Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Building the Workforce Our Youngest Children Deserve

Adults who provide early care and education are critical for the healthy development and well-being of young children. Although many people in the early childhood care and education (ECCE) workforce are skilled and dedicated, their ability to provide high quality experiences for children is hampered by a lack of shared purpose and identity, insufficient or ineffective training, poor compensation and lack of institutional supports. In this report, we build on The Early Childhood Care and Education Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities (2012), a report of a workshop held by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council with the goals of defining and describing the ECCE workforce, exploring workforce characteristics that affect children’s development, and considering ways to build ECCE as a profession. One major theme in our discussion is the need for integration of the two policy streams represented by the terms “early education” and “child care. ” Both settings provide experiences that affect child development. Both can function well when the personnel are well-trained, sensitive, and skilled, and work in supportive conditions. One feature of an integrated ECCE system is a unifying definition of the profession, a goal that could be promoted by revision of the federal occupational definitions and fostering federal and state collaborations around data. Policies to promote integration also include developing common goals, administrative systems, quality standards, and professional development activities. Quality ECCE hinges on building an effective workforce through professional development that promotes the use of effective and evidence-based practices. Improved working conditions would include adequate compensation and opportunities for advancement and recognition. We identify two broad policy goals for public agencies at all levels of government and professional organizations within the field: using current funding streams to promote quality and building public will through communicating the importance of policies and programs that enhance early childhood development.
Port co-opetition in concept and practice

The port industry has undergone a rationalization process over the last decade. An increasing proportion of port management and operations is being taken over by global port operating groups. Many port operators who previously ran only their local business now extend their business scope to the regional or global scale; today's port operators can be regarded as multinational corporations. In the era of global economy, a port no longer enjoys a natural monopoly, as was the case in the past. To cope with this changing business environment, a certain form of competition and co-operation among ports is necessary so as to provide services that fit into shipping lines' strategies. It is suggested that ports have to concentrate on new ways for co-operation in an effort to establish a countervailing power. This paper proposes a new strategic option known as co-opetition, the combination of competition and co-operation, for the port industry, and explains a case of co-opetition between the container ports in Hong Kong and South China. The results of this research will provide a useful insight into the port industry, which is currently required to carry out its business in an ever-changing business environment.
Street-level democracy: How immigration bureaucrats manage public opposition

It is commonly argued that immigration policies in advanced democracies are consistently more liberal than the restrictionist preferences of publics. This study challenges this view by examining the opinion–policy relationship at the stage of policy implementation, rather than legislative choice. Bureaucrats, in fact, regularly encounter local publics who are opposed to the strict enforcement of migration control measures. These pressures, it is argued, reflect a shift in public attention between the stages of policy design and policy implementation, from the benefits of restriction to the harsh costs of control. As implementation makes these costs visible, public opinion threatens the capacity of bureaucrats to implement restrictionist legislative mandates. This essay specifies the conditions under which bureaucrats' enforcement strategies can enhance their capacity to produce policy outcomes that are more restrictionist than public preferences. Drawing on extensive interview data, the study empirically tests this argument by examining the implementation of deportation policy in Germany.
L'avenir des cultures pérennes en Indonésie. Cacao et clou de girofle après la tempête monétaire

A Sulawesi, la recession frappant le clou de girofle favorise le boom du cacao. C'est un cas d'ecole des processus de diversification des cul tures. Lorsque les paysans entreprennent une telle diversification, leur decision est motivee par des facteurs qui sont a la fois ecologiques et bio logiques, sociaux et economiques (en particulier l'information et le capi tald isponibles). Mais les facteurs politiques sont egalement importants. Dans le cas etudie, alors que la filiere du clou de girofle avait ete victime de la politique de corruption et de vol pratiquee par le regime Suharto, le boom du cacao a ete favorise par le fait que celui-ci n'a pas eu le temps de le « reguler » au plan de la commercialisation. Les producteurs de cacao ont ainsi profite a plein des hausses de revenu en monnaie locale entrainees par la crise monetaire de 1998. L'accroissement des revenus reels leur a permis non seulement d'ameliorer leur cadre de vie quotidien, ainsi que leur statut social et religieux, mais aussi d'investir massivement dans la terre, en general sur des fronts pionniers eloignes.
Synchronization on Lie Groups: Coordination of Blind Agents

This paper presents an algorithm for synchronization of blind agents (agents are unable to observe other agents, i.e., no communication) evolving on a connected Lie group <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$G$</tex-math> </inline-formula>. We employ the method of extremum seeking control for nonlinear dynamical systems defined on connected Riemannian manifolds to achieve synchronization among the agents. In this approach, each agent updates its position on <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$G$</tex-math></inline-formula> by only receiving the synchronization cost function. The results are obtained by employing the notion of geodesic dithers for extremum seeking on Riemannian manifolds and their equivalent version on Lie groups and applying Taylor expansion of smooth functions on Riemannian manifolds. Due to geometrical properties of the synchronization set, we employ the method of quotient manifolds to prove the convergence of the proposed algorithm. The obtained results are applied to synchronization problems on <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$SE(3)$</tex-math></inline-formula> to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.
How Does Space Influence the Relationship Between Host and Parasite Diversity?

Abstract Host species richness and parasite species richness are often positively correlated, but the strength of this relationship varies from study to study. What accounts for this variability? Here, we explore the role of spatial scale in mediating the commonly reported positive relationship between host and parasite diversity. Building from ecological theory, we lay out a series of hypotheses for how spatial grain size might influence both the strength and slope of this relationship. Most significantly, we consider how variability in spatial grain size may result in differences in sampling effort that affect estimates of host and parasite richness differently, and we explore the potential for spatial grain to have divergent effects on strength versus slope of the relationship between host and parasite richness. Finally, we examine what empirical data exist to test the outlined hypotheses and conduct a meta-regression of published studies. Our analyses—which detected no significant associations—highlight several factors that compromise our ability to robustly compare the host–parasite richness relationship across contexts, including mismatches between absolute spatial scale and spatial scale of ecological processes as well as variability across and within studies with respect to spatial grain size, taxonomic resolution, definitions of “hosts” and “parasites,” and sampling effort. This work suggests that questions regarding the spatial dependence of the host diversity–parasite diversity relationship may be most-effectively addressed within a single multi-host–multi-parasite system.
Which behaviours? Identifying the most common and burdensome behaviour changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract Behaviour change is increasingly recognised as a common feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and may be similar to that seen in frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The behaviours most disturbed in ALS, and those that relate most significantly to caregiver burden, however, have not been well established. Forty ALS participants and their caregivers, and 27 age- and gender-matched healthy controls and their relatives, participated in this study. ALS participants were assessed on a disease rating scale, and caregivers and control informants completed the revised version of the Cambridge Behaviour Inventory and a measure of burden. ALS caregivers reported significantly more disturbance than healthy control informants on the functional domains of everyday skills, self-care, and sleep, and in the behavioural domains of mood and motivation. There were no differences between groups in frequency of memory and orientation difficulties, or behaviours characteristic of FTD, such as changes to eating habits or stereotypic and motor behaviour, indicating that the behavioural profile in ALS may differ from FTD. In the ALS group, the domains with the strongest relationship to caregiver burden were everyday skills, motivation and memory, likely because poor motivation, memory dysfunction and difficulties completing activities of daily living require more carer support via direct supervision, prompting or hands on care. Services to support ALS patients and caregivers need to provide targeted interventions for those functional and behavioural changes which are most burdensome in the disease.
Prevalence and characterization of lamivudine-resistant hepatitis B virus mutations in HIV–HBV co-infected individuals

Objective: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypic resistance to lamivudine, identify risk factors associated with lamivudine resistance, and characterize the pattern of HBV polymerase mutations in patients co-infected with HIV. Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods: Thirty-three chronic HBV-infected patients were identified from a cohort of 1719 HIV-infected individuals. Patient information was collected from case records, HBV DNA was measured on stored serum by polymerase chain reaction, and positive samples underwent sequencing of HBV polymerase, basal core promoter and precore regions. Results: Three groups of patients were identified: group 1 were viraemic in the absence of lamivudine-resistance mutations, group 2 were viraemic in association with lamivudine-resistance mutations, and group 3 were not viraemic. Group 2 patients with lamivudine-resistant mutations had significantly higher HBV-DNA viral loads but did not differ in duration of lamivudine therapy, HBV genotype, HIV viral load or CD4 cell count compared with patients with wild-type HBV. Group 2 individuals also demonstrated significantly higher serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels than group 1, who were higher than group 3. Unique mutations were detected in HBV polymerase, including rtV173L plus rtL180M plus rtM204V, which occurred in three patients. This virus has the in-vitro characteristics of a ‘vaccine escape’ mutant of HBV. Conclusion: Genotypic HBV lamivudine resistance was found in 39% of HIV–HBV co-infected individuals treated with lamivudine as part of highly active antiretroviral therapy. These patients exhibited significantly elevated HBV viral loads and serum ALT, and three were infected with a lamivudine-resistant HBV strain that was potentially transmissible to HBV-vaccinated individuals.
ERP systems and management accounting change: opportunities or impacts? A research note

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, such as SAP, have become widely used in recent years, especially in large companies. Although a considerable amount has been written about them in the professional accounting and computing literature, somewhat surprisingly comparatively little attention has been given to them in accounting research journals. However, the field studies which are beginning to appear suggest that ERP systems are having only a relatively moderate impact on the character of management accounting and the work of management accountants. However, it is argued in this paper that as such studies adopt a relatively 'static' approach, they do not explore the processes of management accounting change or study how opportunities are opened up by the implementation of ERP systems. The paper reports a longitudinal case study of the implementation of SAP in the European division of a large US multinational, in which management accounting change is viewed as an evolutionary process. In this case, although there were no fundamental changes in the nature of the management accounting information used following the implementation of SAP, there were changes in the role of management accountants - in particular: (i) the elimination of routine jobs; (ii) line managers with accounting knowledge; (iii) more forward-looking information; and (iv) a wider role for the management accountants. However, it is not claimed that SAP was the driver of these changes; rather it is argued that the characteristics of SAP (specifically, its integration, standardization, routinization and centralization) opened up certain opportunities and facilitated changes which were already taking place within the company. The paper ends with a call for further longitudinal case studies of the implementation of ERP systems to study how these characteristics facilitate and reinforce processes of management accounting change in other companies.
Can internet blogs be used as an effective advertising tool? The role of product blog type and brand awareness

Purpose – As blogs have become an important information communication medium, selecting blog types that are appropriate and effective for the products they are to promote is now an important issue in corporate advertising. However, the impact of different blog types on consumers and their advertising effectiveness are issues seldom addressed in the existing literature. The purpose of this paper is to view product information that consumers post on blogs as advertisements and compares advertising effectiveness between different blog types to help enterprises properly employ blogs in their marketing campaigns. Design/methodology/approach – An experimental design was adopted, and 12 experimental contexts were designed. A valid sample of over 2,000 responses was collected to study between-group differences in advertising effectiveness. Findings – The analytical results showed between-group difference in advertising effectiveness, which indicated that blog advertising effectiveness varies with different combin.
Neuropsychiatric Observations in the Western Region of Nigeria

progress the individual must eventually be willing to act, without compulsion, for his own benefit. Tuberculin-testing, miniature radiography, B.C.G. vaccination, and antibiotics are the four cardinal points of the compass that must be our guide to the eradication of tuberculosis, but the compass must be firmly based and binnacled by sound general public health measures. The importance of the primary infection and the lesion it produces can hardly be overestimated, for the initial reaction of the tissues to this invasion influences the subsequent course of the disease. It is therefore essential that future preventive measures should be directed, in the first instance, to discovering and treating the primary lesion whenever it occurs. To do this serial tuberculin-testing of children and establishing free static miniature radiography services in all large towns are advocated. Every effort must be made to prevent the spread of infection from persons with active disease who live in or enter countries where the incidence of infection is low. This is the major reason why tuberculosis has become an international problem. The more favoured nations must assist those in whose country the disease is still a major public health problem, not only because of the danger that lies at the door, but because the elimination of disease and relief of suffering are duties that the healthy must accept for the benefit of all mankind.
Molecular Cloning and Characterization of STAMP1, a Highly Prostate-specific Six Transmembrane Protein that Is Overexpressed in Prostate Cancer*

We have identified a novel gene, six transmembrane protein of prostate 1 (STAMP1), which is largely specific to prostate for expression and is predicted to code for a 490-amino acid six transmembrane protein. Using a form of STAMP1 labeled with green fluorescent protein in quantitative time-lapse and immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, we show that STAMP1 is localized to the Golgi complex, predominantly to thetrans-Golgi network, and to the plasma membrane. STAMP1 also localizes to vesicular tubular structures in the cytosol and colocalizes with the early endosome antigen 1 (EEA1), suggesting that it may be involved in the secretory/endocytic pathways. STAMP1 is highly expressed in the androgen-sensitive, androgen receptor-positive prostate cancer cell line LNCaP, but not in androgen receptor-negative prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and DU145. Furthermore, STAMP1 expression is significantly lower in the androgen-dependent human prostate xenograft CWR22 compared with the relapsed derivative CWR22R, suggesting that its expression may be deregulated during prostate cancer progression. Consistent with this notion, in situ analysis of human prostate cancer specimens indicated thatSTAMP1 is expressed exclusively in the epithelial cells of the prostate and its expression is significantly increased in prostate tumors compared with normal glands. Taken together, these data suggest that STAMP1 may have an important role in the normal prostate cell as well as in prostate cancer progression.
The role of male accessory gland protein Acp36DE in sperm competition in Drosophila melanogaster

A crucial factor determining sperm fertilization success in multiply mated Drosophila melanogaster females is the efficiency with which sperm are stored. This process is modulated by the accessory gland protein Acp36DE. In this study, we show that the effect of Acp36DE on sperm storage itself alters the outcome of sperm competition. As second–ating males, Acp36DE1 (null) males had significantly lower P2–values than Acp36DE2 (truncation) or Acp36DE+ (control) males, as might be expected as the null males' sperm are poorly stored. We used spermless males, which are null for Acp36DE, to show that, in the absence of sperm co–transfer, Acp36DE itself could not displace first–male sperm. The results therefore suggest that males null for Acp36DE suffer in sperm displacement because fewer sperm are stored or retained, not because Acp36DE itself displaces sperm. Acp36DE1 (null) males also gained significantly fewer fertilizations than controls when they were the first males to mate. Using spermless males, we also showed that significantly more second–male offspring were produced following the transfer of Acp36DE by spermless first–mating males. This implies that the transfer of Acp36DE itself by the first male facilitated the storage or use of the second male's sperm and that co–transfer with sperm is not necessary for Acp36DE effects on second–male sperm storage. Acp36DE may persist in the reproductive tract and aid the storage of any sperm including those of later–mating males or prime the female for future efficient sperm storage. Our results indicate that mutations in genes that affect sperm storage can drastically affect the outcome of sperm competition.
The Learning Curve and Competition

This article develops a model of competitive interaction and industry evolution in the presence of a learning curve. The learning curve is a function relating the unit costs of the individual firm to accumulated volume. The responses of the model to shifts in parameters are explored through calculated examples. The paper also used a two-period model to explore differences between open and closed-loop equilibria, and to assess the impact of learning spillover effects from one firm to the next.
Education and Fertility: Panel Time-Series Evidence from Southern Africa

In this paper I investigate whether secondary school enrollment has played any role on total fertility rates in all Â…fifteen countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) between 1980 and 2009. The evidence, based on panel time-series analysis (I make use of the Pooled OLS, Fixed Effects, Common Correlated Effects and Fixed Effects with Instrumental Variables estimators), robustly suggest that education has reduced fertility rates in the community, or that the community is already trading-oÂ¤ quantity for quality of children. The results are important because lower fertility, caused by education, implies more capital per worker, higher productivity and therefore higher growth rates, and also becauseÂ— in accordance to the uniÂ…ed growth theoryÂ— they suggest that southern Africa is experiencing its own transition from the Malthusian regime into sustained modern growth.
Disclosure Quality and Stock Returns in the UK

The purpose of this paper is to update and re-examine the role of corporate narrative reporting in improving investors’ ability to better forecast future earnings change. We also construct a risk factor for disclosure quality (DQ) and test whether such a factor is useful in explaining the time-series variation of UK stock returns. Our paper contributes to the market based accounting research in three crucial ways. Firstly, it offers updated evidence on the usefulness of corporate narrative reporting to investors. Secondly, it offers evidence that the DQ factor is a significant risk factor in the UK. Thirdly, and finally, it finds that the Fama-French factors might contain DQ related information.