagy as a bulk protein degradation process induced by the deprivation of environmental nitrogen, the effects of which are known to trigger sexual differentiation as an adaptive response. Autophagy‐defective mutants were found to be sterile in the absence of environmental nitrogen, but could complete sexual differentiation when nitrogen was supplied, suggesting that the major function of autophagy is to provide a nitrogen source. In addition, the environmental nitrogen levels act as an autophagy “on/off” switch, whereas components essential for sexual differentiation were dispensable for this regulation. We propose that fission yeast autophagy functions to supply nitrogen and is activated when cells cannot access exogenous nitrogen, thus ensuring that they can adapt and subsequently propagate.
Lerot: an online learning to rank framework

Online learning to rank methods for IR allow retrieval systems to optimize their own performance directly from interactions with users via click feedback. In the software package Lerot, presented in this paper, we have bundled all ingredients needed for experimenting with online learning to rank for IR. Lerot includes several online learning algorithms, interleaving methods and a full suite of ways to evaluate these methods. In the absence of real users, the evaluation method bundled in the software package is based on simulations of users interacting with the search engine. The software presented here has been used to verify findings of over six papers at major information retrieval venues over the last few years.
Crystal Structure and Functional Analysis of the SARS-Coronavirus RNA Cap 2′-O-Methyltransferase nsp10/nsp16 Complex

Cellular and viral S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferases are involved in many regulated processes such as metabolism, detoxification, signal transduction, chromatin remodeling, nucleic acid processing, and mRNA capping. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus nsp16 protein is a S-adenosylmethionine-dependent (nucleoside-2′-O)-methyltransferase only active in the presence of its activating partner nsp10. We report the nsp10/nsp16 complex structure at 2.0 Å resolution, which shows nsp10 bound to nsp16 through a ∼930 Å2 surface area in nsp10. Functional assays identify key residues involved in nsp10/nsp16 association, and in RNA binding or catalysis, the latter likely through a SN2-like mechanism. We present two other crystal structures, the inhibitor Sinefungin bound in the S-adenosylmethionine binding pocket and the tighter complex nsp10(Y96F)/nsp16, providing the first structural insight into the regulation of RNA capping enzymes in (+)RNA viruses.
İLKÖĞRETİM, LİSE VE ÜNİVERSİTE ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN BEDEN EĞİTİMİ VE SPORA İLİŞKİN TUTUMLARININ KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI.

Bu arastirma, Ankara’nin merkez ilcelerinde ilkogretim, lise ve universite duzeyinde ogrenim goren ogrencilerden sporcu lisansi olan ve olmayan kiz ve erkek ogrencilerin beden egitimi ve spora iliskin tutumlarini karsilastirmak amaciyla yapilmistir. Arastirmaya toplam 2632ogrenci (Ilkogretim okulu 8. sinifta ogrenim goren ve sporcu lisansina sahip olmayan 376 kizve 415 erkek; lise 1. sinifta ogrenim goren ve sporcu lisansina sahip olmayan 321 kiz ve 322erkek; universite ogrenim goren, sporcu lisansina sahip olmayan ve secmeli beden egitimidersi alan 237 kiz ve 207 erkek, ilkogretim okullarinda ogrenim goren ve sporcu lisansina sahip 112 kiz ve 128 erkek; lisede ogrenim goren ve ve sporcu lisansina sahip 84 kiz ve 178erkek; universitede ogrenim goren ve sporcu lisansina sahip 150 kiz ve 102 erkek) katilmistir. Ogrenci tutumlarinin olculmesi icin Demirhan ve Altay (2001) tarafindan gelistirilen, 12’siolumlu 12’si olumsuz olmak uzere toplam 24 maddeden olusan Beden Egitimi ve Spor Tutum Olcegi kullanilmistir. Olcegin Cronbach Alpha guvenirlik katsayisi 0.93, Olcut gecerliligikatsayisi da 0.83 olarak hesaplanmistir. Verilerin analizinde bagimsiz gruplar icin iki faktorluvaryans analizi (Two-Way ANOVA) kullanilmistir. Farkin hangi gruptan kaynaklandigini belirlemek icin Tukey Testinden yararlanilmistir. Arastirmaya katilan ilkogretim, lise ve universiteogrencilerinin tutum puanlari ortalamalari uzerine yapilan analiz sonucunda, ogrencilerin sinif duzeyleri acisindan istatistiksel olarak anlamli fark bulunmustur. Sonuclar, ogrenci cinsiyeti acisindan incelendiginde erkekler lehine istatistiksel olarak anlamli bir fark gorulmustur.Ayni zamanda calismanin sonuclari, spora aktif katilim acisindan incelendiginde sporcu lisansina sahip olan ogrenciler lehine istatistiksel olarak anlamli bir fark gorulmustur (p
TOPICAL WRAPPING OF OMENTAL TRANSPOSITION AROUND TRANSECTED SCIATIC NERVE PREVENTS EPINEURAL SCAR FORMATION IN RABBITS

The role of topical wrapped of omental pedicle in preventing postoperative perineural fibrosis was examined by gross anatomical dissection and histological analysis in rabbits. The aim of study was to evaluate the role of omental pedicle in preventing postoperative perineural fibrosis of injured sciatic nerve in rabbits. The left sciatic nerve was exposed and transected into 12 adult male New Zealand white rabbits. The animals were divided into two groups six animals each, which named epineural nerve sutures group (ENS) as a positive control that the transected sciatic nerves was coaptation using epineural nerve sutures, whereas the omental pedicle wrapped around coaptated nerve in the omental pedicle transposition group (OMPT). The right sciatic nerves (non-operated) were collected from three animals of each group as a negative control group. Sixteen weeks post operation (PO), the operation site was evaluated by blinded surgical dissection. The results showed the there was graded adhesions of perineural into surrounded tissues using a numerical grading scheme. Morphometric analysis of distal segments of OMPT was statistically significant at P<0.05 difference compared with ENS group. Ultrastructural study showed OMPT group less collagen fibers proliferation than ENS group. It was concluded that OMPT is effective in decreasing epineural scar formation.