20,142 research outputs found

    Learning to listen: downstream effects of listening training on employees' relatedness, burnout, and turnover intentions

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    Abstract: The present work focuses on listening training as an example of a relational human resource practice that can improve human resource outcomes: Relatedness to colleagues, burnout, and turnover intentions. In two quasi‐field experiments, employees were assigned to either a group listening training or a control condition. Both immediately after training and after 3 weeks later, receiving listening training was shown to be linked to higher feelings of relatedness with colleagues, lower burnout, and lower turnover intentions. These findings suggest that listening training can be harnessed as a powerful human resource management tool to cultivate stronger relationships at work. The implications for Relational Coordination Theory, High‐Quality Connections Theory, and Self‐Determination Theory are discussed

    Coloniality and the Courtroom: Understanding Pre-trial Judicial Decision Making in Brazil

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    This thesis focuses on judicial decision making during custody hearings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The impetus for the study is that while national and international protocols mandate the use of pre-trial detention only as a last resort, judges continue to detain people pre-trial in large numbers. Custody hearings were introduced in 2015, but the initiative has not produced the reduction in pre-trial detention that was hoped. This study aims to understand what informs judicial decision making at this stage. The research is approached through a decolonial lens to foreground legacies of colonialism, overlooked in mainstream criminological scholarship. This is an interview-based study, where key court actors (judges, prosecutors, and public defenders) and subject matter specialists were asked about influences on judicial decision making. Interview data is complemented by non-participatory observation of custody hearings. The research responds directly to Aliverti et al.'s (2021) call to ‘decolonize the criminal question’ by exposing and explaining how colonialism informs criminal justice practices. Answering the call in relation to judicial decision making, findings provide evidence that colonial-era assumptions, dynamics, and hierarchies were evident in the practice of custody hearings and continue to inform judges’ decisions, thus demonstrating the coloniality of justice. This study is significant for the new empirical data presented and theoretical innovation is also offered via the introduction of the ‘anticitizen’. The concept builds on Souza’s (2007) ‘subcitizen’ to account for the active pursuit of dangerous Others by judges casting themselves as crime fighters in a modern moral crusade. The findings point to the limited utility of human rights discourse – the normative approach to influencing judicial decision making around pre-trial detention – as a plurality of conceptualisations compete for dominance. This study has important implications for all actors aiming to reduce pre-trial detention in Brazil because unless underpinning colonial logics are addressed, every innovation risks becoming the next lei para inglês ver (law [just] for the English to see)

    Image classification over unknown and anomalous domains

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    A longstanding goal in computer vision research is to develop methods that are simultaneously applicable to a broad range of prediction problems. In contrast to this, models often perform best when they are specialized to some task or data type. This thesis investigates the challenges of learning models that generalize well over multiple unknown or anomalous modes and domains in data, and presents new solutions for learning robustly in this setting. Initial investigations focus on normalization for distributions that contain multiple sources (e.g. images in different styles like cartoons or photos). Experiments demonstrate the extent to which existing modules, batch normalization in particular, struggle with such heterogeneous data, and a new solution is proposed that can better handle data from multiple visual modes, using differing sample statistics for each. While ideas to counter the overspecialization of models have been formulated in sub-disciplines of transfer learning, e.g. multi-domain and multi-task learning, these usually rely on the existence of meta information, such as task or domain labels. Relaxing this assumption gives rise to a new transfer learning setting, called latent domain learning in this thesis, in which training and inference are carried out over data from multiple visual domains, without domain-level annotations. Customized solutions are required for this, as the performance of standard models degrades: a new data augmentation technique that interpolates between latent domains in an unsupervised way is presented, alongside a dedicated module that sparsely accounts for hidden domains in data, without requiring domain labels to do so. In addition, the thesis studies the problem of classifying previously unseen or anomalous modes in data, a fundamental problem in one-class learning, and anomaly detection in particular. While recent ideas have been focused on developing self-supervised solutions for the one-class setting, in this thesis new methods based on transfer learning are formulated. Extensive experimental evidence demonstrates that a transfer-based perspective benefits new problems that have recently been proposed in anomaly detection literature, in particular challenging semantic detection tasks

    Political Islam and grassroots activism in Turkey : a study of the pro-Islamist Virtue Party's grassroots activists and their affects on the electoral outcomes

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    This thesis presents an analysis of the spectacular rise of political Islam in Turkey. It has two aims: first to understand the underlying causes of the rise of the Welfare Party which -later became the Virtue Party- throughout the 1990s, and second to analyse how grassroots activism influenced this process. The thesis reviews the previous literature on the Islamic fundamentalist movements, political parties, political party systems and concentrates on the local party organisations and their effects on the party's electoral performance. It questions the categorisation of Islamic fundamentalism as an appropriate label for this movement. An exploration of such movements is particularly important in light of the event of 11`x' September. After exploring existing theoretical and case studies into political Islam and party activism, I present my qualitative case study. I have used ethnographic methodology and done participatory observations among grassroots activists in Ankara's two sub-districts covering 105 neighbourhoods. I examined the Turkish party system and the reasons for its collapse. It was observed that as a result of party fragmentation, electoral volatility and organisational decline and decline in the party identification among the citizens the Turkish party system has declined. However, the WP/VP profited from this trend enormously and emerged as the main beneficiary of this process. Empirical data is analysed in four chapters, dealing with the different aspects of the Virtue Party's local organisations and grassroots activists. They deal with change and continuity in the party, the patterns of participation, the routes and motives for becoming a party activist, the profile of party activists and the local party organisations. I explore what they do and how they do it. The analysis reveals that the categorisation of Islamic fundamentalism is misplaced and the rise of political Islam in Turkey cannot be explained as religious revivalism or the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. It is a political force that drives its strength from the urban poor which has been harshly affected by the IMF directed neoliberal economy policies. In conclusion, it is shown that the WP/VP's electoral chances were significantly improved by its very efficient and effective party organisations and highly committed grassroots activists

    What is the importance of sperm subpopulations?

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    .The study of sperm subpopulations spans three decades. The origin, meaning, and practical significance, however, are less clear. Current technology for assessing sperm morphology (CASA-Morph) and motility (CASA-Mot) has enabled the accurate evaluation of these features, and there are many options for data classification. Subpopulations could occur as a result of the stage of development of each spermatozoon in the subpopulation. Spermatogenesis might contribute to the production of these subpopulations. Insights from evolutionary biology and recent molecular research are indicative of the diversity among male gametes that could occur from unequal sharing of transcripts and other elements through cytoplasmic bridges between spermatids. Sperm cohorts exiting the gonads would contain different RNA and protein contents, affecting the spermatozoon physiology and associations with the surrounding environmental milieu. Subsequently, these differences could affect how spermatozoa interact with the environmental milieu (maturation, mixing with seminal plasma, and interacting with the environmental milieu, or female genital tract and female gamete). The emergence of sperm subpopulations as an outcome of evolution, related to the reproductive strategies of the species, genital tract structures, and copulatory and fertilization processes. This kind of approach in determining the importance of sperm subpopulations in fertilization capacity should have a practical impact for conducting reproductive technologies, inspiring and enabling new ways for the more efficient use of spermatozoa in the medical, animal breeding, and conservation fields. This manuscript is a contribution to the Special Issue in memory of Dr. Duane GarnerS

    Änkyttävien aikuisten kokemuksia TRE®-harjoittelusta:kvasikokeellinen interventiotutkimus

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    Tiivistelmä. Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää vähentääkö tai muuttaako kuuden viikon säännöllinen Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®)-harjoittelu änkyttävien aikuisten änkytysoireita. Tavoitteena oli myös selvittää, kokivatko osallistujat hyötyneensä TRE®-harjoittelusta tai kokivatko he harjoittelun vaikuttaneen elämäänsä muulla tavoin. Lisäksi tavoitteena oli saada tämän kehollisen menetelmän vaikutuksesta sellaista lisätietoa, jota voitaisiin hyödyntää änkytyksen kuntoutuksessa. Tutkimus toteutettiin kvasikokeellisena interventiotutkimuksena, jossa osallistujien (N=5) kokemuksia kartoitettiin kyselyn avulla ennen ja jälkeen intervention. Osallistujat osallistuvat yhden päivän (3h) TRE®-kurssille, jonka jälkeen he harjoittelivat menetelmää käyttäen itsenäisesti kuuden viikon ajan. Osallistujat vastasivat änkytystään koskeviin kyselyihin ennen kurssia ja sitä seuraavan itsenäisen kuuden viikon harjoittelujakson jälkeen ja pitivät kotiharjoittelustaan päiväkirjaa. Osallistujien raportoima harjoitteluun käytetty kokonaisaika kuuden viikon jakson aikana vaihteli 1,2–9,6 tunnin välillä. Tutkimusaineiston pienen koon vuoksi, tulosten analysoinnissa ei käytetty tilastollisia menetelmiä, vaan tulokset on kuvattu vastausten keskiarvojen muutoksina. Myös osallistujien antamia avoimia vastauksia tarkasteltiin. Tutkimuksen perusteella suurin osa osallistujista arvioi harjoittelujakson loputtua änkytyksensä vaikeustason säilyneen samanlaisena kuin ennen TRE®-harjoittelun aloittamista. Änkytysoireiden esiintymisessä ja änkytystilanteiden monipuolisuudessa havaittiin pientä muutosta negatiiviseen ja positiiviseen suuntaan. Änkytyksen yleiset negatiivisina pidetyt vaikutukset sekä sosiaalista tilanteista jättäytyminen pienenivät hieman tutkimusjakson aikana. Myös osallistujien itsearvioitu suhde omaan kehoon vaikutti hieman parantuneen. Stressiin ja uneen liittyvissä väittämissä havaittiin myös pientä muutosta negatiiviseen ja positiiviseen suuntaan. Osallistujien vastauksissa koskien harjoittelun hyödyllisyyttä oli suurta hajontaa eikä kukaan osallistujista pitänyt todennäköisenä suosittelevansa TRE®-harjoittelua muille änkyttäville henkilöille. Kaikki osallistujat kokivat harjoittelun vaikeustasoltaan joko neutraaliksi tai jokseenkin helpoksi. Saatujen tulosten perusteella ei voida selkeästi päätellä vaikuttiko kuuden viikon TRE®-harjoittelu osallistujien änkytykseen suotuisasti. Tutkimuksessa havaitut änkytysterapian kannalta merkittävät kehityssuunnat on kuitenkin aiheellista huomioida. Tutkimuksen alustavien havaintojen ja siinä käsitellyn taustakirjallisuuden perusteella, TRE®:n ja muiden kehollisten menetelmien vaikuttavuutta änkytyksen hoidossa tulisi jatkossa tutkia perusteellisemmin.Experiences of the use of TRE®-exercises among adults who stutter : a quasi-experimental intervention study. Abstract. The aim of this study was to examine whether six weeks of regular practice of Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®) would decrease or alter stuttering characteristics among adults who stutter. In addition, the aim was also to explore whether the participants found practicing TRE® useful in their lives. Finally, the study aimed at discovering information about the use of body-oriented practices that could be useful in stuttering therapy. The study was conducted as a quasi-experimental intervention study and the participants’ (N=5) experiences were surveyed with a questionnaire form filled in by the participants prior to as well as after the intervention period. The participants took part in a one-day (3h) TRE® course and afterwards used the method independently for six weeks. The participants filled in stuttering related questionnaire forms prior to the course and after the six-week training period, as well as kept a journal of their independent practice. The participants reported spending a total of between 1.2 and 9.6 hours practicing independently. The sample size of the data was small and therefore no statistical analysis of the results could be made. The results of the study are given as changes in the mean values of the answers. Furthermore, the open-ended answers given by the participants were examined in the study. The results of the study indicate that the self-evaluated severity of stuttering remained unchanged at the end of the intervention period. Minor changes to both negative and positive directions were observed in the prevalence of stuttering characteristics and in the diversity of situations where stuttering occurs. Slight decrease of negative stuttering behaviors and withdrawals from social situations were observed during the intervention period. Slight improvement of self-evaluated body image could be observed among the participants. Slight positive and negative changes related to stress and sleep were also observed. There was a great variety among the participants’ answers concerning the usefulness of TRE® practice. None of the participants found it likely to recommend TRE® to other people who stutter. All participants noted the level of difficulty in using the TRE® method either neutral or rather easy. Based on the results of the study, it remains unclear whether the six weeks of TRE® practice had a favorable effect on stuttering among the participants. However, it is important to acknowledge the favorable trends concerning the decrease of the negative effects related to stuttering as well as the improvement of participants’ body image observed in this study. Based on these preliminary observations and the literature review of the present study, it would be important to study the use of TRE® and other body-oriented methods in stuttering therapy in more detail

    In her own words: exploring the subjectivity of Freud’s ‘teacher’ Anna von Lieben

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    This project is inspired by Roy Porter (1985), who draws attention to the patient-shaped gap in medical history, and Rita Charon (2006), who emphasises the need to bring the patient’s narrative to the fore in the practice of medicine. The principal aim was to devise a means of accessing the lived experience of a patient who is no longer alive in order to gain an understanding of her narrative. Anna von Lieben was identified as a suitable subject as she wrote a substantial quantity of autopathographical poetry suitable for analysis and her status as Freud’s patient makes her a person of significant interest to the history of medicine. The poems were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), an idiographic and inductive method of qualitative research, based on Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology, which explores the lived experience of individuals and is committed to understanding the first-person perspective from the third-person position. The main findings from the IPA study reveal that Anna experienced a prolonged period of malaise, starting in late adolescence which she believed to result, at least partly, from a traumatic experience which occurred at that time. The analysis also indicates that Anna suffered from deep and lasting feelings of guilt and shame. The discovery of additional family documentation enabled me to contextualise and add substance to the findings of the IPA study. Anna’s husband’s diaries in particular reveal that Anna: • had a severe and longstanding gynaecological disorder • suffered from severe morphinism • did not benefit from Freud’s treatment which seemed neither to ease her symptoms nor identify any cause • was treated in Paris, not by Jean-Martin Charcot as previously supposed, but by a French hydrotherapist, Theodore Keller, who appears to have become a person of considerable significance in her life. The above findings led me to investigate Anna’s comorbidities (gynaecological disease and morphinism) and to show how those could be responsible for much of the symptomatology identified by Freud as ‘hysteria’. I then explore the possibility that her psychotic-like experiences could have been iatrogenically induced by her treatment first by Keller and then by Freud. Finally, I propose a fourfold set of hypotheses as an alternative to Freud’s diagnosis of hysteria

    Unraveling the effect of sex on human genetic architecture

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    Sex is arguably the most important differentiating characteristic in most mammalian species, separating populations into different groups, with varying behaviors, morphologies, and physiologies based on their complement of sex chromosomes, amongst other factors. In humans, despite males and females sharing nearly identical genomes, there are differences between the sexes in complex traits and in the risk of a wide array of diseases. Sex provides the genome with a distinct hormonal milieu, differential gene expression, and environmental pressures arising from gender societal roles. This thus poses the possibility of observing gene by sex (GxS) interactions between the sexes that may contribute to some of the phenotypic differences observed. In recent years, there has been growing evidence of GxS, with common genetic variation presenting different effects on males and females. These studies have however been limited in regards to the number of traits studied and/or statistical power. Understanding sex differences in genetic architecture is of great importance as this could lead to improved understanding of potential differences in underlying biological pathways and disease etiology between the sexes and in turn help inform personalised treatments and precision medicine. In this thesis we provide insights into both the scope and mechanism of GxS across the genome of circa 450,000 individuals of European ancestry and 530 complex traits in the UK Biobank. We found small yet widespread differences in genetic architecture across traits through the calculation of sex-specific heritability, genetic correlations, and sex-stratified genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We further investigated whether sex-agnostic (non-stratified) efforts could potentially be missing information of interest, including sex-specific trait-relevant loci and increased phenotype prediction accuracies. Finally, we studied the potential functional role of sex differences in genetic architecture through sex biased expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) and gene-level analyses. Overall, this study marks a broad examination of the genetics of sex differences. Our findings parallel previous reports, suggesting the presence of sexual genetic heterogeneity across complex traits of generally modest magnitude. Furthermore, our results suggest the need to consider sex-stratified analyses in future studies in order to shed light into possible sex-specific molecular mechanisms
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