Evaluating deterministic motif significance measures in protein databases

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Assessing the outcome of motif mining algorithms is an essential task, as the number of reported motifs can be very large. Significance measures play a central role in automatically ranking those motifs, and therefore alleviating the analysis work. Spotting the most interesting and relevant motifs is then dependent on the choice of the right measures. The combined use of several measures may provide more robust results. However caution has to be taken in order to avoid spurious evaluations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the set of conducted experiments, it was verified that several of the selected significance measures show a very similar behavior in a wide range of situations therefore providing redundant information. Some measures have proved to be more appropriate to rank highly conserved motifs, while others are more appropriate for weakly conserved ones. Support appears as a very important feature to be considered for correct motif ranking. We observed that not all the measures are suitable for situations with poorly balanced class information, like for instance, when positive data is significantly less than negative data. Finally, a visualization scheme was proposed that, when several measures are applied, enables an easy identification of high scoring motifs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this work we have surveyed and categorized 14 significance measures for pattern evaluation. Their ability to rank three types of deterministic motifs was evaluated. Measures were applied in different testing conditions, where relations were identified. This study provides some pertinent insights on the choice of the right set of significance measures for the evaluation of deterministic motifs extracted from protein databases.</p

Give and you may receive: examining transparent leadership through the lens of leader-follower relationships

Transparency is a term often used to describe a solution to many organizational problems and a fundamental quality that employees seek from their leaders, yet its definition and application to leadership theory remain unclear. This study adopted a grounded theory approach to examining transparent leadership, using semi-structured interviews to explore transparent leader behaviors across multiple contexts. The sample included 25 mid-level leaders working for six non-profit healthcare organizations in the western US. Based on analysis of interview responses, the results revealed a dynamic, reciprocal transparent leader-follower relationship distinct from existing leadership theories. As the first known empirical study of transparent leadership, this research contributes a new multidimensional Transparent Leadership Model (TLM) and definition for this emerging theory: A leader’s intentional and reciprocal sharing of timely and relevant information with followers, and genuine relationship-building that cultivates follower trust and results in follower perceptions of strengthened personal value and meaningful work. The TLM comprises distinct leader characteristics (interpersonal skills, personality traits) that enable leader behaviors (information exchange, relationship building, relational transparency) to positively influence the leader-follower relationship. The results illustrate that several contextual factors moderate the leader-follower relationship at the individual (remote work, position level, length of relationship) and organizational (communication, culture, environment) levels. The TLM posits that follower trust mediates the relationship between transparent leader behaviors and multiple follower outcomes (personal value, meaningful work, performance, effort, engagement). The study highlights transparent leadership\u27s value in addressing contemporary challenges faced by today’s leaders and offers a series of recommendations for business practice

Heeding the silent partner in the Parent-Child Relationship: A new agenda to translate research on children’s perspectives into practice

The parent-child relationship (PCR) lies at the heart of our life experiences and life outcomes. It has been suggested that we are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in our approach to understanding the nature and influence of this relationship, from the currently dominant adult-centric approach to one that includes children’s perspectives. This thesis takes a strategic, translational approach to identifying the work required to realise this shift and to establish an evidence base for clinical practice regarding the PCR and its investigation. In response to identified deficits in the literature and obstacles to progress, several new conceptual and methodological tools were designed. These include: the Gap Analysis – Prospective framework, to facilitate evidence synthesis and to guide a new translational research agenda; the Developmental Research Participation Rubric (DRPR), translating developmental theories into guidelines for enabling the research participation of children of different ages; a Quality of Evidence Rating System, to evaluate diverse empirical methodologies against person-centred, developmentally-sensitive criteria; and a Developmental Interview Framework (DIF), to provide comprehensive, person-centred guidelines for engaging child informants. Applying these tools to clinically relevant research into the PCR, the DRPR indicated middle childhood to be the point at which children are likely to be developmentally ready to be primary informants about their PCR. However, the voices of children were found to be missing from the PCR literature. Furthermore, there was no reliable empirical evidence base to guide interviewing children about familial relationships and other non-forensic, non-diagnostic topics. Consequently, the DIF was used to design and subsequently pilot a developmentally-sensitive interview methodology. It is concluded that a prospective and systematic approach to clinical psychological research into (a) the PCR and (b) interview methodology is both necessary and possible, by flexible use of mixed methods. Both bodies of work will contribute to evidence-based practice with children

Using projective techniques to further understanding of the RAPM-PEU relationship : evidence from the experience of marketing and sales managers

In an increasingly uncertain context, budgeting faces at least two categories of concerns : how should realistic objectives be set in a poorly predictable context? How should a fair year-end evaluation be performed when uncertainty has affected the results and their controllability? Since Hopwood's (1972) paper, performance evaluative styles have provided a rich vein for empirical behavioral studies in control, largely based on contingency approaches, and the Perceived Environmental Uncertainty (PEU) has been examined in many empirical studies. However, two decades of literature on the RAPM-PEU relationship have produced results that are best inconclusive. In our view, there is a need for better understanding of the constructs commonly used in RAPM research. To meet this need, we used a field-based study and projective techniques to interview fourteen senior marketing and sales managers in a variety of industries. The interviews were designed to capture the managers' perceptions relating to RAPM, and to uncertainty. Our results highlight an important practical and theoretical distinction between actionable and non-actionable sources of PEU, which is based on a manager's ability to improve the predictability of change, and/or to be able to react to changes in the environment with an additional effort. When PEU is high and perceived as non-actionable, the paper examines what kind of social and organizational adjustments take place that can avoid the potential negative behavioral consequences of RAPM. The results emphasize that budgeting and performance evaluation are a multiple-year game, where trust and knowledge of social rules build up over the years, and learning takes place - a picture left out of traditional RAPM literature.budgeting; RAPM; uncertainty; projective techniques; behavioral accounting; marketing and sales managers

Visitors' Interpretive Strategies at Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Making Meaning in Art Museums is one of two research projects on the theme of art museums and interpretive communities. The first was published as Making Meaning 1:Visitors' Interpretive Strategies at Wolverhampton Art Gallery (RCMG 2001). Making Meaning in Art Museums 2 is the second of two research projects on the theme of art museums and interpretive communities. The Long Gallery at the Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery was selected as the research site for this second study. Both studies have explored the ways in which visitors talked about their experience of a visit to the art museum-both what they said about the paintings and the whole of the visit.The research questions on which this project is based are: What interpretive strategies and repertories are deployed by art museum visitors? Can distinct interpretive communities be identified? What are the implications for the communication policies within art museums? This research is an ethnographic study, using qualitative methods.This research project was funded through a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Boar

Thinking for you, thinking for two: Uncovering student-parent experiences in higher education

The literature addressing non-traditional students in higher education is broadening, nevertheless, the experiences of non-traditional, adult students who are raising children (i.e., student-parents) in academia continue to be inadequately explored. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of student-parents pursuing a college degree while raising children. The use of a qualitative approach in this research study presented the opportunity to gather rich data to help explain the phenomenon (Creswell, 2007, Denzin & Lincoln, 2013). Specifically applying a hermeneutic phenomenological research design allowed adult non-traditional student-parents to explain their college experience in their own words through one-on-one interviews. This study adds to the limited current literature on lived experiences of student-parents in pursuit of degree attainment. Sixteen student-parents enrolled in a degree-granting program at a suburban, Division III, a predominantly White institution in New Jersey participated in this study. Their experiences of the research participants from a meaningful, first-person perspective was a key element of this research. Findings from this study generated four emergent themes. The study also suggests that student-parents, while increasing in numbers, often are a hidden sub-set of non-traditional students who have unique challenges and require varying support

The Pursuit of Equitable Virtual Learning: District Leaders’ Understanding of the Influences on Designing 100% Virtual Learning Experiences During the Covid-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam required all schools to close their doors from March 13, 2020, through the remainder of the school year, causing districts in the Commonwealth to create distance learning plans for PreK-12 education within a matter of weeks. The continued fluctuation of COVID-19 positive case numbers throughout the spring and summer led to several school districts choosing to open the 2020-2021 school year using a 100% virtual model for all students. This qualitative, grounded theory study sought to determine how superintendents understood the influences on the design of their district’s 100% virtual learning plans. Fifteen superintendents were interviewed using semi-structured interviews that each lasted 30-60 minutes. Data was iteratively collected, analyzed, and coded to reveal major categories regarding superintendents’ understanding of influences. Findings showed that districts sought to plan equitable virtual learning experiences for all students based on unintentional influences and the district’s intentional responses. The Influence and Response Complex Emergence (IRCE) Theory explains that, during an educational crisis, learning plans emerge as a result of the feedback between unintentional influences (politics, availability of resources, and needs of stakeholders) and district leaders’ intentional responses (leveraging relationships, communicating purposefully, and reinforcing the educational mission). A major implication of this study is a better understanding of how learning designs are developed during long-term crisis

An Ecological Perspective of Community Health Partnerships: A Case Study of Collaboration, Empowerment and Effectiveness in Two HIV/AIDS Planning Consortia in Florida

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe from an ecological perspective the characteristics contributing to collaboration, empowerment and effectiveness of federally mandated Ryan White Title I and Title II planning councils and consortia within the State of Florida. A case study approach within two (2) community health planning partnerships, specifically those related to. HIV/AIDS consortia, was used to gather data over one and a half years. The methodology included a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, utilizing documents, administering several survey instruments, observing meetings, and conducting individual interviews. The interviews and surveys provided the primary sources of data, with the documents and observations providing supportive secondary sources of data. The data were analyzed to develop an ecological perspective of the collaboration, empowerment, and effectiveness of the partnerships. The findings indicate that both partnerships were collaborative, empowering, and effective in their fulfilling their responsibilities. Significant findings include those related to members\u27 perceptions about the leader and the group, decision making, and conflict as well as the structure, processes, and outcomes of the partnerships. Suggestions were made for the improvement of each partnership and areas for further research and practical implications were identified

Trust and Conservation Opportunity: the importance of trust in landholders\u27 decisions to participate in conservation programs

Natural resource management efforts have historically concentrated on ecological goals to identify and prioritize conservation actions. However, successful implementation of conservation actions on private land requires conservation opportunity, or the willingness of landholders to participate in and accept conservation actions. Conservation opportunity on private land depends on a range of structural and social factors. Recent research emphasizes the importance of social factors and suggests incorporating social factors in conservation actions is necessary for the long-term sustainability and equitability of environmental change. The social factor of trust has been shown to strongly influence landholder’s decision-making. For this research, trust is defined as a belief that someone or something is good, reliable, honest, and effective. However, trust is complex and sometimes difficult to predict. In addition, trust can be regionally specific and little research exists on trust in the Pacific Northwest. This study seeks to increase understanding of trust and the importance of trust in conservation opportunity on private land in the Pacific Northwest. In this study, trust is comprised of six constructs: Personal Relationship, Social Structure, Reciprocity, Shared Worldview, Social Commitment, and Participation in Decision-Making. The researcher utilized self-administered surveys to measure landholders’ level of trust in conservation organizations and answer three research questions: Are the constructs associated with trust as expected? Which constructs of trust are most important in a landholder’s decision to participate in voluntary conservation programs? and What actions could these organizations take to improve trust? Surveys were distributed to participants and non-participants of four voluntary conservation programs in the Nooksack Watershed in Whatcom County, Washington. The research results suggest six primary findings. First, survey respondents report trust as equally or more important than other factors in determining conservation opportunity. Second, not all individuals have a uniform definition of trust, yet trust is strongly associated with the degree to which the landholder perceives an individual, institution, or program respects and understands their goals. Third, results distinguish two constructs being reported as most important in determining conservation opportunity within the study group: Social Commitment and Participation in Decision-Making. The construct items reported as least important are affiliation with other groups/individuals and obligation. Fourth, while the landholder’s relationship with the organization’s representative is important, they do not identify it as the most influential construct item. Fifth, although the literature shows the Shared Worldview construct can predict policy positions, the results of a Shared Worldview “short-form” survey indicate worldview may not be a predictor for who participates and what program they will participate in. Finally, both participants and non-participants believe the conservation organizations have the opportunity to earn or increase trust. Landholders’ suggested actions to increase trust varied but included providing long-term on-the-ground work, improved communication, additional opportunities for landholder input, changes to the organization’s governance, and effort to change state policy. While results cannot be extended to the general population, the findings have the potential to help conservation organizations within the Pacific Northwest build trust with landholders and increase landholder enrollment in conservation programs. In addition, the findings highlight areas for future research