Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antigenic Properties and Diagnostic Potential of African Swine Fever Virus Protein pp62 Expressed in Insect Cells

ABSTRACT African swine fever (ASF) is an infectious and economically important disease of domestic pigs. The absence of vaccine renders the diagnostic test the only tool that can be used for the control of new outbreaks of the disease. At present, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test is the most useful method for large-scale ASF serological studies, although false positives have been detected, mainly on poorly preserved sera. In order to improve the current diagnostic test available for ASF, we have studied the antigenic properties of the ASF virus polyprotein pp62 and its suitability for use in a novel ELISA. Two well-known antigenic proteins of ASF virus, p32 and p54, were also included in this study. These proteins were expressed in the baculovirus expression system and used as antigens in ASF serological tests. Our results indicate that the use of these recombinant proteins as antigens in the ELISAs improves the sensitivity and specificity obtained with the conventional diagnosis test used to detect antibodies against ASF virus. Furthermore, the use of polyprotein pp62 in an ELISA for testing poorly preserved sera allows performance of the diagnosis of ASF without the need to confirm the results by the immunoblot test. These features make pp62 one of the most interesting viral proteins to be used for serological ASF diagnosis.
The Management of Change in Small Schools

or expanding, organisation. However, the view presented below suggests that much of the attention given to the problems of managing small schools, is misdirected. Consider, for example, the notion of school size in relation to &dquo;effectiveness&dquo;. There is a research view and a &dquo;common-sense&dquo; view which offer different perspectives on the relevance of size for organisational effectiveness. The widely held &dquo;common-sense&dquo; view is that small institutions present fewer management problems and (perhaps therefore) can be more effective. The research evidence is contradictory with British research (Rutter, 1980 and Galloway, 1976) suggesting that size per se may not be important, whilst American literature suggests size is significant. As Reynolds (Reynolds, 1982) suggests &dquo;It is possible that school size may be important up to a certain ‘threshold’, above which further increases in size are not associated with further decline in effectiveness, and it is equally possible that schools large in scale may be able to generate an institutional functioning characteristic of smaller institutions if they react appropriately&dquo; . The research literature on the relevance of class size and pupil-teacher ratio is similarly inconclusive with recent APU data (APU, 1981) suggesting language, science and mathematical attainments at 11 to be higher with a higher ratio of pupils to teachers. Again the. research evidence of size and educational effectiveness contradicts the &dquo;common-sense&dquo; view that a teacher is more effective if the class
Discourses of Work–Life Balance: Negotiating ‘Genderblind’ Terms in Organizations

This article examines current debates about gender equality, work-life balance and flexible working. We contrast policymakers’ and organizational discourses of flexible working and work‐life balance with managers’ and employees’ talk about these issues within their organizations. We show how, despite the increasingly gender-neutral language of the official discourses, in the data studied participants consistently reformulate the debates around gendered explanations and assumptions. For example, a ‘generic female parent’ is constructed in relation to work‐life balance and flexible working yet participants routinely maintain that gender makes no difference within their organization. We consider the effects of these accounts; specifically the effect on those who take up flexible working, and the perceived backlash against policies viewed as favouring women or parents. We argue that the location of work‐life balance and flexibility debates within a gender-neutral context can in practice result in maintaining or encouraging gendered practices within organizations. Implications of this for organizations, for policymakers and for feminist researchers are discussed.
Investigating stereotypes about the target language country: a case of German language learners

Los alumnos traen a la clase una multitud de estereotipos sobre la lengua a estudiar, la cultura y tambien sobre los hablantes nativos. Reconociendo el importante papel que estos juegan en el proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera, se han llevado a cabo varias investigaciones que han explorado los estereotipos que los estudiantes de idiomas poseen. En su mayor parte, estos estudios fueron de caracter cualitativo y se centraron principalmente en el contenido de los estereotipos. No existen suficientes estudios que examinen la frecuencia y la relevancia de los estereotipos que se han divulgado entre los estudiantes de aleman. Los actuales metodos-mixtos se encargan de estudiar estos vacios. Se ha extendido la investigacion sobre los estereotipos en el campo de la linguistica aplicada para explorar cualitativamente el contenido y evaluar cuantitativamente la relevancia de las imagenes estereotipadas en los alumnos de idiomas. Este estudio se realizo con alumnos principiantes de la lengua alemana en una gran universidad en Malasia. Los resultados revelaron que los estereotipos de los estudiantes sobre Alemania incluian referencias deportivas, cientificas, tecnologicas, industriales, culturales, historicas, sobre su gente, su lenguaje, su geografia y la riqueza culinaria. El estereotipo mas representativo fue el futbol, los automoviles, la tecnologia, la ingenieria, Volkswagen y las grandes industrias. La mayoria de los estudiantes tenian estereotipos muy positivos con respecto a Alemania.
The world of the entrepreneur – a new perspective

Discusses the terms entrepreneur and entrepreneurship, emphasises the economic and social importance of entrepreneurs and summarises key research findings to produce a model of outcomes and capital created by entrepreneurs. Shows how entrepreneurs can be found in many walks of life, not just business, and explains that they are responsible for creating social and artistic capital as well as financial wealth. Concludes with reflections on the challenges faced, in part by educationalists, in trying to develop both more entrepreneurs and more enterprise in organisations.
Attitudes of English Speakers Towards Thanking in Spanish

The aim of this paper is to ascertain the attitudes English native speakers have towards the Spanish language and culture, specifically, in relation to the speech act of thanking and in connection with Brown and Levinson’s model of politeness ([1978] 1987). Two sources of data were used: First, a corpus of 64 course books which included 250 situations representing the speech act of thanking and, second, a questionnaire for the teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language. The situations including the speech act of thanking were analysed and then categorized according to various criteria. The criteria were created by taking into consideration Coulmas’ (1981) proposal for the classification of thanking as well as the components of this specific speech act. The most frequent situations found in the course books were then used to devise the second source of data. The aim of this was to determine the attitudes of 300 participants, divided equally between the nationalities used in the investigation, Spanish, British and American. The questionnaire included 12 scenarios in which the thanking formula was omitted. Participants were prompted to answer questions based on their perceptions and to include other responses whenever they considered them to be appropriate. The main findings provided evidence of different facework values across the three groups of informants for some of the specific scenarios. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of data showed that some of the responses were connected to the thanking formulae, but others to speech acts such as request formulae.
Gender Role Beliefs and Family Migration Decision-Making - Consequences for Married Women's Economic and Labor Force Success

Despite significant gains in educational attainment and attitudes toward women in the labor force, women continue to lag behind men in economic and labor market success. The role of family migration in social science and policy discussions of this gender-gap has gone unnoticed, in spite of the fact that nearly 25 years ago the noted economist Jacob Mincer proposed that Â“Tied migration ranks next to child rearing as an important dampening influence in the life-cycle wage evolution of women. Â” Decades of family migration research have concluded that migration harms the economic and labor force status of married women, that the effect of family migration on married women cannot be entirely explained by economic factors, and that family-based gender roles likely explain much of this effect. However, only three quite limited and dated analyses have directly considered how gender-related processes contribute to the observed effects of moving on womenÂ’s economic status. Thus, we are left with the conclusion that all of the empirical evidence points toward gender role beliefs as the key variable shaping family migration outcomes but without any empirical evidence to support the conclusion. This research seeks to determine if the accepted explanation for the trailing wife effect is indeed true by constructing measures of the gender role beliefs of husbands and wives and developing empirical methods for determining their effect on both the migration decision and the outcomes of migration. Data for the analysis is drawn from Waves 1 through 3 of the National Survey of Families and Households. In particular, it is expected that economically Â“rationalÂ” migration decisions and outcomes will only occur when both the husband and the wife share strong progressive gender role beliefs. In all other cases, the migration decision is expected to be largely dominated by the husbandÂ’s labor market characteristics and that the effect of migration will be to harm the economic status of women. The analysis will provide a new and unique perspective from which to evaluate decades of evidence regarding family migration and will have an impact on public policy debates concerning the gender-gap in economic and labor market success.
Evolving research on the evolution of male androphilia

Androphilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal to adult males, whereas gynephilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal to adult females. The manner in which male androphilia is expressed varies cross-culturally. Sex-gender congruent male androphiles occupy the gender role typical of their sex, behave in a relatively masculine manner, and identify as ‘‘men. ’’ In contrast, transgendered male androphiles often behave in a highly effeminate manner and identify as neither ‘‘men,’’ nor ‘‘women. ’’ Instead, they typically identify as members of a third gender. Despite exhibiting different gender role presentations and gender identities, both forms of male androphilia share numerous biodemographic and developmental correlates, indicating that they have a common etiological basis. Male androphilia represents an evolutionary paradox because it appears to have a genetic component, yet it compromises reproduction. At the same time archaeological and cross-cultural evidence suggest that it has persisted for millennia. The ancestral form of male androphilia was likely the transgendered form. To date, only one population of transgendered male androphiles has been considered when testing hypotheses pertaining to the evolution of male androphilia: the fa’afafine of Samoa. Research indicates that the mothers, paternal grandmothers and maternal grandmothers of fa’afafine produce more offspring than those of male gynephiles, which is consistent with the Sexually Antagonistic Gene Hypothesis. However, definitive support for this hypothesis, in the form of elevated offspring production by the aunts of fa’afafine is lacking at present. Research also indicates that fa’afafine exhibit elevated avuncular tendencies and behaviour compared to women and gynephilic men, which is consistent with the Kin Selection Hypothesis. Also consistent with the Kin Selection Hypothesis is research indicating that the fa’afafine’s avuncular cognition exhibits elements of adaptive design.
Exposure to Neighborhood Affluence and Poverty in Childhood and Adolescence and Academic Achievement and Behavior

Evidence points to associations between the socioeconomic composition of neighborhoods and children's and adolescents’ development. A minimal amount of research, however, examines how timing of exposure to neighborhood socioeconomic conditions matters. This study used longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,364) to explore if timing of exposure (early childhood, adolescence, and cumulative) to neighborhood affluence and poverty had differential associations with children's achievement and behavior problems concurrently and in adolescence. Results indicate that children in neighborhoods with more affluent residents during early childhood had higher achievement and fewer internalizing behaviors contemporaneously and that these associations endured until adolescence for reading achievement. Long-term exposure to affluent neighborhoods was associated with children's math and reading achievement in adolescence. Findings are discussed in terms of research and policy implications.
Systematic review of the Antillean bats of the Natalus micropus-complex (Chiroptera: Natalidae)

Nongeographic and geographic morphometric variation in Antillean populations of bats of the Nata/us micropus-complex were analyzed using univariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Samples of males and females from Jamaica and the Dominican Republic revealed females to be significantly larger than males in three measurements and males were significantly larger than females in two measurements. Generally, low coefficients of variation were found in samples of both sexes. The highest value obtained was 5.7 for length of phalanx 1 (digit III) in the sample from Old Providence Island. Two species-Nata/us micropus and N. tumidifrons-were recognized within this complex. The chief difference between the species was the larger overall size of N. tumidifrons. N. tumidifrons is confined to the Bahamas and is considered to be rnonotypic. Two subspecies are recognized in N. micropus with the nominate subspecies occurring on Old Providence Island, Jamaica, and Hispaniola, and N. m. macer on Cuba and the Isle of Pines.
A study of the quality of practitioner research in secondary education: impact on teacher and school development

This study provides insight into the quality of practitioner research and the impact of this on the professional development of the individual teacher and the school as a whole. We examined the quality of practitioner research in relation to the goals of the research. We operationalized the quality of the research in terms of the validities outlined by Anderson and Herr. In our study we apply this way of thinking to 11 cases of teacher research in secondary education. We found at least some evidence of outcome validity and catalytic validity for the teachers’ practitioner research. However, evidence of process validity and democratic validity was only found in some of the projects. We conclude that the approach adopted in this study can be more generally used to increase the quality and thereby the impact of practitioner research.
Managing HIV in pregnancy in a community-based sexual health clinic: a decade in review

The management of HIV in pregnancy has evolved significantly over the past 10 years as our experience of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) has grown. We reviewed 109 pregnancies which were managed at our community-based integrated HIV and sexual health clinic to investigate preconception and antenatal care, and trends in ART over time. We document an increasing proportion of pregnancies in which the mother was aware of her HIV status pre-conception and conception on ART. Pre-conception care was sought in a minority of cases, and many women did not present for first antenatal review until the end of the second trimester. Of 108 live births, there was one case of vertical transmission (0.93%). While our study demonstrates the efficacy of current strategies to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV infection, more could be done to encourage HIV-positive women to seek preconception advice and to attend for early review in the first trimester.
A Major Effect of Simulated Microgravity on Several Stages of Preimplantation Mouse Development is Lethality Associated With Elevated Phosphorylated SAPK/JNK

We tested whether microgravity affects mouse development during a period when gravity cues chick and frog embryo development. A rotating vessel developed ∼ 0.1% simulated microgravity (MGS) for embryos. Microgravity simulation resulted in blocked cell accumulation in E2.5 embryos. E1.5 and E3.5 embryos showed lesser effects. For E1.5/2.5 embryos, cell accumulation block was followed by lethality at 48 hours after MGS. For E3.5 embryos, MGS blocked development without lethality but with apoptosis. E1.5-3.5 embryos from the rotational control developed lesser effects than MGS embryos. Embryonic stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) was phosphorylated during MGS and mediated apoptosis. Increased pSAPK suggested that lethality is due to cellular stress induced by MGS, unlike the dysfunctional development after gravitational disorientation in frog and chick embryos. Thus, MGS causes lethality, a novel phenotype not often observed in microgravity or MGS. Embryonic lethality at E2.5 and apoptosis at E3.5 are associated with SAPK function, suggesting that MGS causes a general stress response that immediately affects many aspects of development. In addition, MGS and many aspects of In vitro fertilization/assisted reproductive technologies (IVF/ART) produce nonphysiological, nonevolutionary stresses that are mediated by SAPK, suggesting the primacy of this protein kinase in a wide range of mechanisms mediating negative reproductive outcomes in IVF/ART and potentially in spaceflight.
The Theory of Planned Behaviour and exercise: Evidence for the moderating role of past behaviour

Objectives. This study reports an application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to the prediction of exercise intentions and behaviour over a 6-month period. The study also considers the moderating effect of past behaviour on the intention-behaviour and perceived behavioural control-behaviour relationships. Design and methods. A sample of 87 patients attending health promotions clinics in a primary care setting completed questionnaires on the TPB and exercise behaviour after their clinic appointment and were followed-up at 6 months. Results. The TPB was found to be predictive of initial exercise intentions and future exercise behaviour at 6-month follow-up, with the perceived behavioural control construct emerging as the sole independent predictor in both cases. Past behaviour was found to have a direct effect on future exercise behaviour over and above the influence of the TPB. In addition, past behaviour moderated the perceived behavioural control-behaviour relationship which was found to be significant when the frequency of past behaviour was moderate or high, but non-significant when the frequency of past behaviour was low. Conclusion. The results highlight (1) the importance of the perceived behavioural control construct of the TPB in the prediction of exercise intentions and behaviour, and (2) the need to consider the moderating effect of past behaviour on TPB-behaviour relations.
Situational influences on the selection of compliance‐gaining messages: Two tests of the predictive utility of the Cody‐McLaughlin typology

Recent work on the dimensions of compliance‐gaining situations offers an opportunity for systematizing a portion of message selection research. Two studies that utilize the six dimensions isolated by Cody and McLaughlin (1980), as well as one other, as predictors of compliance‐gaining message selection are reported. The first study relied on the hypothetical situation method typical of most compliance‐gaining research. Study 2 utilized a new method that asked participants to recall a persuasion situation they had been part of. Across the two investigations the effects attributable to the situation were relatively few in number and small in size. Several alternative interpretations of the data are suggested. The advantages and disadvantages of the two methods are examined. Explanations for each of the situational effects (or lack thereof) are considered.
Alcoholics Anonymous and the Disease Concept of Alcoholism

Summary Although the idea of “illness” helped many early and later members of Alcoholics Anonymous (A. A.) to understand their alcoholism. Alcoholics Anonymous neither originated nor promulgated the disease concept of alcoholism. The main contribution of A.A. in this area was the broadening of the extant concept to one of “threefold” malady, with an emphasis on “the spiritual. ” Examining the political and medical contexts of the time as well as A. A. literature shed light on the culture's changing understanding of alcoholism in the second half of the twentieth century.
ASEP: A Secure and Flexible Commit Protocol for MLS Distributed Database Systems

The classical Early Prepare (EP) commit protocol, used in many commercial systems, is not suitable for use in multi-level secure (MLS) distributed database systems that employ a locking protocol for concurrency control. This is because EP requires that read locks are not released by a participant during their window of uncertainty; however, it is not possible for a locking protocol to provide this guarantee in a MLS system (since the read lock of a higher-level transaction on a lower-level data object must be released whenever a lower-level transaction wants to write the same data). The only available work in the literature, namely the Secure Early Prepare (SEP) protocol, overcomes this difficulty by aborting those distributed transactions that release their low-level read locks prematurely. We see this approach as being too restrictive. One of the major benefits of distributed processing is its robustness to failures, and SEP fails to take advantage of this. In this paper, we propose the Advanced Secure Early Prepare (ASEP) commit protocol to solve the above problem, together with a number of language primitives that can be used as system calls in distributed transactions. These primitives permit features like partial rollback and forward recovery to be incorporated within the transaction model, and allow a distributed transaction to proceed even when a participant has released its low-level read locks prematurely. This not only offers flexibility, but can also be used, if desired, by a sophisticated programmer to trade off consistency for atomicity of the distributed transaction.