Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Encouraging Responses in Sexual and Relationship Violence Prevention

Colleges and universities are high-risk settings for sexual and relationship violence. To address these problems, institutions of higher education have implemented prevention programs, many of which train students as potential bystanders who can step in to help diffuse risky situations, identify and challenge perpetrators, and assist victims. The impact of bystander sexual and relationship violence prevention programs on long-term behavior of bystanders has remained a key unanswered question for those who seek to offer the most effective programs as well as for policy makers. In this study, the researchers experimentally evaluated the effectiveness of the Bringing in the Bystander® in-person program. Participants were 948 1st-year college students of whom 47.8% were women and 85.2% identified as White (15% also identified as Hispanic in a separate question) between the ages of 18 and 24 at two universities (one a rural, primarily residential campus and the other an urban, highly commuter campus) in the northeastern United States. To date, this is the first study to have found positive behavior changes as long-lasting as 1 year following an educational workshop focusing on engaging bystanders in preventing sexual and relationship violence. Even so, many questions remain to be answered about prevention and intervention of this type. More prospective research is needed on bystander-focused prevention of these forms of violence to help understand and better predict the complicated relationships both between and among the attitudes and behaviors related to preventing sexual and relationship violence. In this regard, we make specific recommendations for designing and evaluating programs based on our findings relating to the importance of moderators, especially two key understudied ones, readiness to help and opportunity to intervene.
Relational Health as a Mediator Between Betrayal Trauma and Borderline Personality Disorder

A frequently studied hypothesized cause of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is experiencing interpersonal trauma. A recent study by L. A. Kaehler and J. J. Freyd (2009) found a connection between betrayal trauma and BPD characteristics, with higher betrayal traumas associated with greater BPD characteristics. The present study seeks to expand upon that study by investigating relational health as a potential mediator for the association between betrayal trauma and BPD. A sample of 165 college students completed measures of betrayal trauma life events, relational health, and BPD traits. Mediation analyses showed significant partial mediation for total relational health (bootstrap coefficient = .0168) and its community subscale (bootstrap coefficient = .0204); however, significant mediating effects for the mentor and friend subscales were not found. Given the significant finding for only the community subscale, which may be driving the total relational health effect seen, the results suggest that connection with a valued community may be an important protective factor for BPD after one experiences betrayal trauma.
Then and now: A 30-year journey from the ‘leading edge’

A fledgling disaster management organization in 1984, Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODP) hosted the pioneering international disaster mitigation conference to share information and to contemplate how vulnerability to disasters from natural hazards could be reduced. Over the period 1979–2009, the overall focus of the agency was response, given the plethora of extreme events, and the priority of the Government of Jamaica. The organization was associated with several efforts at disaster mitigation, but the need for building the agency's capacity to lead national efforts to integrate mitigation planning into development did not seem to gain traction among the policy makers. Growing losses since 2004, the evidence of climate change and the need for adaptation, and the regional and international disaster risk management agenda have brought attention to the need for review and development of Jamaica's disaster risk management capacity. This paper examines highlights of the 30-year journey of disaster management in Jamaica, and highlights proposals for strengthening the national framework and the organizational structure of ODPEM.
Beyond Competition for Incorporations

This Article documents and analyzes a powerful form of regulatory competition - competition for investments - that has transformed national corporate laws in the European Union in recent years. Unlike competition for incorporations, competition for investments shapes corporate law when firms cannot easily incorporate outside the jurisdiction in which they operate. These dynamics are not unique to the European Union. They characerized early nineteenth-century state lawmaking in the United States, and may well characterize lawmaking today outside the European Union. High political payoffs await successful participants in the competition for investments, which enables them to overcome opposition that can stifle competition for incorporations. These payoffs, together with the fact that no single jurisdiction can monopolize the market for investments, can drive multiple jurisdictions - including large ones - to compete. Allowing firms to incorporate abroad, as recent European Court of Justice rulings require, may or may not breed competition for incorporations. But so long as the existing competition for investments does not lose steam, the effect on firms will be the same. Judging from the reforms this competition has produced thus far, the effect will continue to be positive.
The relationship between core stability and throwing velocity in collegiate baseball and softball players

Title: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORE STABILITY AND THROWING VELOCITY IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL PLAYERS Researcher: Charles M. Green, ATC, PES Advisor: Dr. Bruce Barnhart Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between core stability and throwing velocity in collegiate baseball and softball players. Methods: Twenty-five baseball and softball players from California University of Pennsylvania completed the study. Each athlete was asked to complete four core stability assessment tests, followed by a throwing velocity assessment which was measured using a JUGSTM radar gun. Findings: When comparing functional flexibility and strength scores to throwing velocity, no significant relationship existed. When comparing functional power scores to throwing velocity, a strong positive correlation existed. Additional findings were also discovered. A strong relationship between height and weight and throwing velocity existed. Males were also found to exhibit higher throwing velocity scores than females. Conclusions: There is a strong positive correlation between functional power, as a component of core stability, and throwing velocity. The results of this study would suggest that the most effective methods for strengthening the core would include dynamic power exercises that are similar in nature to dynamic power development associated with overhand throwing.
MDCT arthrography of the shoulder with datasets of isotropic resolution: indications, technique, and applications.

OBJECTIVE The purposes of this review are to summarize the indications for MDCT arthrography of the shoulder, highlight the features of MDCT acquisition, and describe the normal and abnormal MDCT arthrographic appearances of the shoulder. CONCLUSION MDCT arthrography is a valid alternative for shoulder imaging of patients with contraindications to MRI or after failed MRI. MDCT arthrography is accurate for assessment of a variety of shoulder abnormalities and, with further validation, may become the imaging test of choice for evaluation of the postoperative shoulder.
The Resolution of Relapsing Fever Borreliosis Requires IgM and Is Concurrent with Expansion of B1b Lymphocytes1

The rate of pathogen clearance is a critical determinant of morbidity and mortality. We sought to characterize the immune response responsible for the remarkably rapid clearance of individual episodes of bacteremia caused by the relapsing fever bacterium, Borrelia hermsii. SCID or Rag−/− mice were incapable of resolving B. hermsii infection, indicating a critical role for T and/or B cells. TCR−/− mice, which lack T cells, and IL-7−/− mice, which are deficient in both T cells and follicular B cells, but not in B1 cells and splenic marginal zone (MZ) B cells, efficiently cleared B. hermsii. These findings suggested that B1 cells and/or MZ B cells, two B cell subsets that are known to participate in rapid, T-independent responses, might be involved. The efficient resolution of the episodes of moderate level bacteremia by splenectomized mice suggested that MZ B cells do not play the primary role in clearance of this bacterium. In contrast, xid mice, which are deficient in B1 cells, suffered more severe episodes of bacteremia than wild-type mice. The hypothesis that B1 cells are critical for clearance of B. hermsii was further supported by a selective expansion of the B1b (i.e., IgMhigh, IgD−/low, Mac1+ CD23−, and CD5−) cell subset in infected xid mice, which coincided with the eventual resolution of infection. Finally, mice selectively incapable of secreting IgM, the dominant isotype produced by B1 cells, were completely unable to clear B. hermsii. Together these results support the model that B1b cells generate the T-independent IgM required for the control and resolution of relapsing fever borreliosis.
Conceptualizing Corporate Entrepreneurship Strategy

Our knowledge of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) continues to expand. However, this knowledge remains quite fragmented and non–cumulative. Herein, we conceptualize CE strategy as a useful focal point for integrating and synthesizing key elements within CE's intellectual domain. The components of our CE strategy model include (1) the antecedents of CE strategy (i.e., individual entrepreneurial cognitions of the organization's members and external environmental conditions that invite entrepreneurial activity), (2) the elements of CE strategy (i.e., top management's entrepreneurial strategic vision for the firm, organizational architectures that encourage entrepreneurial processes and behavior, and the generic forms of entrepreneurial process that are reflected in entrepreneurial behavior), and (3) the outcomes of CE strategy (i.e., organizational outcomes resulting from entrepreneurial actions, including the development of competitive capability and strategic repositioning). We discuss how our model contributes to the CE literature, distinguish our model from prior models, and identify challenges future CE research should address.
A quantitative assessment of the development of synapses and neurons in the visual cortex of control and undernourished rats

Male rats undernourished from the 18th day of gestation until 100 days of age were nutritionally rehabilitated until 200 days of age. Six control and six experimental rats at each of 12, 25, 50, 100, and 200 days of age were killed by perfusion with buffered 2.5% glutaraldehyde. Pieces of visual cortex from each rat were postfixed in osmium tetroxide and embedded in resin. Stereological procedures at the light and electron microscope levels were used to estimate the synapse‐to‐neuron ratios in cortical layers II to IV.
Institutional governance in SA higher education: For the common good or political power-play?

CITATION: Fourie, M. 2009. Institutional Governance in SA Higher Education: For the Common Good or Politcal Power-Play? , in E. Bitzer (ed.). Higher Education in South Africa: A Scholarly Look behind the Scenes. Stellenbosch: SUN MeDIA. 349-365. doi:10.18820/9781920338183/16.
Wavelet based compression of medical ultrasound images using vector quantization

In this paper, an efficient technique for compression of medical ultrasound (US) images is proposed. The technique is based on wavelet transform of the original image combined with vector quantization (VQ) of high-energy subbands using the LBG algorithm. First, we analyse the statistical behaviour of wavelet coefficients in US images across various subbands and scales. The analysis show that most of the image energy is concentrated in one of the detail subband, either in the vertical detail subband (most of the time) or in the horizontal subband. The other two subbands at each decomposition level contribute negligibly to the total image energy. Then, by exploiting this statistical analysis, a low-complexity image coder is designed, which applies VQ only to the highest energy subband while discarding the other detail subbands at each level of decomposition. The coder is tested on a series of abdominal and uterus greyscale US images. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method clearly outperforms the JPEG2000 (Joint Photographers Expert Group) encoder both qualitatively and quantitatively. For example, without using any entropy coder, the proposed method yields a peak signal to noise ratio gain of 0.2 dB to 1.2 dB over JPEG2000 on medical US images.
Recent corporate governance developments in Greece

Purpose -- The recent economic crisis of Greece has caused very high mobility both at a state level by imposing a new Greek regulation in capital market and at a level of associations in Greece by recommending new voluntary codes on corporate governance (CG). Both the new economic conditions in the world economy after the global financial crisis of 2007-2010 and the 2009 economic crisis in Greece provide a valuable opportunity to study the CG and regulatory aspects of CG in Greece.Design/methodology/approach -- This study has three objectives: (i) to present the reasons which lead the business community in Greece to reconsider existing CG practices and outline the main aspects, (ii) to locate the current CG developments and trends in Greece in the last decade (2002-2011), especially in the light of the recent debate between various voluntary codes that have lately been proposed and finally (iii) to highlight the efforts that have been made so far by companies to comply with the expanding body of CG best practices and Greek legislation.Findings -- The main finding is that the development of regulatory reforms and practices on CG is a process based on the European Union directives.Practical implications -- The improvement of legal, institutional and regulatory framework of CG in Greece can attract new investors.Originality/value -- This paper re-examines the value of CG in Greece under the new economic conditions.
Bonus and Penalty Schemes as Equilibrium Incentive Devices, with Application to Manufacturing Systems

This article reconciles the psychological notion of bonuses and penalties as incentive devices with an economic view of incentives. An objective definition of bonus and penalty schemes is presented and shown to correspond to equilibria in a model of moral hazard and probabilistic monitoring. The model implies that middle-management and other nonproduction jobs are appropriate for bonus-type incentive contracts, whereas in either unskilled jobs or aspects of highly skilled jobs that require diligence but no skill, penalty incentive schemes are predicted. We argue that our model illuminates an internal contradiction in the prospect theory of Kahneman and Tversky. We also argue that Japanese manufacturing systems have inherent incentive properties that elicit a high level of diligence from factory workers.
Challenges Confronting Rural Dwellers in Accessing Health Information in Ghana: Shai Osudoku District in Perspective

The focus of the study was to investigate health information seeking behavior as well as the barriers to health information seeking among rural dwellers in Ghana using Shai Osudoku District as a case study. The convenient and purposive sampling technique was used to sample 210 community members within Shai Osudoku District. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 was employed to process the quantitative data. The data was processed into statistical tables and charts for interpretation and discussion. The outcome of the study revealed that the most common sources of health information seeking among rural community members in the district of investigation are posters, health care providers and families/friends, with radio being the most used platform. It was also revealed that those respondents with higher level of education are more likely to use the Internet and television in accessing health information (p = 0.001 and 0.000 respectively). Similarly, respondents with primary education or informal education were more likely to contact family members for health information (p = 0.001) The outcome of the study also shows that many rural communities in Ghana, particularly rural dwellers of Shai Osudoku District, face numerous challenges in accessing health information. Notable among them are language barrier, location of the villages and inaccessibility to emerging technologies such as mobile phones and television sets. We conclude that, policies for improving health information access and reducing barriers to health information seeking in rural communities should be designed and implemented by Ghana health service. Also, education on how to access health-related information with easily accessible sources either free or at low-priced could be a way to help people in rural settings in Ghana with limited health information.
Effect of Lead on Nitric Oxide Synthase Expression in Coronary Endothelial Cells: Role of Superoxide

Chronic exposure to low levels of lead causes hypertension (HTN) in humans and animals. We have previously shown that increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to enhanced NO inactivation, depressed NO bioavailability, and compensatory upregulation of NO synthases (NOSs) in rats with lead-induced HTN. We have further demonstrated increased ROS generation with lead exposure in cultured endothelial cells. In the present study, we tested the effect of lead (medium containing lead acetate, 1 ppm) alone and with either the superoxide dismutase–mimetic agent tempol or a potent antioxidant lazaroid compound (both at 10−8 and 10−7 mol/L) on endothelial NOS expression and NO production in cultured human coronary endothelial cells. Lead-treated cells showed a significant upregulation of endothelial NOS (eNOS) protein abundance (P <0.002) and a significant increase in the production of NO metabolites (NO2− +NO3−=NOx, P <0.01). Cotreatment with either tempol or lazaroid abrogated the lead-induced upregulation of eNOS protein and NOx production. In contrast, tempol and lazaroid had no effect on either eNOS protein expression or NOx production in the control cells. Thus, lead exposure upregulated eNOS expression in vitro, simulating the results of our previous in vivo studies. This phenomenon points to a direct as opposed to an indirect (eg, HTN-mediated) effect of lead on NO metabolism. The reversal of lead effect by lazaroid and the cell-permeable superoxide dismutase–mimetic agent tempol suggests that lead exposure increases generation and/or reduces dismutation of superoxide, which in turn promotes oxidative stress, enhances NO inactivation, and elicits a compensatory upregulation of eNOS whose expression is negatively regulated by NO.
Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh: A general equilibrium approach

Abstract India and Bangladesh have pursued policies of trade liberalization since the early 1990s. However, owing to the differential speeds of opening up, Bangladesh's bilateral trade deficit with India widened substantially over the years. This aggravated the economic and the political tensions between the economies. It has been held that promotion of free trade between the two economies may enhance the trade and hence economic cooperation between them. Against this backdrop the present paper proposes a theoretical framework that provides a general equilibrium determination of the commodity pattern of trade and hence locates the comparative advantages of the economies. The empirical implementation of the model considers trade in 25 sectors comparable in the input–output tables of the economies. The study isolates the gains from free trade accruing to either economy. The paper also explores the pattern of bilateral trade when each economy produces goods by utilizing their own as well as the other country's technology. The gains from this trading arrangement are also isolated.
Targeting of the Influenza A Virus Polymerase PB1-PB2 Interface Indicates Strain-Specific Assembly Differences

ABSTRACT Assembly of the heterotrimeric influenza virus polymerase complex from the individual subunits PB1, PA, and PB2 is a prerequisite for viral replication. The conserved protein-protein interaction sites have been suggested as potential drug targets. To characterize the PB1-PB2 interface, we fused the PB1-binding domain of PB2 to green fluorescent protein (PB21-37-GFP) and determined its competitive inhibitory effect on the polymerase activity of influenza A virus strains. Coexpression of PB21-37-GFP in a polymerase reconstitution system led to substantial inhibition of the polymerase of A/WSN/33 (H1N1). Surprisingly, polymerases of other strains, including A/SC35M (H7N7), A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1), A/Hamburg/4/2009 (H1N1), and A/Thailand/1(KAN-1)/2004 (H5N1), showed various degrees of resistance. Individual exchange of polymerase subunits and the nucleoprotein between the sensitive WSN polymerase and the insensitive SC35M polymerase mapped the resistance to both PB1 and PA of SC35M polymerase. While PB21-37-GFP bound equally well to the PB1 subunits of both virus strains, PB1-PA dimers of SC35M polymerase showed impaired binding compared to PB1-PA dimers of WSN polymerase. The use of PASC35M/WSN chimeras revealed that the reduced affinity of the SC35M PB1-PA dimer was mediated by the N-terminal 277 amino acids of PA. Based on these observations, we speculate that the PB1-PA dimer formation of resistant polymerases shields the PB21-37 binding site, whereas sensitive polymerases allow this interaction, suggesting different assembly strategies of the trimeric polymerase complex between different influenza A virus strains.
The world of committee reports: rapporteurship assignment in the European Parliament

The academic world has shown increasing interest in the European Parliament (EP), but still more has to be done to open the ‘black box’ of its micro-management. This study is an attempt to show that puzzles in the internal workings of the EP are far from being solved or understood. Its purpose is three-pronged: First, it illustrates that the world of committee reports is characterised by disproportionality which contradicts the overall principle laid down in the standing rules of the EP. Second, the study attempts to explain and understand rapporteurship allocation. Focusing on the consumer and environment committee in the fourth term of the EP, the results indicate that the group of rapporteurs consists of members with high demands for the policy in their jurisdiction. Its preferences systematically differ from those of the legislature as a whole. Third, this article discusses four aspects that deserve further elaboration in future studies on the EP's internal organisation.