Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is getting the right answer just about choosing the right words? The role of syntactically-informed features in short answer scoring

Developments in the educational landscape have spurred greater interest in the problem of automatically scoring short answer questions. A recent shared task on this topic revealed a fundamental divide in the modeling approaches that have been applied to this problem, with the best-performing systems split between those that employ a knowledge engineering approach and those that almost solely leverage lexical information (as opposed to higher-level syntactic information) in assigning a score to a given response. This paper aims to introduce the NLP community to the largest corpus currently available for short-answer scoring, provide an overview of methods used in the shared task using this data, and explore the extent to which more syntactically-informed features can contribute to the short answer scoring task in a way that avoids the question-specific manual effort of the knowledge engineering approach.
Diversification Prospects for Sustainable Libyan Economic Growth

The theory of resource dependence captures the extent to which a country’s economy relies on resource rents. It is usually measured in proportion to GDP, exports, or government revenues; hence, it is a function of absolute levels of resource extraction and rent capture in the context of other economic activity and sources of state revenue. This study has focused on the efforts to date by Libya to diversify its economic base. The resource dependence observed in Libya’s economy is driven mainly by the fact that there are relatively few alternative forms of economic activity, as evidenced by a per capita gap in GDP, or a low level of other exports. The state’s fiscal reliance on revenues from the extractive industries also depends on the size of other revenue streams. Yet, Libya has been unable to adequately distribute its GDP across a wide range of productive sectors. This concern highlights the earlier awareness to the risks of oil resource depletion which could compromise the future of the Libyan economy. In-depth interviews, and semi-structured questionnaire data analysis were carried out to obtain an actual view of the respondent’s perception. The study found that to achieve its objective of sustainability, Libya will need to ensure natural resources continue to be managed efficiently into the future. This may require some policy adjustments. First, diversifying the economy towards higher value-added tasks in manufacturing and services requires renewed emphasis on the structural reform agenda, as well as enhancements to public investment management. These will create the necessary conditions for accelerate productive investments in non-commodity sectors. The formation and the implementation of the policy were consistent with the analysis suggested by literature review. A series of recommendation to improve on the policy was made based on the analysis of the problems indicated and based on suggestions from respondents.
Testing for a Gap Junction-Mediated Bystander Effect in Retinitis Pigmentosa: Secondary Cone Death Is Not Altered by Deletion of Connexin36 from Cones

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) relates to a group of hereditary neurodegenerative diseases of the retina. On the cellular level, RP results in the primary death of rod photoreceptors, caused by rod-specific mutations, followed by a secondary degeneration of genetically normal cones. Different mechanisms may influence the spread of cell death from one photoreceptor type to the other. As one of these mechanisms a gap junction-mediated bystander effect was proposed, i.e., toxic molecules generated in dying rods and propagating through gap junctions induce the death of healthy cone photoreceptors. We investigated whether disruption of rod-cone coupling can prevent secondary cone death and reduce the spread of degeneration. We tested this hypothesis in two different mouse models for retinal degeneration (rhodopsin knockout and rd1) by crossbreeding them with connexin36-deficient mice as connexin36 represents the gap junction protein on the cone side and lack thereof most likely disrupts rod-cone coupling. Using immunohistochemistry, we compared the progress of cone degeneration between connexin36-deficient mouse mutants and their connexin36-expressing littermates at different ages and assessed the accompanied morphological changes during the onset (rhodopsin knockout) and later stages of secondary cone death (rd1 mutants). Connexin36-deficient mouse mutants showed the same time course of cone degeneration and the same morphological changes in second order neurons as their connexin36-expressing littermates. Thus, our results indicate that disruption of connexin36-mediated rod-cone coupling does not stop, delay or spatially restrict secondary cone degeneration and suggest that the gap junction-mediated bystander effect does not contribute to the progression of RP.
Tests for Overidentifying Restrictions in Factor-Augmented VAR Models

This paper develops tests for overidentifying restrictions in Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (FAVAR) models. The FAVAR combines a high-dimensional factor model and a conventional VAR for the latent factors. The identification of structural shocks in FAVAR can lead to restrictions on the factor loadings of many variables, so it can involve infinitely many identifying restrictions as the number of cross sections goes to infinity. Our focus is to test the joint null hypothesis that all the restrictions are satisfied. Conventional tests cannot be used due to the large dimension. We transform the infinite-dimensional problem into a finite-dimensional one by combining the individual statistics across the cross section dimension. We find the limit distribution of our joint test statistic under the null hypothesis and prove that it is consistent against the alternative that a fraction of or all identifying restrictions are violated. The Monte Carlo results show that the joint test statistic has good finite-sample size and power. We implement our tests to an updated version of Stock and Watson’s (2005) data set. The proposed test rejects the null hypotheses that the number of fast shocks is two or more, but does not reject the null that there is only one fast shock, which is the monetary policy shock. This result is further confirmed by the impulse responses of major macroeconomic variables to the monetary policy shock: the impulse responses based on one fast shock are generally more economically plausible than those based on two or more fast shocks; and the price puzzle is either considerably reduced or entirely solved for all price indexes when only one fast shock is used.
8 J un 1 99 8 Modules , comodules and cotensor products over

We characterize noncommutative Frobenius algebras A in terms of the existence of a coproduct which is a map of left A e-modules. We show that the category of right comodules over A, relative to this coproduct, is isomorphic to the category of right modules. This iso-morphism enables a reformulation of the cotensor product of Eilenberg and Moore as a functor of modules rather than comodules. We prove that the cotensor product M 2N of a right A-module M and a left A-module N is isomorphic to the vector space of homo-morphisms from a particular right A e-module D to M ⊗ N , viewed as a right A e-module. Some of the properties of D are investigated, and some sample calculations are given. Finally, we show that when A is commutative or semisimple, the cotensor product M 2N and its derived functors are given by the Hochschild cohomology over A of M ⊗ N .
Changes in Pre- and Post-Exercise Gene Expression among Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and Kidney Transplant Recipients

Introduction Decreased insulin sensitivity blunts the normal increase in gene expression from skeletal muscle after exercise. In addition, chronic inflammation decreases insulin sensitivity. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an inflammatory state. How CKD and, subsequently, kidney transplantation affects skeletal muscle gene expression after exercise are unknown. Methods Study cohort: non-diabetic male/female 4/1, age 52±2 years, with end-stage CKD who underwent successful kidney transplantation. The following were measured both pre-transplant and post-transplant and compared to normals: Inflammatory markers, euglycemic insulin clamp studies determine insulin sensitivity, and skeletal muscle biopsies performed before and within 30 minutes after an acute exercise protocol. Microarray analyses were performed on the skeletal muscle using the 4x44K Whole Human Genome Microarrays. Since nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) plays an important role in T cell activation and calcineurin inhibitors are mainstay immunosuppression, calcineurin/NFAT pathway gene expression was compared at rest and after exercise. Log transformation was performed to prevent skewing of data and regression analyses comparing measures pre- and post-transplant performed. Result Markers of inflammation significantly improved post-transplantation. Insulin infusion raised glucose disposal slightly lower post-transplant compared to pre-transplant, but not significantly, thus concluding differences in insulin sensitivity were similar. The overall pattern of gene expression in response to exercise was reduced both pre-and post-transplant compared to healthy volunteers. Although significant changes were observed among NFAT/Calcineurin gene at rest and after exercise in normal cohort, there were no significant differences comparing NFAT/calcineurin pathway gene expression pre- and post-transplant. Conclusions Despite an improvement in serum inflammatory markers, no significant differences in glucose disposal were observed post-transplant. The reduced skeletal muscle gene expression, including NFAT/calcineurin gene expression, in response to a single bout of exercise was not improved post-transplant. This study suggests that the improvements in inflammatory mediators post-transplant are unrelated to changes of NFAT/calcineurin gene expression.
Superconductivity at 93 K in a new mixed-phase Yb-Ba-Cu-O compound system at ambient pressure.

A stable and reproducible superconductivity transition between 80 and 93 K has been unambiguously observed both resistively and magnetically in a new Y-Ba-Cu-O compound system at ambient pressure. An estimated upper critical field H c2(0) between 80 and 180 T was obtained.
Cutting Edge: Estrogen Drives Expansion of the CD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cell Compartment1

CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells are crucial to the maintenance of tolerance in normal individuals. However, the factors regulating this cell population and its function are largely unknown. Estrogen has been shown to protect against the development of autoimmune disease, yet the mechanism is not known. We demonstrate that estrogen (17-β-estradiol, E2) is capable of augmenting FoxP3 expression in vitro and in vivo. Treatment of naive mice with E2 increased both CD25+ cell number and FoxP3 expression level. Further, the ability of E2 to protect against autoimmune disease (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis) correlated with its ability to up-regulate FoxP3, as both were reduced in estrogen receptor α-deficient animals. Finally, E2 treatment and pregnancy induced FoxP3 protein expression to a similar degree, suggesting that high estrogen levels during pregnancy may help to maintain fetal tolerance. In summary, our data suggest E2 promotes tolerance by expanding the regulatory T cell compartment.
A Re-examination of Causes of Deforestation and Environmental Kuznets Curve: Evidences from Latin America, Africa and Asia

Previous cross-country regression analyses on the causes of deforestation seem to have misspecified the regression models, in which the causes at different levels are mixed, leading to flawed cause-effect relationship between the rate of deforestation and its explanatory variables. The paper focuses explicitly on underlying/policy-oriented causes of deforestation and then examines their relationship with rate of deforestation across 43 countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia. An environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship between rate of deforestation and income is also tested. Results across all regions and based on panel data technique show that forest and allied (non-forest) sector policies and population density increase deforestation, while forest products export promotion policies, export prices and technological progress decrease deforestation. The effects of per capita income, economic growth and agricultural production are found to be varying in different region. An inverted U-shaped EKC empirically fits for Latin America and Africa while a U-shaped EKC does the same for Asia.
Women's Work and Children's Nutrition in South-Western Kenya

This paper reports a time-allocation study conducted in south Nyanza, Kenya. Data on household composition, identifying each household member, age, and relationship to each other were collected from 75 households. The data describe the internal household division of labour, especially how men and women differently allocate productive and reproductive work time, and how patterns of labour allocation differ between households that have entered into contracted sugar cane production and those that have not. While the sugar cane scheme has resulted in higher aggregate household incomes for its participants, nutritional status has not improved measurably. Other environmental factors such as water quality, sanitation, and access to medical care may play stronger roles in child nutrition status than women's time-allocation and participation in the sugar cane scheme. The results reveal gender-specific patterns of labour that may have consequences over the long run for children's nutrition status.
Towards Computer Assisted Crowd Aware Architectural Design

We present a preliminary exploration of an architectural optimization process towards a computational tool for designing environments (e.g., building floor plans). Using dynamic crowd simulators we derive the fitness of architectural layouts. The results of the simulation are used to provide feedback to a user in terms of crowd animation, aggregate statistics, and heat maps. Our approach automatically optimizes the placement of environment elements to maximize the flow of the crowd, while satisfying constraints that are imposed by the user (e.g., immovable walls or support bearing structures). We take steps towards user-in-the-loop optimization and design of an environment by applying an adaptive refinement approach to reduce the search space of the optimization. We perform a small scale user study to obtain early feedback on the performance and quality of our method in contrast with a manual approach.
Weak Explicit Matching for Level Zero Discrete Series of Unit Groups of $\mathfrak{p}$ -Adic Simple Algebras

Abstract Let $F$ be a $p$ -adic local field and let $A_{i}^{\times }$ be the unit group of a central simple $F$ -algebra ${{A}_{i}}$ of reduced degree $n\,>\,1\,(i\,=\,1,\,2)$ . Let ${{\mathcal{R}}^{2}}\left( A_{i}^{\times } \right)$ denote the set of irreducible discrete series representations of $A_{i}^{\times }$ . The “Abstract Matching Theorem” asserts the existence of a bijection, the “Jacquet-Langlands” map, $J{{L}_{{{A}_{2}},{{A}_{1}}}}\,:\,{{R}^{2}}\left( A_{1}^{\times } \right)\,\to \,{{R}^{2}}\left( A_{2}^{\times } \right)$ which, up to known sign, preserves character values for regular elliptic elements. This paper addresses the question of explicitly describing the map 𝒥ℒ, but only for “level zero” representations. We prove that the restriction $J{{L}_{{{A}_{2}},{{A}_{1}}}}\,:\,R_{0}^{2}\left( A_{1}^{\times } \right)\,\to \,R_{0}^{2}\left( A_{2}^{\times } \right)$ is a bijection of level zero discrete series (Proposition 3.2) and we give a parameterization of the set of unramified twist classes of level zero discrete series which does not depend upon the algebra ${{A}_{i}}$ and is invariant under $J{{L}_{{{A}_{2}},{{A}_{1}}}}$ (Theorem 4.1).
Australian Urban Planning: New Challenges, New Agendas

AcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsResearching urban policy1 Introduction: New challenges for planning PART ONE: AUSTRALIA'S CHANGING CITIES AND THEIR PLANNING2 Planning values and 'The Australia Settlement'3 Unsettling Australia: New forms of urban identity4 Changing urban governance I: Social Democratic Managerialism5 Changing urban governance II: Corporate LiberalismPART TWO: THE FORCES FOR CHANGE6 Cities for sale: Urban political-economy7 Democratising planning: Radical cultural critiques8 Greening planning? Environmental perspectives9 Let the market decide! From managerialism to neoliberalism10 The impacts on planning thought and practicePART THREE: NEW AGENDAS FOR PLANNING11 Revaluing planning12 Better planning: From policy to actionBibliographyIndex
Tumor-induced endothelial cell surface heterogeneity directly affects endothelial cell escape from a cell-mediated immune response in vitro

Immune-mediated damage to tumor vessels is a potential means of preventing solid tumor progression. Antiangiogenic cancer vaccines capable of inducing this kind of damage include formulations comprised of endothelial cell-specific antigens. Identification of antigens capable of eliciting efficient vaccination is difficult because the endothelial cell phenotype is affected by surrounding tissues, including angiogenic stimuli received from surrounding tumor cells. Therefore, phenotype endothelial cell variations (heterogeneity) were examined in the context of the development of an efficient vaccine using mass spectrometry-based cell surface profiling. This approach was applied to primary human microvascular endothelial cell (HMEC) cultures proliferated under growth stimuli provided by either normal tissues (growth supplement from human hypothalamus) or cancer cells (MCF-7, LNCap and HepG2). It was found that tumors induced pronounced, tumor type-dependent changes to HMEC surface targets that in an in vitro model of human antiangiogenic vaccination directly facilitated HMEC escape from cytotoxic T cell-mediated cell death. Furthermore, it was found that tumors influenced the HMEC phenotype unidirectionally and that HMEC imunogenicity was reciprocal to the intensity of tumor-induced changes to the HMEC surface. These findings provide data for the design of tumor-specific endothelial cell based vaccines with sufficient immunogenicity without posing a risk to the elicitation of autoimmunity if administered in vivo.
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGING OF BRIGHT LYMAN BREAK GALAXY CANDIDATES FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY: NOT LBGS AFTER ALL

We present deep Hubble Space Telescope ACS and NICMOS images of six bright Lyman break galaxy candidates that were previously discovered in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that five of the objects are consistent with unresolved point sources. Although somewhat atypical of the class, they are most likely LoBAL quasars, perhaps FeLoBALs. The sixth object, J1147, has a faint companion galaxy located ∼0.8 arcsec to the southwest. The companion contributes ∼8% of the flux in the observed-frame optical and infrared. It is unknown whether this companion is located at the same redshift as J1147.
The Dynamic-Optimizing Approach to the Current Account: Theory and Evidence

The organization of this paper is as follows. Section I builds an empirically implementable model of the current account. Likewise, Section II derives the essential time series properties of the real exchange rate. Positive implications of the intertemporal approach against panel and international cross section data are analyzed in Section III. Section IV brings out evidence relevant for the normative implications of the intertemporal approach, highlighting the role of taxes and incentives, capital controls, and convergence of growth rates. Section V concludes.
Impact of routine surgical ward and intensive care unit admission surveillance cultures on hospital-wide nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in a university hospital: an interrupted time-series analysis.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether a routine admission screening in surgical wards and intensive care units (ICUs) was effective in reducing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections-particularly nosocomial MRSA infections-for the whole hospital. METHODS The study used a single-centre prospective quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effect of the MRSA screening policy on the incidence density of MRSA-infected/nosocomial MRSA-infected patients/1000 patient-days (pd) in the whole hospital. The effect on incidence density was calculated by a segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series with 30 months prior to and 24 months after a 6 month implementation period. RESULTS The MRSA screening policy had a highly significant hospital-wide effect on the incidence density of MRSA infections. It showed a significant change in both level [-0.163 MRSA-infected patients/1000 pd, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.276 to -0.050] and slope (-0.01 MRSA-infected patients/1000 pd per month, 95% CI: -0.018 to -0.003) after the implementation of the MRSA screening policy. A decrease in the MRSA infections by 57% is a conservative estimate of the reduction between the last month before (0.417 MRSA-infected patients/1000 pd) and month 24 after the implementation of the MRSA screening policy (0.18 MRSA-infected patients/1000 pd). Equivalent results were found in the analysis of nosocomial MRSA-infected patients/1000 pd. CONCLUSIONS This is the first hospital-wide study that investigates the impact of introducing admission screening in ICUs and non-ICUs as a single intervention to prevent MRSA infections performed with a time-series regression analysis. Admission screening is a potent tool in controlling the spread of MRSA infections in hospitals.
Elasticity of Substitution between Clean and Dirty Energy Inputs - A Macroeconomic Perspective

Recently Acemolgu, Aghion, Bursztyn and Hemous (AER 2012) formulated a model in which a high macroeconomic elasticity of substitution between clean and dirty production represents a crucial condition for green growth. Until now it has never been systematically estimated. Using a novel panel of cross-country sectoral data, we formulate specifications of nested CES production functions that allow to estimate a special case of this parameter: the elasticity of substitution between clean and dirty energy inputs. Contrary to what is expected based on the earlier interfuel substitution literature, we find evidence that this elasticity exceeds one.
Functional Ability and Nutritional Status of Indian Elderly

The present study was conducted among the adult urban females. A total sample of 289 females including young adult females aged 20-25 years and older females aged 55-80 years was studied. Four anthropometric and five physiological variables were measured for all the subjects. Body mass index (BMI) and Waist hip ratio (WHR) were computed. Stature, grip strength, Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) showed a decline with advancing age. However, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, body mass index and waist hip ratio showed an increase with age. A decline in muscular strength, lung functions with a corresponding increase in fat mass and blood pressure was reported. More than 50 percent of the elderly females were found to be overweight/obese. More than 60 percent of the females were found to belong to pre-hypertensive/hypertensive category. Significant associations were found between the indices of adiposity, lung functions, muscular strength and blood pressure among the elderly (p<0.01).