Choosing the Future: Economic Preferences for Higher Education Using Discrete Choice Experiment Method

Research in Higher Education - This study illustrates how respondents’ stated choices (the discrete choice experiment method) combined with the random utility framework can be used to model...     

The development of teaching and learning in Polish higher education

Higher Education - Research into teaching and learning in higher education has been actively pursued in Poland, with the aim of achieving efficient expansion and improving teaching in individual...     

Values Attributed to Marriage by Persons with Physical Disabilities

Within the so‐called normal society one can observe again and again symptoms of reluctance to being closely associated with people with physical disabilities. The general opinion is that this group of people is characterised by specific psychological and physical functioning and they are thought to have distinct needs and expectations as regards family life. To verify and confirm the above, comparative research was undertaken to find out how young able‐bodied, blind and persons using wheelchairs evaluate marriage. The subject of the research was the importance ascribed to the hierarchy of values related to marriage and family, and the types of needs satisfied through these institutions of social life. The participants were asked to evaluate such phenomena as love, sexual life and parenthood as well as expressing their attitude and opinion on conjugal infidelity. The results obtained do not indicate any significant differences in attitudes and views presented between the groups under consideration. All valued marriage and family life very highly and had similar expectations, however, not all will be able to fulfil their needs and aspirations in these areas. It will be quite complicated, especially so for those who are disabled. All possible failures are caused by, first of all, negative attitudes of the society towards erotic activities of people with disabilities.     

Relevance matters. Eighteen-month-olds’ use of relevant informative pointing as a predictor of two-year-olds’ language abilities / La relevancia es importante. El uso de gestos deícticos relevantes e informativos por parte de niños de año y medio como factor predictor de las capacidades lingüísticas a los dos años

Abstract

The significance of pointing gestures in the development of linguistic communication is linked to their referential character and formation of common ground in use of gestures and speech. Our longitudinal study aimed to define the nature of this relationship more precisely and to explore whether the relevance vs lack of relevance of a child’s pointing gestures is related to development of language abilities. We developed a special protocol to measure relevant and irrelevant pointing gestures in 18-month-olds, sampled production of spontaneous speech and measured their language comprehension at two years of age. A group of 343 children was tested, and using structural equation modelling we showed that relevant gestures predict the level of development of language production and comprehension. As predicted, this association was not applied to irrelevant gestures. It is likely that a child’s more frequent use of relevant pointing gestures helps the caregiver to recognize the child’s communicative intentions and to comment on his/her behaviour appropriately. The identified developmental/predictive relationship is valid in both mentalistic and teleological interpretation of early communicative development.     

Institutional accreditation as an instrument of public relations: The case of the Poznan´ university of economics

In December 2000, five Polish state institutions of higher education in economics established the Foundation for the Promotion and Accreditation of Economics Programmes. Its mission, as stated in its charter, is to improve the quality of economics and management education by disseminating and supporting its best models. This mission takes on particular importance on the eve of the inclusion of Polish higher education institutions into the European Higher Education Area. This article serves as a case study based on the experience of the Poznan´ University of Economics and what it gained from its accreditation in early 2003.     

A neural network model approach to athlete selection

In order to determine the usefulness of neural models in optimisation of recruitment processes, statistical analyses were carried out on measured results of javelin throwers using a full take off. A group of 140 Polish junior javelin throwers took part in the research. In order to choose the optimum combination of model parameters the Hellwig method was used. Linear and multilayer perceptron neural models were constructed and used to calculate combinations of variables. Statistical analysis of the results showed that the linear model was not able to describe precisely the relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables for the investigated group of young javelin throwers. For the investigated group, the perceptron network with a 4-3-2-1 structure gave the best predictive relationship for sports results of the javelin throwers.     

A preliminary evaluation of VEGF-A,VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 in patients with well-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective

Decompensated chronic hyperglycemia often leads to late microvascular complications such as retinopathy, diabetic foot syndrome, and diabetic kidney disease. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and its receptors in patients with well-controlled diabetes.

Methods

The study was conducted on 31 patients with well-controlled type 2 diabetes without micro-or macroangiopathy. Thirty healthy volunteers were enrolled in a control group. Serum concentrations of VEGF-A, VEGF receptors 1 and 2 (VEGFR1 and VEGFR2), fasting glucose, and lipid profiles were measured, and the plasma concentration of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was determined.

Results

No significant differences were observed between the concentration of VEGF-A, VEGFR1 or VEGFR2 in the subject group and that in the control group. Positive correlations were noted between the levels of VEGF-A, VEGFR2, and triglyceride, and there was a negative correlation between the levels of VEGFR2 and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol in the study group.

Conclusions

The concentrations of VEGF-A and its receptors 1 and 2 in patients with well-controlled diabetes are comparable to those of healthy individuals, which may indicate that appropriate control of glucose levels delays the occurrence of vascular complications. A negative correlation between VEGFR2 and HDL-cholesterol levels, and positive correlations between VEGF-A, VEGFR2, and triglyceride levels, suggest that lipid abnormalities occurring in diabetes may be involved in the modulation of angiogenesis.     

Computational approaches for mining user’s opinions on the Web 2.0

The emerging research area of opinion mining deals with computational methods in order to find, extract and systematically analyze people’s opinions, attitudes and emotions towards certain topics. While providing interesting market research information, the user generated content existing on the Web 2.0 presents numerous challenges regarding systematic analysis, the differences and unique characteristics of the various social media channels being one of them. This article reports on the determination of such particularities, and deduces their impact on text preprocessing and opinion mining algorithms. The effectiveness of different algorithms is evaluated in order to determine their applicability to the various social media channels. Our research shows that text preprocessing algorithms are mandatory for mining opinions on the Web 2.0 and that part of these algorithms are sensitive to errors and mistakes contained in the user generated content.