Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The GeoPEARL model. Description, applications and manual

In dit rapport wordt het GeoPEARL model gepresenteerd. GeoPEARL is een ruimtelijk verdeeld model, dat het gedrag van bestrijdingsmiddelen in het bodem - plant systeem beschrijft. Het model berekent de drainage naar het lokale oppervlaktewater en de uitspoeling naar het diepe grondwater. Met GeoPEARL kunnen stoffen met sterk uiteenlopende eigenschappen worden gesimuleerd, waaronder vluchtige stoffen en stoffen die bodemafhankelijke sorptie- en omzettingsconstanten hebben. Het model zal worden ingezet voor de evaluatie van nationale beleidsplannen, zoals het 'Meerjarenplan Gewasbescherming' en het plan 'Duurzame Gewasbescherming'. Het rapport bevat een aantal voorbeeldberekeningen voor stoffen met verschillende eigenschappen. De resultaten laten zien dat de gemiddelde belasting van het oppervlaktewater een orde groter is dan de gemiddelde belasting van het grondwater. Snelle afvoermechanismen, zoals buisdrainage, zijn hierbij dominant. Bestrijdingsmiddelen die op een dergelijke wijze worden afgevoerd kunnen direct het oppervlaktewater belasten. GeoPEARL is ook gebruikt om de huidige toelatingsprocedure voor bestrijdingsmiddelen te verifieren. In de huidige procedure wordt begonnen met de toepassing van PEARL op een enkele locatie. Deze locatie wordt verondersteld representatief te zijn voor kwetsbare gebieden. Resultaten van GeoPEARL laten echter zien dat, afhankelijk van het beschouwde middel, de maximum uitspoeling in verschillende gebieden plaats vindt. Dit duidt erop dat bij toepassing van het model op een locatie niet noodzakelijkerwijs de meest kwetsbare situatie gesimuleerd wordt. Om dit te bereiken moeten aanvullende voorwaarden gesteld worden. Om discussies over deze voorwaarden te voorkomen is directe toepassing van GeoPEARL echter te prefereren.
An exploration of adolescents’ perceptions of videogame realism

An attempt is made to translate the concept of perceived realism from the domain of general media studies to the domain of videogame studies. In order to make such a translation, a thorough knowledge and integration is required of the simulation aspects that distinguish videogames from older media such as film or television. The different meanings adolescents attribute to videogame realism were assessed by means of a series of semi‐structured in‐depth interviews. Thirty‐two moderate to heavy videogame players were interviewed, whose age ranged between 16 and 19 years. Five dimensions of observed videogame realism were identified: factuality, authenticity, character involvement, virtual experience and perceptual pervasiveness.
Non-remuneration predictors of intention to quit among personal financial advisors

In insurance sales organisations, the Personal Financial Advisors (PFAs) serve a pivotal function in the relationship between the organisation, product and customer. The organisation invests a great deal of time and money in recruiting, training and retaining good PFAs. However, turnover amongst these employees seem to remain high within the first 36 months of employment. The aim of this study was to explore the non-remuneration predictors of burnout and intention to quit amongst PFAs in order to shed some light on the turnover problem. Specific constructs were identified in a pilot study which would not necessarily have been explored by the organisation and may have gone unacknowledged or overlooked. These constructs are emotional labour, self-efficacy, time wasted on non-sales activities, supervisor support and their relationship with burnout and intention to quit. A convenience sample of 608 PFAs was approached from one insurance sales organisation. One hundred and twenty two (122) respondents completed and returned their questionnaires. The descriptive statistics of the sample reflected a mean age of 35 years (range 21 to 61 years), with 66% males and 34% females, and a race distribution of 64% White, 19% African, 10% Coloured and 7% Indian. The majority of the population had been working for 13 to 24 months (46%). Overall, the sample produced a satisfactory to good representation of the demographic statistics of the total population available to the researcher. Both quantitative and qualitative research techniques were utilised in this study. Analysis of the qualitative data supported the role of the theoretical constructs chosen for inclusion and additional sources of job stress were identified. Pearson productmoment correlation analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire data, followed by multiple regression analyses with work burnout, client burnout and intention to quit as dependent variables, and the remaining constructs as the predictors. Both a measurement and structural model was tested; both produced acceptable goodness-ofStellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Senior management in chartered surveying: where are the women?

This paper draws from survey data to examine the chronic shortage of women in senior management positions in the surveying profession. It is based on the experiences of women currently working as chartered surveyors in the UK, addressing issues such as the high level of personal and financial investment women surveyors commit to their careers, the perpetuation of limited senior management representation through organisational and other barriers and the apparent inffectiveness of equal opportunities policies to adequately redress the balance.
Media Coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court: How Do Journalists Assess the Importance of Court Decisions?

Agenda-setting theory is central to understanding the connection between media and American government. Indeed, legislative and executive branches of American government are often characterized by their publicity-seeking behavior. This is not true of the judicial branch. However, the importance of media coverage is magnified for the United States Supreme Court because, lacking the public affairs mechanisms of the other two branches, the Court is dependent on media dissemination of information about its decisions. Despite this important role, little is known about what attracts media to cover Supreme Court cases. We ask what case characteristics attract media attention. We examine the effect of case variables on general media coverage of Court decisions (a concept we call “newsworthiness,” measured by whether mention of a given case decision appears on the front page of the New York Times) and on inclusion of a case on a list of legally significant cases over time (a concept we call “legal salience,” measured by the appearance of a case in the Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Supreme Court). Examining cases over a 54-year period, we identify characteristics of cases appearing in either the New York Times or the CQ Guide or both. We conclude media news values may not always lead to coverage of the most legally salient cases, but some overlap indicates several cues used to judge immediate newsworthiness of cases stand the retrospective evaluation of legal significance. [Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Political Communication for the following free supplemental resources: issue area matrices and predicted probabilities of case characteristics. ]
Whole-genome sequencing identifies genomic heterogeneity at a nucleotide and chromosomal level in bladder cancer

Significance Genetic alterations are frequently observed in bladder cancer. In this study, we demonstrate that bladder tumors can be classified into two different types based on the spectrum of genetic diversity they confer. In one class of tumors, we observed tumor protein p53 mutations and a large number of single-nucleotide and structural variants. Another characteristic of this group was chromosome shattering, known as chromothripsis, and mutational heterogeneity. The other two bladder tumors did not show these profound genetic aberrations, but we found a novel translocation and amplification of the gene glutamate receptor ionotropic N-methyl D-aspertate, a potentially druggable target. Advancements in bladder cancer treatment have been slow. Understanding the genetic landscape of bladder cancer may therefore help to identify new therapeutic targets and bolster management of this disease. Using complete genome analysis, we sequenced five bladder tumors accrued from patients with muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder (TCC-UB) and identified a spectrum of genomic aberrations. In three tumors, complex genotype changes were noted. All three had tumor protein p53 mutations and a relatively large number of single-nucleotide variants (SNVs; average of 11.2 per megabase), structural variants (SVs; average of 46), or both. This group was best characterized by chromothripsis and the presence of subclonal populations of neoplastic cells or intratumoral mutational heterogeneity. Here, we provide evidence that the process of chromothripsis in TCC-UB is mediated by nonhomologous end-joining using kilobase, rather than megabase, fragments of DNA, which we refer to as “stitchers,” to repair this process. We postulate that a potential unifying theme among tumors with the more complex genotype group is a defective replication–licensing complex. A second group (two bladder tumors) had no chromothripsis, and a simpler genotype, WT tumor protein p53, had relatively few SNVs (average of 5.9 per megabase) and only a single SV. There was no evidence of a subclonal population of neoplastic cells. In this group, we used a preclinical model of bladder carcinoma cell lines to study a unique SV (translocation and amplification) of the gene glutamate receptor ionotropic N-methyl D-aspertate as a potential new therapeutic target in bladder cancer.
Multilayered Citizenship in Extended European Orders: Kurds Acting as European Citizens*

Drawing on an original empirical study of the European‐level political practices of Turkish citizens/residents of Kurdish origin, this article advances the argument that political actors who lack the status of European citizenship can nonetheless engage in its ‘practice’. While practices of European citizenship by non‐citizen/non‐resident actors are enabled by the extended economic, legal, political and normative orders developed around the EU, they are simultaneously transforming the European polity by blurring the inside/outside and citizen/non‐citizen distinctions.
miR-186 and 326 Predict the Prognosis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Affect the Proliferation and Migration of Cancer Cells

MicroRNAs can function as key tumor suppressors or oncogenes and act as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis or prognosis. Although high-throughput assays have revealed many miRNA biomarkers for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), only a few have been validated in independent populations or investigated for functional significance in PDAC pathogenesis. In this study, we correlated the expression of 36 potentially prognostic miRNAs within PDAC tissue with clinico-pathological features and survival in 151 Chinese patients. We then analyzed the functional roles and target genes of two miRNAs in PDAC development. We found that high expression of miR-186 and miR-326 predict poor and improved survival, respectively. miR-186 was over-expressed in PDAC patients compared with controls, especially in patients with large tumors (>2 cm), lymph node metastasis, or short-term survival (< 24 months). In contrast, miR-326 was down-regulated in patients compared with controls and displayed relatively increased expression in the patients with long-term survival or without venous invasion. Functional experiments revealed that PDAC cell proliferation and migration was decreased following inhibition and enhanced following over-expression of miR-186. In contrast, it was enhanced following inhibition and decreased after over-expression of miR-326. A luciferase assay indicated that miR-186 can bind directly to the 3′-UTR of NR5A2 to repress gene expression. These findings suggest that miR-186 over-expression contributes to the invasive potential of PDAC, likely via suppression of NR5A2, thereby leading to a poor prognosis; high miR-326 expression prolongs survival likely via the decreasing invasive potential of PDAC cells. These two miRNAs can be used as markers for clinical diagnosis and prognosis, and they represent therapeutic targets for PDAC.
Internal vs. External Successions and Their Effect on Firm Performance

An examination of 165 top management successionsin U.S. firms during 1989-91 reveals that externalsuccessions are more likely in small firms, in firmswith poor economic performance, and in firms which offer the successor several top positions (forexample, Chairman and CEO). This last findingillustrates that successor's interests and demands (suchas organizational power) are also important indetermining the final match between manager and firm. Wealso find that, on average, the postsuccessionperformance of external successors is superior to thatof internal successors. This could indicate that theBoard of Directors faces an agency problem, leadingit to appoint too often from inside.
Host ecology determines the dispersal patterns of a plant virus

Since its isolation in 1966 in Kenya, rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) has been reported throughout Africa resulting in one of the economically most important tropical plant emerging diseases. A thorough understanding of RYMV evolution and dispersal is critical to manage viral spread in tropical areas that heavily rely on agriculture for subsistence. Phylogenetic analyses have suggested a relatively recent expansion, perhaps driven by the intensification of agricultural practices, but this has not yet been examined in a coherent statistical framework. To gain insight into the historical spread of RYMV within Africa rice cultivations, we analyse a dataset of 300 coat protein gene sequences, sampled from East to West Africa over a 46-year period, using Bayesian evolutionary inference. Spatiotemporal reconstructions date the origin of RMYV back to 1852 (1791–1903) and confirm Tanzania as the most likely geographic origin. Following a single long-distance transmission event from East to West Africa, separate viral populations have been maintained for about a century. To identify the factors that shaped the RYMV distribution, we apply a generalised linear model (GLM) extension of discrete phylogenetic diffusion and provide strong support for distances measured on a rice connectivity landscape as the major determinant of RYMV spread. Phylogeographic estimates in continuous space further complement this by demonstrating more pronounced expansion dynamics in West Africa that are consistent with agricultural intensification and extensification. Taken together, our principled phylogeographic inference approach shows for the first time that host ecology dynamics have shaped the historical spread of a plant virus.
Bridging the Gap between A Level and Degree

This article examines the teaching of Advanced level students in both years of their studies at two secondary schools in the Staffordshire area. The purpose of the investigation is to compare the tuition of A level students to the teaching of first year undergraduates at Keele University, specifically in relation to concerns raised by the undergraduates during the potentially disorientating period at the start of their degree studies. The question of whether there is a need to manage the students’ transition to higher education more effectively is considered.
The effect of rater variables in the development of an occupation-specific language performance test

There has been little research into the effect of raters' background on assessments made in language tests. This article explores the effect that the rater's occupational and linguistic background has on assessments made in an occupation-specific oral language test, the Japanese Language Test for Tour Guides. Assessments of 51 test candidates made by 33 such assessors, including native and near-native speakers of Japanese with backgrounds either in teaching Japanese as a foreign language or in tour guiding in Japanese, were compared in order to determine what effect background has on assessments made on both linguistic and 'real-world' criteria. Multifaceted Rasch analysis was used, as this allows a range of facets to be modelled; for the purposes of this research we were interested in the facet 'raters', and in particular how the scale was applied for each of the assessment categories. These were then compared across the different types of rater. While differences were found in the assessments according to rater type, these were minor and did not point to the unsuitability of any group as a whole; there were no significant differences between the different types of rater in terms of the overall grade awarded. However, there were significant differences in ratings awarded for some individual criteria, and the fact that these reveal different perceptions of what constitutes good performances has obvious implications not only for the selection and training of raters for occupation- specific language performance tests but also for the development of assess ment procedures.
Alexithymia and Physiological Reactivity to Emotion‐Provoking Visual Scenes

Alexithymia, a syndrome that involves a marked inability to name feelings, has been linked to psychosomatic illness. This study addressed the question of whether alexithymic tendencies are related to heightened levels of autonomic response to extrinsic cues. Alexithymia was assessed with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and by the emotional content of stories written to five TAT-like printed pictures. Seventy-two college students were exposed to a series of emotion-provoking slides while their heart rates and electrodermal responses were recorded. Results indicated a trend for alexithymic tendencies to be associated with less heart rate increase and fewer electrodermal responses while viewing the slides. Alexithymia was also associated with a small but significant elevation in baseline heart, rate. These findings are discussed as part of a pattern of results which calls into question the hypothesis that alexithymia is related to illness because it produces hyperarousal to situational stressors; it is suggested that future research on the relationship between alexithymia and health status should be broadened to explore health-maintenance behaviors and other possible mechanisms.
Speech recognition performance of older children with cochlear implants.

HYPOTHESIS The primary purpose of this study was to determine if children, > or =5 years old, with onset of deafness before the acquisition of spoken language (i.e., prelingually deafened) derived more benefit from multichannel cochlear implants than from conventional hearing aids. It was hypothesized that children who used oral communication (speech plus listening) would demonstrate higher levels of performance after implantation than children who used total communication (English sign system plus speech and listening). BACKGROUND Previous research suggests that prelingually deafened children given implants at an older age derive limited benefit from these devices. Changes in candidacy criteria and advances in technology, however, may make cochlear implants a more viable treatment option for this group of patients. METHODS A repeated-measures design was to used to compare patients' preoperative performance with hearing aids to postoperative performance with the CLARION cochlear implant after 3 and 6 months of device use. Pre- and postoperative performance were analyzed separately for children who used oral and total communication. RESULTS Both groups of children (oral and total communication) demonstrated significant postoperative improvement on all outcome measures over time. Postoperative scores of the children who used oral communication were significantly higher than those of the children who used total communication on four of the five outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS Prelingually deafened children who do not receive cochlear implants until > or =5 years of age derive significant benefit from current implant devices compared with that obtained with conventional hearing aids. The greatest benefit is derived by children who use oral communication, with much more limited benefit demonstrated by children who use total communication.
Do antibody responses to malaria vaccine candidates influenced by the level of malaria transmission protect from malaria?

Objectives To examine whether the humoural response to malaria vaccine candidate antigens, Plasmodium falciparum [circumsporozoite repetitive sequence (NANP)5 GLURP fragments (R0 and R2) and MSP3] varies with the level of malaria transmission and to determine whether the antibodies (IgG) present at the beginning of the malaria transmission season protect against clinical malaria.
Learning how to speak: Pronunciation, pragmatics and practicalities in the classroom and beyond

That learners who want to develop good pragmatically-appropriate speaking skills in a language also need to develop good pronunciation is beyond dispute, and yet research continues to report that both areas still have low visibility in the curriculum and are often treated as poor relations in the classroom. Many teachers are still wary of what they see as specialist areas, a perspective that encourages their neglect in the curriculum, in assessment and in teacher training programmes. In this plenary I go back to basics and focus on what learners need to accomplish outside the classroom with the language they are learning. Drawing on studies that have explored the communicative needs of immigrants to Australia from language backgrounds other than English, I will illustrate the importance of both pronunciation and pragmatics in their lives. I will then consider the implications for how we can approach both skills proactively in the classroom in an integrated way that is capable of developing students’ repertoire of speaking skills for effective and appropriate use outside.
Multi-Rate Multicast Congestion Control by Explicit Rate Adjustment and Multicast-encouraging TCP-friendliness

Strict TCP-friendliness is a problematic issue that discourages multicast deployment on the Internet. In this paper, we therefore propose a new design of multi-rate multicast congestion control (MR-MCC) by revising our previous proposed MR-MCC protocol, namely explicit rate adjustment (ERA). In the new design, a multicast-supportive TCP-friendliness bandwidth allocation is used at intermediate nodes (routers) to motivate multicast deployment by giving more bandwidth to ERA without starving TCP. At the end node, an explicit reception rate adjustment algorithm is used. The receiver adjusts its reception rates according to the network conditions using packet-pair probe (PP). The implementation of our new ERA is done on the network simulator 2 (ns2). We demonstrate via simulations that the new ERA could provide responsiveness, fairness and the motivation for multicast deployment.