Profile of Florida: Services in transitional housing programs for homeless women with children

Family homelessness is a disturbing social problem in the United States. This study was conducted to determine the scope of components that included services and programs available for homeless women with children in transitional housing programs in Florida and the effectiveness of these components in helping these women move towards independence. Primary data for this study were obtained through questionnaires sent to directors of homeless centers in Florida. Supportive services offered by these centers were evaluated to determine if they enabled homeless women with children to become self-sufficient. The findings of this research indicated that regardless of the size, length of participation, and scope of services provided by the centers, these women showed gains in their ability to move toward self-sufficiency. The results support the hypothesis that transitional housing programs have a positive effect on homeless women with children. ^

Comparison of two mentoring programs for at -risk Black adolescents: A traditional one -to -one mentoring program and a school -to -work transitional program

The purposes of this study were: (a) to compare the impact of One-to-One (OTO) mentoring interventions administered in the high school setting, and the workplace of the students who participated in the School-to-Work (STW) transitional program, and (b) to identify how the participants perceived their experience in the OTO mentoring program and the STW transitional program. A qualitative approach was used to identify how participants perceived their mentoring experiences with the STW and OTO mentoring programs by utilizing focus groups and content analysis. A quantitative approach was used to compare the statistical differences of outcomes between the STW and OTO mentoring programs, by utilizing descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, chi-square analyses, and logistic regression. The sample was limited to participants in the STW and OTO mentoring programs resulting in 21 participants for the qualitative approach and 114 participants for the quantitative approach. ^ Results from the qualitative approach indicated that focus group participants in the STW program were satisfied with the program and the relationship with their mentors. They also suggested that the STW program be lengthened to include the entire academic year. Participants from the OTO focus group were dissatisfied with their program due to inadequate mentor involvement. Results from the quantitative approach showed that the increase in school attendance for the STW program's at-risk Black male youth was statistically significant compared to the OTO program participants; the STW program participants displayed a better outlook for attending college that was statistically significant compared to those in the OTO program; and the OTO program participants displayed a better outlook for permanent employment compared to those in the STW program. ^ Therefore, this study finds that mentoring can contribute to reducing school absences and high school completion in order for at-risk Black adolescents to attend college. It is recommended that the OTO program be restructured to eliminate the disparity that exists regarding the administration of the STW program and the OTO program. ^

Differential outcomes of two -way and transitional programs on English language learners at different entry levels

This study investigated the effects of two types of bilingual education programs (two-way and transitional) on the academic performance, attitudes, and metacognitive awareness of 5th grade students who entered kindergarten or first grade with different levels of English proficiency. The multi-stage sample consisted of students who had participated in each program for a period of at least five years. A mixed model design allowed for the collection of quantitative and qualitative data that were analyzed accordingly and integrated. ^ The findings indicated no significant differences between the two groups on measures of academic achievement in English. Significant differences were found in the number of semesters required for the students to become proficient English speakers. An important conclusion, based on these findings, was that the students enrolled in the two-way bilingual education (TWBE) programs learned English faster. Moreover, they maintained a high level of proficiency in Spanish, scoring significantly higher than the transitional bilingual education group on measures of Spanish reading ability.^ Questionnaire and interview data indicated that the students in the two-way bilingual education programs tended to use more Spanish for recreational purposes and tended to rate themselves as more proficient Spanish speakers than their peers. Conversely, the students enrolled in the transitional bilingual education programs tended to rate themselves as more proficient in English than their peers. ^ The level of English language proficiency upon entering school (five years later) was found to make a difference in academic achievement, as measured by standardized tests. Five years of schooling did not fully eliminate the gap in academic performance between students with different ESOL entry levels at kindergarten. However, entry level did not have an effect on attitudes towards bilingualism. ^ It is concluded that, although there was no significant difference between the two groups on measures of academic achievement in English, TWBE and transitional programs have differential effects. Students in the TWBE programs acquired oral language at a faster rate, developed literacy skills in their native language, and acquired more positive attitudes towards bilingualism. Theoretical, methodological, and policy implications of the findings are discussed. ^

Utilizing Real Objects to Increase Reading Comprehension in Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

This poster presents the results of a study conducted to evaluate the effects of pairing read-alouds with real objects related to stories read to students with significant cognitive disabilities to increase reading comprehension skills. The participants are four elementary students. The target audience is special education teachers.

Transitional areas between public and private space

This study analyzes transitional areas between public and private space in order to develop a design that might improve social interaction in the city. Architectural elements in specific pedestrian friendly spaces within the Miami area were identified and analyzed as social spaces in terms developed by Ali Mandanipour. Proximity, visual permeability, intersection, layering, and monumentality are design strategies used in many projects to enhance individual encounters. These strategies typically apply to transitional areas and serve as the direct physical links perceived by individuals moving between public and private areas. This project explores the different approaches to transitional areas in the design of an art gallery and surrounding artists' studios on Lincoln Road.

Detecting and discriminating novel objects : The impact of perirhinal cortex disconnection on hippocampal activity patterns

Funded by Wellcome Trust. Grant Numbers: WT087955, WT09520

Type of actors, objects of exchange, type of original transactions in the coverage of corruption

In the following analysis we deal with only specific corruption cases within our seven-country sample for content analysis (France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, and the UK). Only 5,212 relevant articles dealt with such cases within the total sample (12,742). We focus here on providing a descriptive comparative analysis of the actors, types of transactions and country specifics. The second part of the analysis describes the actors involved in the corrupt transactions, while in the third section we deal with the object of exchange in corrupt transactions. The fourth section focuses on the type of transaction which is linked to the corruption. Finally, a summary of the results of our preliminary findings is provided.

Dialogue, partnership and empowerment for network and information security:the changing role of the private sector from objects of regulation to regulation shapers

The protection of cyberspace has become one of the highest security priorities of governments worldwide. The EU is not an exception in this context, given its rapidly developing cyber security policy. Since the 1990s, we could observe the creation of three broad areas of policy interest: cyber-crime, critical information infrastructures and cyber-defence. One of the main trends transversal to these areas is the importance that the private sector has come to assume within them. In particular in the area of critical information infrastructure protection, the private sector is seen as a key stakeholder, given that it currently operates most infrastructures in this area. As a result of this operative capacity, the private sector has come to be understood as the expert in network and information systems security, whose knowledge is crucial for the regulation of the field. Adopting a Regulatory Capitalism framework, complemented by insights from Network Governance, we can identify the shifting role of the private sector in this field from one of a victim in need of protection in the first phase, to a commercial actor bearing responsibility for ensuring network resilience in the second, to an active policy shaper in the third, participating in the regulation of NIS by providing technical expertise. By drawing insights from the above-mentioned frameworks, we can better understand how private actors are involved in shaping regulatory responses, as well as why they have been incorporated into these regulatory networks.

The object binary interface: C++ objects for evolvable shared class libraries

Object-oriented design and object-oriented languages support the development of independent software components such as class libraries. When using such components, versioning becomes a key issue. While various ad-hoc techniques and coding idioms have been used to provide versioning, all of these techniques have deficiencies - ambiguity, the necessity of recompilation or re-coding, or the loss of binary compatibility of programs. Components from different software vendors are versioned at different times. Maintaining compatibility between versions must be consciously engineered. New technologies such as distributed objects further complicate libraries by requiring multiple implementations of a type simultaneously in a program. This paper describes a new C++ object model called the Shared Object Model for C++ users and a new implementation model called the Object Binary Interface for C++ implementors. These techniques provide a mechanism for allowing multiple implementations of an object in a program. Early analysis of this approach has shown it to have performance broadly comparable to conventional implementations.

Punctuated evolution and transitional hybrid network in an ancestral cell cycle of fungi

© Medina et al.Although cell cycle control is an ancient, conserved, and essential process, some core animal and fungal cell cycle regulators share no more sequence identity than non-homologous proteins. Here, we show that evolution along the fungal lineage was punctuated by the early acquisition and entrainment of the SBF transcription factor through horizontal gene transfer. Cell cycle evolution in the fungal ancestor then proceeded through a hybrid network containing both SBF and its ancestral animal counterpart E2F, which is still maintained in many basal fungi. We hypothesize that a virally-derived SBF may have initially hijacked cell cycle control by activating transcription via the cis-regulatory elements targeted by the ancestral cell cycle regulator E2F, much like extant viral oncogenes. Consistent with this hypothesis, we show that SBF can regulate promoters with E2F binding sites in budding yeast.

Dealing with Immigration in the Context of EU Enlargement: the Case of Transitional Provisions

This analysis addresses the issue of immigration in the context of the European Union enlargement. Focusing on the use of transitional provisions, it attempts to explain why and when EU leaders give workers from new member countries access to their labor market. Building on the observation that EU leaders seem not to use provisions in the spirit of the law, I gauge the importance of domestic political stakes in the use of those provisions. The empirical results suggest that although EU leaders implement and repeal provisions based on economic circumstances, political factors do intervene in the decision-making process. However, it remains uncertain whether those political factors are institutional or purely electoral.