Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mandatory Minimum Sentences and Women with Disabilities

This article examines the issue of mandatory minimum sentencing from the unique perspective of women with disabilities. Concerns about the discriminatory application of mandatory minimum sentences are outlined and analyzed from a gendered disability perspective, as are concerns about the devaluation of the lives of persons with disabilities through the support of reduced sentences for those convicted of murdering persons with disabilities. This examination makes it clear that the different concerns of women with disabilities are difficult to reconcile, as they mandate contradictory positions with respect to the possible abolition of the sentencing practice. The challenges inherent in the development of a position that addresses all of the concerns of women with disabilities relating to the practice of mandatory minimum sentencing, and its possible abolition, are analyzed. The author concludes that if the practice of mandatory minimum sentencing is abolished, it must be replaced with a sentencing mechanism designed to ensure that sentencing discretion is exercised in accordance with Charter values, in order to protect the equality rights of all persons, including women with disabilities. This special issue article is available in Osgoode Hall Law Journal: http://digitalcommons.osgoode. yorku.ca/ohlj/vol39/iss2/15 MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES AND WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES"
Diversity Management Instruments in German Organizations: Effectiveness and Preferences from Corporate and Employee Perspectives

While diversity management appears to rank high on the HR agenda of many organizations in Germany, both status and quality of diversity management in Germany remain lower than in most European countries, and by far lower than in the US. This paper discusses the relevance organizations in Germany attach to the topic of diversity, identifies the measures actually employed, and shows how effective these measures are in practice. Based on the responses of 73 organizations and 285 employees, the study empirically measures the use and effectiveness of diversity measures and identifies differences from the perspective of the organization versus the employee. In the area of Gender diversity companies employ the largest breadth of measures that also appear very effective. In the areas of Age and Ethnic diversity, companies tend to employ much fewer measures which also don’t appear to be the most effective, showing less relevance and experience with relevant instruments. We also found that measures considered by employees to be most effective often differ from the measures used in practice and prioritized by HR professionals. In general, from an employee perspective, diversity measures appear to be connected to better career and development opportunities. Companies in Germany largely follow the diversity measures prescribed by the state without using their diversity profile for differentiation in employer branding. The results of the study give an overview of the diversity measures in use today in German organizations and of their effectiveness to achieve diversity objectives.
Social Media As a Field of Social Struggle

During the past ten years, attention has been drawn to the democratising functions of the internet thanks to the rise of social media. This emphasis is apparently one of the renewed interpretations of the obsolete technological determinism approach, which is conside-red as an output of modernism, and was pushed by the social elites. The discussions on the "revolutionary" potential of communication techno-logies are not a new issue. However, they have once again come to the fore perhaps slightly exaggerated thanks to the current global social movements, such as "Arab Spring" and "Occupy Wall Street". Further, it is possible to find the early examples of digital activism in the second half of the 90's, when internet began to become popular. For instance, the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) uprising against the Mexican Government commenced on January 1st, 1994, the day when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect. Castells (2008:102) defines the EZLN uprising as the world's "first informational guerrilla movement", because the internet was used as an alternative communication tool to broadcast this rebellion. Ever since, the new media has become the primary or an important means of campaigns to inform, organize and protest. Digital activism has entered into a new era with the widespread use of electronic social networks, and new digital activism practices have emerged. Although limited to the Web 1.0 trends including discussion forums, e-mail chains, websites and chat softwares, it has gained a new insight with Web 2.0. The differences between the first and the second internet generations appear to be a leading factor, which determine the use of internet by general users and notably the opposing voices. Compared to Web 1.0, the striking features of Web 2.0 are as follows; (more) instant, (much) faster, usergenerated, self-sharing, collabo-rative, amateur, mobile, interactive and open to dialogue, horizontal, viral, imponderable, hard to control, responsive, daily, assembling individual and different voices, visible, hybrid, alternative, and participatory. It is also
The Effect of Firm Size on Regional Innovation Efficiency in China

The paper uses panel data of 30 provinces in China from 1998 to 2012 to calculate their innovation efficiency by DEA model. Meanwhile we use Tobit model to discuss the effect of firm size on regional innovation efficiency. In order to solve endogeneity problem, we choose an instrumental variable to replace firm size. Although from Figure 2, firm size and innovation efficiency show an inverted U-shaped relationship, at this stage enterprises in China are usually small, which leads most of them stay at the left side of inverted U-shaped curve. Our main conclusion is that at this stage in China, firm size and innovation efficiency have a linear relationship. Other variables such as dependence on trade, level of urbanization and education also have positive effect on innovation efficiency.
Livestock production to feed the planet. Animal Protein: A Forecast of Global Demand Over the Next Years

The world population will significantly increase by 2050, from the current seven million to more than nine million inhabitants and the highest rate of increase is expected in developing countries. The demand for animal products will follow the population growth and increase between 50 and 70%, although with differences between all regions. According nutritional recommendations, at least one third of the daily protein requirement should derived from animal proteins. Meat, fish, milk or eggs, rich essential amino acids, micronutrients and vitamins, should provide about 20g of 60g of total protein; however, the current level of intake should be reduced. In the next future, livestock sector will increase the productivity, without compromising the quality and the nutritional safety of the products, as well as the environmental protection and animal welfare. Considering the future population growth and the future food demand, different environmental implications on land use, natural non-renewable resources such as water, fossil fuels, minerals and agricultural land, and on the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions should also be taken into consideration. Farming edible insect could be a possible solution to overcome the future population growth, the global demand for food, specifically for protein sources and the food waste reduction.
A Proposed Knowledge Management System in SOFCON: Saudi Arabia Perspectives

Abstract Knowledge management has became vital in organizations in today's business environment as the implementation of knowledge management tends to provide benefits such as an enhanced way to organize existing corporate knowledge; making individuals more effective at sharing explicit knowledge; and providing new ways to expose tacit knowledge, and in turn this will lead to competitive advantage. It has been argued that the role of quality professional can contribute greatly to knowledge management to include raising strategic awareness, improving the knowledge management process, cost minimization through the usage of one model to blend knowledge management and quality verification and leading the way, and in turn achieving organizational competitiveness. Due to the contribution of quality professional to the enhancement of the knowledge management process, it is suggested that a quality management system that supports all the quality management dimensions and knowledge creation processes will be more effective than one that does not. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to establish a knowledge management system where quality professional will be a key player in capturing the knowledge needed for the needs of small and medium sized organizations in Saudi Arabia.
Does City Structure Affect the Labor Market Outcomes of Black Workers?

In this paper, location choices are driven by households (both blacks and whites) consciously choosing to trade off proximity to neighbors of similar racial backgrounds for proximity to jobs. Because of coordination failures in the location choices, multiple urban equilibria emerge. There is a 'Spatial-Mismatch Equilibrium' in which blacks reside far away from jobs and experience high unemployment rates and a 'Spatial-Matching Equilibrium' in which blacks are closer to jobs and experience lower unemployment rates. Under some reasonable condition, we demonstrate that all workers are better off under the Spatial-Matching Equilibrium, leaving a role for policy intervention.
Evolution from increased cardiac mechanical function towards cardiomyopathy in the obese rat due to unbalanced high fat and abundant equilibrated diets

The aim of our study was to know whether high dietary energy intake (HDEI) with equilibrated and unbalanced diets in term of lipid composition modify the fatty acid profile of cardiac phospholipids and function of various cardiac cells and to know if the changes in membrane lipid composition can explain the modifications of cellular activity. Wistar rats were fed either a control or high-fat (HF) diet for 12 weeks and Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats as well as their lean littermate (ZL) a control diet between week 7 to 11 of their life. Energy intake and abdominal obesity was increased in HF-fed and ZDF rats. Circulating lipids were also augmented in both strains although hyperglycemia was noticed only in ZDF rats. HDEI induced a decrease in linoleate and increase in arachidonate in membrane phospholipids which was more pronounced in the ZDF rats compared to the HF-fed rats. In vivo cardiac function (CF) was improved in HF-fed rats whereas ex vivo cardiac function was unchanged, suggesting that environmental factors such as catecholamines stimulated the in vivo CF. The unchanged ex vivo CF was associated with an increased cardiac mass which indicated development of fibrosis and/or hypertrophy. The increased in vivo CF was sustained by an augmented coronary reserve which was related to the cyclooxygenase pathway and accumulation of arachidonate in membrane phospholipids. In conclusion, before triggering a diabetic cardiomyopathy, HDEI stimulated the CF. The development of cardiomyopathy seems to result from fibrosis and/or hypertrophy which augments myocardial stiffness and decreases contractility.
Free Roaming Dogs and the Communities’ Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Rabies Incidence/Human Exposures: Cases of Selected Settings in Ethiopia and Kenya

Abstract Background: According to the recommendation made by World Health organization, vaccinating 70% of the dog population helps to control rabies and prevent rabies virus in human population. However, the exponential increase in the population of free roaming dogs is a serious challenge to this strategy in Eastern African countries including Ethiopia and Kenya. Understanding the dynamics of free roaming dog populations is, thus, a step to be taken prior to designing effective rabies prevention and control strategy in these countries. Objectives: The present study was designed to determine the number of free roaming dogs in selected settings in Ethiopia and Kenya, and describe the level of community knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on rabies incidence/human exposures. The study also described the socio-cultural value of dog keeping in the areas considered in the study. Methodology: Counting free roaming dogs were a major means of collecting data in both Ethiopia and Kenya. Dog count was made using the markup capture approach. Other than counting, questionnaire was used to obtain data for the study. Three-hundred and ninety-eight copies of questionnaires were administered to the study participants in Ethiopia, while the number of respondents to the questionnaire in Kenya was 351. In addition, a five-year retrospective data on dog/animal bite cases were collected from selected health facilities of the study sites. Results: A total of 2991 and 386 free roaming dogs were counted in Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively. A five-year retrospective data showed cases of 1524 (in Mekelle) and 429 (Assela) individuals who were bitten/infected by rabies-suspected animals. Evidence obtained from the health facilities in Mekelle and Assela showed the bitten/infected individuals took PEP within the specified period. In Kenya, a total of 3441 and 4997 animal bite cases were reported from 2010-2014 in Kisumu and Siaya, respectively. The number of animal bite cases may signify the economic burden incurred (cost of PEP and other related costs), public health impact and social value of the disease. The questionnaire data also indicated the existing dog management practices, awareness of the community about rabies and its zoonotic importance, the first line of action taken at home for individuals bitten by rabies suspected animal, awareness of the community on dog vaccination, importance of free roaming dogs and their management. Conclusion: The significant proportion of free roaming dogs and number of animal bite cases calls for an integrated action between human and veterinary professionals to control the number of free roaming dog population, initiate awareness creation programs in the community and increase the vaccination of owned dogs there by to control and prevent rabies. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2018;32(1):11-20] Key words: Ethiopia, Kenya, Free roaming dogs, Rabies, Animal Bites, KAP
Influence of an electric field on the optical properties of few-layer graphene with AB stacking

The effect of perpendicular electric field F on optical properties of the AB-stacked few-layer graphene, made up of two, three, or four graphite sheets, is explored through the gradient approximation. In contrast to the featureless optical spectra of graphene, the low-energy absorption spectra of few-layer graphene with AB stacking exhibit many jumping structures, which result from the band-edge states caused by the stacking effect, in the absence of an electric field. Remarkably, F causes the subband anticrossing, changes the subband spacing, produces the oscillating bands, and increases the band-edge states. It, therefore, follows that the field-modulating spectra with sharp peaks are generated. Moreover, the frequency of peak, which is strongly dependent on the layer number and the field strength, is predicted. Above all, the predicted absorption spectra and the associated electronic properties could be verified by the optical measurements.
Involvement of proinflammatory S100A9/A8 in the atherocalcinosis of aortic valves

Согласно результатам Европейского исследования сердечных пороков (Euro-Heart Survey on Vascular Heart Disease), среди поражений сердечных клапанов наиболее распространённой патологией является неревматический аортальный стеноз. Это заболевание также называют кальцифицированным аортальным стенозом (КАС), так как в его патогенезе главная роль принадлежит процессу биоминерализации створок и кольца клапана. Демографически-обусловленный рост числа людей старших возрастных групп приводит к увеличению дегенеративно-метаболических заболеваний сердечных аортальных клапанов (АК), особенно вызванных атеросклеротическими процессами. Цель работы – иммуногистохимическое исследование минерализованных тканей аортальных сердечных клапанов, поражённых атерокальцинозом. Материалы и методы . Всего было исследовано 30 образцов минерализованных аортальных клапанов (I группа) и 10 образцов аортальных клапанов без признаков биоминерализации (II группа), которые выступали в качестве контроля. В ткани АК обеих групп было проведено иммуногистохимическое исследование экспрессии коллагена I (Collagen I), CD68, миелопероксидазы (MPO), кальгранулина А (S100A8), кальгранулина В (S100A9), каспазы 3 (Casp 3) и остеопонтина (OPN). Оценку статистической достоверности разницы результатов между группами образцов проводили с помощью непараметрического критерия Манна-Уитни. Результаты считали статистически достоверными при степени достоверности более 95 % (р < 0,05). Результаты. В ткани кальцифицированных АК обнаружено разрастание фибриллярного компонента (коллаген I), но количественный и качественный состав CD68 + циркулирующих воспалительных клеток существенно не отличается от контрольной группы АК. Кальцифицированные АК содержат больше MPO + клеток (p < 0.001) по сравнению с группой АК без биоминерализации. Наши данные показывают значимое повышение экспрессии S100A9 и OPN в ткани минерализованных АК (р < 0,01). Также в CAV выявлен более высокий уровень экспрессии Casp3 (р < 0,05). Сравнивая I и II группы АК, не обнаружили связи между экспрессией S100A8. Выводы. Высокая экспрессия Casp3 подтверждает повышенный уровень элиминации клеток в ткани кальцифицированных АК, что, очевидно, связано с влиянием высокой местной концентрации S100A9. Эти факты могут способствовать развитию патологической биоминерализации АК. Поскольку остеопонтин ингибирует образование гидроксиапатита, связываясь с поверхностью кристаллов, то его гиперпродукция в тканях АК является фактором противодействия биоминерализации.
Elucidation of the response of heavy elements levels to intraperitoneal administration of different gold nanoparticles into rats for period of 3 days in vivo

Nanoparticles (NPs) can potentially cause adverse effects on organ, tissue, cellular, subcellular, and protein levels due to their unusual physicochemical properties. Advances in nanotechnology have identified promising candidates for many biological and biomedical applications. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are being increasingly exploited for medical uses and other industrial applications. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the response of heavy elements levels to intraperitoneal administration of different GNPs into rats for period of 3 days in vivo. The experimental rats were divided into normal and 3 groups (G1A, G2A and G3A; G1: 20 nm; G2: 10 nm; G3: 50 nm; A: it means infusion of 0.05 ml of GNPs for 3 days). To investigate the role of GNP size on heavy elements [cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and cobalt (Co)] levels in blood and several tissues of rats, 50 µl daily dose of 10, 20 and 50 nm GNPs was intraperitonealy injected into rats for 3 days. Cd, Ni and Pb concentrations significantly increased in blood and all tissues of rats compared with the normal. Different changes were observed with Co concentrations in blood and several tissues of rats. Co concentrations significantly increased with 20 nm GNPs in blood and kidney tissue of rats compared with the normal while it significantly decreased in heart, lung and liver tissues of rats. 10, 20 and 50 nm GNPs may be an effective inducer of oxidative stress which was evident by the fact that they caused significant increase in Cd, Ni and Pb concentrations in blood and all tissues of rats compared with the normal. This study suggests that GNPs may interact with proteins and enzymes of the rats interfering with the antioxidant defense mechanism and leading to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, which in turn may imitate an inflammatory response and heavy element levels destruction. Exposure to intraperitoneal administration of GNPs is a potential source of oxidative stress toxicity in rats. Key words: Gold nanoparticles, size, severaltissues, blood, heavy elements, toxicity, rats.
Ergotic Sounds: A New Way to Improve Playability, Believability and Presence of Virtual Musical Instruments

Abstract We explore how an ‘ergotic gesture-sound situation’ is a genuine way to improve the playability, believability and presence of virtual musical instruments. An ergotic gesture-sound situation is a situation where the instrumental gesture and the sound produced are intimately energetically linked. We perform two sets of experiments: the first aims at identifying the respective role of haptic and auditory perceptions in recognition of a virtual object, here a virtual bowed string; the second aims at evaluating the role of haptic and auditory perceptions with respect to action, in the achievement of a difficult musical task. The musical goal consists in maintaining the continuity of sound when changing bow direction. The first experiments are subjective experiments. They show that the feeling of presence of the bowed string is strongly reinforced when sounds and gestural friction are intimately linked, as is the case when the vibrations of the string are returned to the fingers. The second are subjec.
Effects of active crustal movements on thermal structure in subduction zones

SUMMARY In young suduction zones we observe steady uplift of island arcs. The steady uplift of island arcs is always accompanied by surface erosion. The long duration of uplift and erosion eVectively transports heat at depth to shallower parts by advection. If the rates of uplift and erosion are suYciently large, such a process of heat transportation will strongly aVect thermal structure in subduction zones. First, we quantitatively examine the eVects of uplift and erosion on thermal structure by using a simple 1-D heat conduction model, based on the assumption that the initial thermal state is in equilibrium. The results show that temperature increase, DT , due to uplift and erosion can be approximately evaluated by DT =n e tb at depth, where n e is the rate of uplift (erosion), t is the duration of uplift (erosion), and b is the gradient of the geotherm in the initial state. Next, considering the eVects of vertical crustal movements such as uplift and erosion in island arcs and subsidence and sedimentation in ocean trenches, in addition to the eVects of radioactive heat generation in the crust, frictional heating at plate boundaries and accretion of oceanic sediments to overriding continental plates, we numerically simulate the evolution process of the thermal structure in subduction zones. The result shows that the temperature beneath the island arc gradually increases as a result of uplift and erosion as plate subduction progresses. Near the ocean trench, on the other hand, the low-temperature region gradually expands as a result of sedimentation and accretion in addition to direct cooling by the cold descending slab. The surface heat flow expected from this model is low in fore-arc basins, high in island arcs and moderately high in back-arc regions.
Retirement patterns of couples in Europe

AbstractIn this paper we study the retirement patterns of couples in a multi-country setting using data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe. In particular we test whether women’s (men’s) transitions out of the labor force are directly related to the actual realization of their husbands’ (wives’) transition, using the institutional variation in country-specific early and full statutory retirement ages to instrument the latter. Exploiting the discontinuities in retirement behavior across countries, we find a significant joint retirement effect for women of 21 percentage points. For men, the estimated effect is insignificant. Our empirical strategy allows us to give a causal interpretation to the effect we estimate. In addition, this effect has important implications for policy analysis.JEL CodesJ26, D10, C21