Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lifelong learning as a lever on structural change? Evaluation of white paper: Learning to succeed: a new framework for post-16 learning

The government's White Paper, Learning to Succeed: a new framework for post-16 learning, is here evaluated. The considerable strengths of the proposals ? replacement of the TECs with Learning and Skills Councils, the adoption of social partnership in the membership of the new Councils, the substantial increase in resource and a large number of specific measures - are briefly welcomed. A number of serious reservations are then discussed in detail - for example, the absence of a model of change, the over-riding concern to meet the skill needs of business, the overreliance on human capital theory and the continued dependence on exhortation as a means of increasing employers' investment in training. Findings from The Learning Society Programme are then used to question some of the central assumptions underlying the official model of progress. It is argued that endless technocratic reforms are more likely to foster conformity, compliance and control rather than emancipation, empowerment and the enhancement of learning. Finally, it is concluded that the government is rightly pursuing radical, structural reform but is failing to recognize the potential of lifelong learning as a major lever on such change.
Conceptual and Empirical Issues in the Estimation of Educational Production Functions

Measuring educational performance and understanding its determinants are important for designing policies with respect to such varying issues as teacher accountability, educational finance systems, and school integration. Unfortunately, past analyses of student achievement and educational production relationships have been plagued by both a lack of conceptual clarity and a number of potentially severe analytical problems. As a result, there is considerable confusion not only about what has been learned, but also about how such studies should be conducted and what can be learned. This review considers each of these issues and also relates knowledge from these studies to research about areas other than just school operations and performance.
A comparative study of quality practices in higher education institutions in the US and Malaysia

This paper presents the findings and conclusions of recent exploratory research conducted by the authors on quality practices at higher education institutions in the US and Malaysia. Data from the institutions were collected via mail questionnaires in December 1997 (Malaysia) and February 1998 (US). A brief description of the research as well as a summary of findings and conclusions are included in this paper.
Incidence and risk factors for retinal vein occlusion at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE The objective of the following study is to determine the incidence of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and identify the risk factors in RVO in patients presenting to a tertiary hospital in Rivers State. MATERIALS AND METHODS The medical records of consecutive patients with RVO who presented to the retina clinic of the eye Department of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital over a 5 year period were retrieved. Information extracted from the data included the demographic data of patients, presenting visual acuity, history of systemic and ocular disease, blood pressure and intraocular pressure. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences 20.0. (IBM Corporation and its licensors 1989,2011). RESULTS Out of the 364 patients seen at the retina clinic during this period, 27 (7.4%) had RVO. Seven patients had bilateral disease. The incidence of RVO in the retinal clinic was 7.4%. Systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and glaucoma were the main risk factors recorded in our patients. Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) 20 (74%) was more predominant than branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) 7 (26%). 21 eyes of patients with CRVO had visual acuities of < 3/60, while 7 eyes of patients with BRVO had visual acuities less than 3/60. Vitreous hemorrhage 10 (52.6%) was the most common complication encountered. All cases of non-perfused vein occlusion 4 (14.8%) were seen in patients who had CRVO. CONCLUSION The incidence of RVO in our hospital is high. RVO is a significant cause of visual impairment, with CRVO being more common. Identifying associated risk factors and treating these could help reduce the incidence of RVO.
European elections by direct suffrage : a comparative study of the electoral systems used in Western Europe and their utility for the direct election of a European Parliament

These are the latest volumes in the New Whitehall Series published under the auspices of the Royal Institute of Public Administration. The stated purpose of this series is to provide authoritative descriptions of the present work of the major departments of British central government. Among the eight volumes previously published are those on the Home Office, the Foreign Office, and the Colonial Office. Four volumes now in preparation include those on the Treasury and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Whither the Nonprofit Wage Differential? Estimates from the 1990 Census

This article provides new estimates of the nonprofit/for‐profit wage differential in the U.S. economy. Using observations on 4.1 million private‐sector employees from the 1990 census, I find either zero or slightly positive economy‐wide wage differences between nonprofit and for‐profit employees in a standard earnings equation format. Significant wage differentials are found at the disaggregated occupation and industry level and provide a basis for testing hypotheses explaining nonprofit/for‐profit wage differences.
Lookback Option Valuation

The binomial model is a simple and straightforward way to price simple and straightforward options, like plain vanilla calls and puts, even with American exercise. But path-dependent contracts, such as lookback options, present problems for the binomial because of the need to keep track of a path statistic, in this case, the highest or lowest price attained, along each path through the lattice. Choi and Jameson present a very clever technique for stepping backward through the tree much more efficiently, so that one can value a lookback without carrying an auxiliary variable.
A Kinect-based handwritten digit recognition for TV remote controller

Human-machine interaction is a popular research filed recently. Microsoft Kinect can provide us an economical way for tracking the skeleton of the human body. In this study, we present an efficient Kinect-based method for a potential application of TV remote controller. The proposed method consists of two parts: four direction (up/down/left/right) recognition and handwritten digit recognition. The developed recognitions include five main steps: initialization, tracking skeleton, judging the start condition, recording the path, and recognition. We use an intuitive way to start the event and achieve high accurate recognition for the users. We apply the least square method for the four direction recognition and a support vector machine library for the handwritten digit recognition. Experimental results show that the proposed system has great potential on future human-machine development.
Managing national poverty eradication programme for food security among all farmers Association in Nigeria

The study evaluated the impact of National Poverty Eradication programme (NAPEP) on food security among the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), using data from Kogi State of Nigeria. The study is borne out of the curiosity to address the problems of poverty and hunger in Kogi State of Nigeria. The z-test statistics was used to test the hypothesis at 5% level of significance. The study showed that beneficiaries of NAPEPs intervention had significantly greater output in crops and that their income significantly exceeded that of non-beneficiaries. One of the two major problems that hindered the success of NAPEP is that only a few beneficiaries selected among the numerous individuals are within the low income bracket. The second problem is inadequate loan granted to beneficiaries. Based on this, the paper recommended that NAPEP should increase the number of beneficiaries, increase their loans, intensify provision of central productive input and focus on the processing of agricultural produce. This will add value to the produce, command high prices, increase varieties, generate more employment opportunities, enhance food security and reduce poverty incidence. Key words: National poverty eradication programme, food security, all farmers association of Nigeria, small scale farmers, industrialists.
Genotypic Characteristics of Two Serotypes of Bartonella henselae

ABSTRACT The study of 16S rRNA gene sequences of all isolates of Bartonella henselae obtained in our laboratory and others from human patients or cats has revealed two genotypes according to the sequence of the 16S rRNA gene. Two isolates of these genotypes have previously been related to two different serotypes, and lack of cross-protection of the two serotypes has been demonstrated in cats. We investigated the grouping of eight strains of B. henselae on the basis of 16S ribosomal DNA, 35-kDa protein, Pap 31 protein, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene sequencing; sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) profiles; and monoclonal antibody reactivity studies. Houston-1, 90-615, and SA2 strains showed the same patterns in SDS-PAGE, but they differed from the patterns of B. henselae isolates URBHLLY8, URBHLIE9, Cat6, Fizz, and CAL-1. Nine monoclonal antibodies derived from BALB/c mice immunized with B. henselae Houston-1 strain reacted only with strains Houston-1, 90-615, and SA2, and not with any other Bartonella strains. The two serogroups corresponded with two genotypes based on differences in the sequences of the genes encoding 16S rRNA, 35-kDa protein, and Pap 31 protein. Sequences of ITS genes were highly divergent among strains, as each had a unique sequence and the subdivision was not supported by DNA-DNA relatedness study. Study of 22 additional strains of B. henselae isolated from French bacteremic cats demonstrated that they all belong to one or the other of the proposed serotype or genotype.
An improved firefly algorithm for numerical optimization

Firefly algorithm (FA) is a recently introduced algorithm based upon the flashing light pattern of fireflies. This algorithm has proved its significance for various optimization problems but has the problem of trapping in local optima. In this article, in order to, improve the performance of FA, a new improved FA (IFA) has been proposed. The proposed algorithm has been applied to standard state-of-the-art algorithms and it has been found experimentally that IFA provide improved performance with respect to the standard FA, differential evolution (DE), bat algorithm (BA) and flower pollination algorithm (FPA).
Casein Kinase 1 (cid:1) Interacts with Retinoid X Receptor and Interferes with Agonist-induced Apoptosis*

Agonists of retinoid X receptors (RXRs), which include the natural 9- cis -retinoic acid and synthetic analogs, are potent inducers of growth arrest and apoptosis in some cancer cells. As such, they are being used in clinical trials for the treatment and prevention of solid tumors and are used to treat cutaneous T cell lymphoma. How-ever, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the anti-cancer effects of RXR agonists remain unclear. Here, we show that a novel pro-apoptotic pathway that is induced by RXR agonist is negatively regulated by casein kinase 1 (cid:1) (CK1 (cid:1) ). CK1 (cid:1) associates with RXR in an agonist-de-pendent manner and phosphorylates RXR. The ability of an RXR agonist to recruit CK1 (cid:1) to a complex with RXR in cells correlates inversely with its ability to inhibit growth. Remarkably, depletion of CK1 (cid:1) in resistant cells renders them susceptible to RXR agonist-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis. Our study shows that CK1 (cid:1)
Seeking Asylum in Europe

type="main" xml:lang="en"> Over the last three decades the annual number of applications for asylum in the countries of the European Union has increased from about 15 000 to more than 300 000. This has sparked a political backlash, a revolution in policy, a lively academic debate, but very little economic analysis. Although the causes of asylum flows and the effects of policy are much discussed, they have rarely been the subject of quantitative analysis. This article examines the evolution of asylum flows and asylum policy across the EU since the early 1980s. It investigates the effects of war and conflict, economic incentives, and asylum policies on the total numbers and on the proportions going to the different countries of the EU. Special attention is given to the growth of policy restrictiveness across the EU and to the harmonization of asylum policies. Contrary to some views, policy has worked to stem the flows, but it has been overwhelmed by other forces.
Early developmental failure of substantia nigra dopamine neurons in mice lacking the homeodomain gene Pitx3

The mesencephalic dopamine (mesDA) system is involved in the control of movement and behavior. The expression of Pitx3 in the brain is restricted to the mesDA system and the gene is induced relatively late, at E11.5, a time when tyrosine hydroxylase (Th) gene expression is initiated. We show here that, in the Pitx3-deficient aphakia (ak) mouse mutant, the mesDA system is malformed. Owing to the developmental failure of mesDA neurons in the lateral field of the midbrain, mesDA neurons are not found in the SNc and the projections to the caudate putamen are selectively lost. However, Pitx3 is expressed in all mesDA neurons in control animals. Therefore, mesDA neurons react specifically to the loss of Pitx3. Defects of motor control where not seen in the ak mice, suggesting that other neuronal systems compensate for the absence of the nigrostriatal pathway. However, an overall lower activity was observed. The results suggest that Pitx3 is specifically required for the formation of the SNc subfield at the onset of dopaminergic neuron differentiation.
INSTITUTIONAL INFLUENCES ON TURNOUT IN MIXED MEMBER ELECTORAL SYSTEMS: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS

What institutional factors influence turnout among mixed member electoral systems? Mixed systems have increased in popularity over the past 20 years, yet no study evaluates variation in turnout within these systems. While the main distinction in mixed systems—MMM versus MMP—is salient regarding other outputs, it remains unclear if this distinction is salient regarding turnout. In addition, debates endure as to how best to measure turnout. Through statistical analysis of an original dataset of all mixed system legislative elections from 1990 to 2010, this article finds that the electoral threshold consistently correlates with an increase in turnout while the sub-type of mixed system does not consistently correlated with turnout. Ultimately this analysis suggests salient differences in both how we measure turnout and the institutional choices within mixed systems.
Networks in Public Administration Scholarship: Understanding Where We Are and Where We Need to Go

This article examines the road that network scholarship has followed in Public Administration. We look at the historical drivers of the use of networks in practice and scholarship in the field and discuss how that has shaped the current literature. The body of the article focuses on the current challenges that network scholars face in the discipline, specifically basic theoretical issues, knowledge about formal networks, knowledge about informal networks, and methodological issues. We close the article with a look to the future and some suggestions for the future of network scholarship in Public Administration.
Fall detection using Gaussian mixture model and principle component analysis

Fall accident whose rates increase exponentially is the major risk for the elderly, especially those living alone. A fall accident detection system to detect the fall accident and call for an emergency is essential for elderly. This paper proposes to extract human from a video camera using a mixture of Gaussian model combined with average filter models. The proposed method extracts six postures of physically movements of human including lying, sitting, standing, getting up, walking, and falling. Unique features such as inter-frames information, shape description from a silhouette aspect ratio, and orientation of principal component are obtained. The method could automatically alarm when the fall is detected. The experimental results show the detection rate up to 86.21% of the 58 videos from the Le2i dataset.
Signal Radiation and Power Losses of Time-Modulated Arrays

We review and formalize the mathematical background of time-modulated linear arrays (TMLAs); then, a number of issues are examined. First, for signal transmission applications, restrictions to the frequencies involved in the procedure are highlighted. Second, the sideband power losses associated to the technique are thoroughly examined, introducing a coefficient appropriate to evaluate the efficiency of the procedure. Finally, a closed form expression for the total power associated to sideband radiation is obtained, very convenient for the implementation of real-time optimization of the system. Relevance of additional research on the subject is highlighted.
Expatriate management policies in UK companies new to the international scene

This article reports on the management of international assignments (IAs) in fifteen UK companies who have expanded their operations into the international arena over the last three to twelve years.1The results show that very few of these companies currently follow examples of ‘good practice’ as espoused by most management theorists and other commentators on the management of expatriate assignments. However, at this moment in time, they do not have any significant problems with either high expatriate failure rates (HEFRs) or with staff performing under par on IAs. However, many are experiencing considerable problems with returning expatriate staff. The implications of these findings for expatriate management are discussed in detail.
NRF2-regulated metabolic gene signature as a prognostic biomarker in non-small cell lung cancer

Mutations in Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1) cause the aberrant activation of nuclear factor erythroid-derived 2-like 2 (NRF2), which leads to oncogenesis and drug resistance in lung cancer cells. Our study was designed to identify the genes involved in lung cancer progression targeted by NRF2. A series of microarray experiments in normal and cancer cells, as well as in animal models, have revealed regulatory genes downstream of NRF2 that are involved in wide variety of pathways. Specifically, we carried out individual and combinatorial microarray analysis of KEAP1 overexpression and NRF2 siRNA-knockdown in a KEAP1 mutant-A549 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line. As a result, we identified a list of genes which were mainly involved in metabolic functions in NSCLC by using functional annotation analysis. In addition, we carried out in silico analysis to characterize the antioxidant responsive element sequences in the promoter regions of known and putative NRF2-regulated metabolic genes. We further identified an NRF2-regulated metabolic gene signature (NRMGS) by correlating the microarray data with lung adenocarcinoma RNA-Seq gene expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas followed by qRT-PCR validation, and finally showed that higher expression of the signature conferred a poor prognosis in 8 independent NSCLC cohorts. Our findings provide novel prognostic biomarkers for NSCLC.
Adoption of Electronic Technologies in Local U.S. Governments

Local governments in the United States have adopted and implemented e-government as a means of delivering services to the public and encouraging citizen participation. We use data from a national random survey of 902 government managers from 500 local governments in the United States to examine factors that explain the adoption of two types of e-government technologies: e-services, which enable electronic delivery of services, and communication technologies, which enable one- and two-way communication with citizens. We find that managerial perceptions of the organization, such as personnel constraints and organizational centralization, are negatively related to the adoption of e-services while citizen demands are positively associated with the adoption of e-services. In comparison, we find that public managers perceiving higher levels of external influences and citizen demands report increased adoption of communication technologies. The results contribute to the e-government literature by indicating the importance of distinguishing between communication technologies and e-services and the factors that explain the adoption of these technologies.
The Applicability of Institutional Goals to the University Organisation

Demands for greater accountability have emphasised the need for universities to clarify systematically their institutional goals. This article explores the issue of whether goal statements provide the essential framework and direction for the university's operation, or whether they are little more than idealistic rhetoric. Advocates for the use of goal strategy in universities have tended to adopt simplistic assumptions derived from business management models and overlook the considerable complexities and ambiguities of the university's operational reality: the fragmented professional structure, multiple goals, widely dispersed decision making, complex work, the rewards for extreme non-uniformity. Various problems and consequences of goal selection are outlined: problematic assumptions of a direct relationship between establishing qualitative statements of goals and achieving quantitative objectives, difficulties of goal valuation and measurement, goal interdependence, political processes that emphasise particular goals and de-emphasise others, and the goal diversity of stakeholder constituencies and interest groups. The article counsels universities against accepting unquestioningly an imposed system of goal setting, but rather to determine the minimum level of specificity needed to satisfy external demands and internal policy planning needs, while maintaining the university's essential character and purpose.
Integrating Science into Agriculture Programs: Implications for Addressing State Standards and Teacher Preparation Programs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of Agricultural Science and Technology teachers toward integrating science into their curricula. Perceptions regarding integrating science and agriculture, the role of teacher preparation programs in integrating science, and integrating science to meet state standards indicated teachers had a positive attitude toward integrating science into agricultural education programs. More specifically, teachers believed that integrating science assists students in better understanding science concepts and their application to agriculture. According to the teachers in this study, students are more aware of the connection between scientific principles and agriculture and students are better prepared in science after completing a course in agricultural education that integrated science. Teachers felt that teacher preparation programs should provide instruction at the pre-service and in-service level on how to integrate science into the curriculum and that student teachers should be placed with cooperating teachers who integrate science into their agriculture programs. As many states face educational reform, teachers contend that integrating science is a solution in helping students and aligning agriculture programs to meet state standards and that little or no changes will have to be made for agriculture programs to facilitate educational reform.