Search results for "SELECTION"

2019

Worries about possible harmful effects of new technologies (modern health worries) have intensely been investigated in the last decade. However, the comparability of translated self-report measures across countries is often problematic. This study aimed to overcome this problem by developing psychometrically sound brief versions of the widely used 25-item Modern Health Worries Scale (MHWS) suitable for multi-country use. Based on data of overall 5,176 individuals from four European countries (England, Germany, Hungary, Sweden), Ant Colony Optimization was used to identify the indicators that optimize model fit and measurement invariance across countries. Two scales were developed. A short (…

Short Form of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2

2020

Abstract. The purpose of the present study was to develop a short form of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) based on the German STAXI-2. Item selection was performed based on exploratory factor analyses (EFA) using descriptive statistical parameters and content-related considerations on calibration samples ( N1 = 215, N2 = 310). The factorial structure of the final extracted scales was validated via confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) ( N3 = 216, N4 = 310). Overall, results present an economic and reliable questionnaire with a total length of 24 items: State Anger short scales Feeling Angry, Verbal Anger Impulse, and Physical Anger Impulse (3 items each), that can be ag…

Effectiveness of child protection practice models : a systematic review

2020

Background Attempts to improve child protection outcomes by implementing social work practice models embedded in a particular theory and practice approach, have increased internationally over the past decade. Objective To assess the evidence of the effectiveness of child protection practice models in improving outcomes for children and families. Participants and setting Children < 18 years and their families involved in child protection services. Methods A systematic review was conducted to synthesize evidence regarding the effectiveness of child protection practice models. Systematic searches across 10 electronic databases and grey literature were conducted to identify quasi-experimental s…

Fuzzy Portfolio Selection Models for Dealing with Investor’s Preferences

2017

This chapter provides an overview of the authors’ previous work about dealing with investor’s preferences in the portfolio selection problem. We propose a fuzzy model for dealing with the vagueness of investor preferences on the expected return and the assumed risk, and then we consider several modifications to include additional constraints and goals.

Evaluation in Political Discourse Addressed to Women: Appraisal Analysis of Cosmopolitan's Coverage of the 2014 US Midterm Elections

2017

Abstract Before the US midterm elections of November 2014, the well-known women’s magazine Cosmopolitan decided to include politics in its contents. The editorial board stated that their aim was to encourage readers to vote and to be engaged with women’s rights advocay in the election process. To that end, Cosmopolitan created a new website, CosmoVotes, with content ranging from discussion of political issues to endorsement of specific candidates who were believed to advance women’s issues. Topics include labour rights, abortion, contraception, health, minimum wage and social equity. This paper evaluates the discourse of this new section of the Cosmopolitan website, together with readers’ r…

Learning from learners: a non-standard direct approach to the teaching of writing skills in EFL in a university context

2016

Corpora have been used in English as a foreign language materials for decades, and native corpora have been present in the classroom by means of direct approaches such as Data-Driven Learning (Johns, T., and P. King 1991. 'Should you be Persuaded'- Two Samples of Data-Driven Learning Materials. In Classroom Concordancing,1-16. Birmingham University. English Language Research Journal 4.). However, the suitability of using learners' output in classroom tasks remains controversial. This paper describes a pilot study in the application of a non-standard direct approach where Spanish university students are invited to reflect on their production. In the experiment, carried out in several sessions…

El diminutivo en el español de Santo Domingo

2016

Esta investigación analiza el uso del sufijo diminutivo en un corpus oral de jóvenes de la República Dominicana. El material procede de la transcripción de veinte entrevistas orales realizadas en los años noventa en Santo Domingo. En este estudio se realiza un análisis de las ocurrencias documentadas, su morfología, sus preferencias en cuanto a la selección de las clases de palabras que se toman como base para la formación de diminutivos, sus posibles valores semánticos y comunicativos, y, por último, se determina la frecuencia de uso del diminutivo en función del sexo de los hablantes. The aim of this research is to analyse the use of the diminutive suffix in an oral corpus of young people…

ABDUCTIVE INFERENCES IN PRAGMATIC PROCESSES

2018

Abstract In pragmatic theories, the notion of inference plays a central role, together with the communicative act in which it is activated. Although some scholars, such as Levinson, Sperber and Wilson, propose detailed and accurate analyses of this notion, we will maintain that these analyses can be better systematized if seen through Peirce’s notion of abduction. We will try to maintain that the variety of inferential processes in play in a linguistic act is mostly of an abductive nature. Moreover, we will maintain that the typological tripartition of abductions discussed by Eco (1981) allows to account for a signi cant part of the mechanisms involved in the comprehension of an utterance, …

Evolution of external female genital mutilation : why do males harm their mates?

2017

Sperm competition may select for male reproductive traits that influence female mating or oviposition rate. These traits may induce fitness costs to the female; however, they may be costly for the males as well as any decrease in female fitness also affects male fitness. Male adaptations to sperm competition manipulate females by altering not only female behaviour or physiology, but also female morphology. In orb-weaving spiders, mating may entail mutilation of external structures of the female genitalia, which prevents genital coupling with subsequent males. Here, we present a game theoretical model showing that external female genital mutilation is favoured even under relatively high cost…

Interactions between the sexual identity of the nervous system and the social environment mediate lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster

2018

Sex differences in lifespan are ubiquitous, but the underlying causal factors remain poorly understood. Inter- and intrasexual social interactions are well known to influence lifespan in many taxa, but it has proved challenging to separate the role of sex-specific behaviours from wider physiological differences between the sexes. To address this problem, we genetically manipulated the sexual identity of the nervous system—and hence sexual behaviour—in Drosophila melanogaster, and measured lifespan under varying social conditions. Consistent with previous studies, masculinization of the nervous system in females induced male-specific courtship behaviour and aggression, while nervous system f…