Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethnicity, disadvantage and other variables in the analysis of Birmingham longitudinal school attainment datasets

Abstract Explaining and responding to inequalities in attainment are significant educational policy challenges in England as elsewhere. Data on four cohorts of Birmingham Local Education Authority (LEA) pupils, each approximately 13,000, were analysed by ethnicity, deprivation, gender and other relevant individual pupil variables. For the four successive cohorts of children, aged five in 1997–2001, analysis shows the attainment trajectory of each ethnic group from Baseline/Foundation Stage Profile (age 5) to GCSE (age 16). The relative constancy over time, the changes from one key stage to the next and the differences within broad ethnic categories argue against simplistic explanations. The ethnicity variable accounts for a relatively small amount of variance in pupil achievement, with the same ethnic subgroups recurrently low attainers. Considering explanatory perspectives on educational inequalities and ethnicity in the light of these data, we conclude that a structuralist perspective offers the best explanation recognising economic exploitation, dominance and oppression at the national and local levels. Notions of institutional racism and Critical Race Theory (CRT) are considered to be inadequate and counter-productive, in part shown by their inability to accommodate the range of attainment levels and educational experience of different ethnic groups. More tellingly, they lack causal explanations relevant to the United Kingdom and deflect attention from the need for sustained effort to reduce poverty and disadvantage as it affects children.
A WIDELY SEPARATED, HIGHLY OCCLUDED COMPANION TO THE NEARBY LOW-MASS T TAURI STAR TWA 30

We report the discovery of TWA 30B, a wide (∼3400 AU), co-moving M dwarf companion to the nearby (∼42 pc) young star TWA 30. Companionship is confirmed from their statistically consistent proper motions and radial velocities (RVs), as well as a chance alignment probability of only 0.08%. Like TWA 30A, the spectrum of TWA 30B shows signatures of an actively accreting disk (H i and alkali line emission) and forbidden emission lines tracing outflowing material ([O i], [O ii], [O iii], [S ii], and [N ii]). We have also detected [C i] emission in the optical data, marking the first such detection of this line in a pre-main-sequence star. Negligible RV shifts in the emission lines relative to the stellar frame of rest (ΔV ≲ 30 km s−1) indicate that the outflows are viewed in the plane of the sky and that the corresponding circumstellar disk is viewed edge-on. Indeed, TWA 30B appears to be heavily obscured by its disk, given that it is 5 mag fainter than TWA 30A at K band despite having a slightly earlier spectral type (M4 versus M5). The near-infrared spectrum of TWA 30B also evinces an excess that varies on day timescales, with colors that follow classical T Tauri tracks as opposed to variable reddening (as is the case for TWA 30A). Multi-epoch data show this excess to be well modeled by a black body component with temperatures ranging from 630 to 880 K and emitting areas that scale inversely with the temperature. The variable excess may arise from disk structure such as a rim or a warp at the inner disk edge located at a radial distance of ∼3–5 R☉. As the second and third closest actively accreting and outflowing stars to the Sun (after TWA 3), TWA 30AB presents an ideal system for a detailed study of star and planetary formation processes at the low-mass end of the hydrogen-burning spectrum.
Familial and social conditions of alcohol drinking in children and adolescents.

PURPOSE The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency of alcoholic beverage use among children and young people of Białystok city and to assess the influence of familial and environmental factors on this phenomenon. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study included 894 pupils in the city of Białystok. An anonymous questionnaire, prepared in the Department of Pediatric Nursery of the Medical University of Białystok was used in the study. RESULTS The examinations revealed that alcohol use among adolescents of Białystok increases with the increasing age of pupils (33.2%--the first grade of middle school, 63.4%--the third grade of middle school, and 79.9%--the second grade of high school). The first experience with alcohol took place in the 5-10 age bracket, but the greatest alcohol initiation (35% of young people) was reported in the 10-15 age bracket; 16% of children were not capable of establishing proper relations with their parents. The examined pupils observed destructive behavior most frequently among their friends (38%) and in people with whom they had no direct contact (36.8%). Adolescents were revealed to use alcohol for company (21.6%), due to lack of safety feeling (18.4%), and the ability of free time organizing (23.4%). CONCLUSION 1. Alcohol use by children and adolescents from the city of Białystok increases with the age and the biggest alcohol initiation takes place in the age of 10-15 brackets. 2. Familial and social conditioning/factors influence alcohol use by children and adolescents.
“To Play or Not to Play?” That is NOT the Question!

This paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding play and the role of the teacher in early years contexts from Kindergarten to Grade 3. This conceptual framework is supported by references to theoretical and practical frameworks related to play-based learning. The value of a conceptual framework to support school-based decisions about play in an early learning context provides a rationale for presenting the concept of pedagogical play in diagram form. The elements of the diagram and their descriptions are provided in detail, using theoretical and practical constructs. Next, a description of a typical early learning day is presented using the conceptual framework that is developed in this article. Lastly, the advantages of having such a framework to support teachers’ professional development and preparation are discussed.
Anisotropy factor estimation from backscattered Q elements of stokes vectors

Optical characterization of biological tissues is of real interest to improve medical diagnosis and in particular in the detection of precancerous tissues. We propose a new noninvasive method allowing the estimation of the anisotropy factor. This method is based on the image analysis of the Q- element of Stokes vector backscattered from the turbid medium. These Q-element images show specific patterns depending on g. Therefore the use of Fourier Descriptors (FD) on simulated data, to discriminate the specific geometrical features of the Q-element, enabled us to determine a linear relation between the anisotropy factor and six FD. This method was applied on experimental data obtained with calibrated solutions. The anisotropy factor was estimated with a maximum relative error of 13 %.
Electrothermal Large-Signal Model of III–V FETs Including Frequency Dispersion and Charge Conservation

An empirical large-signal III-V field-effect transistor (FET) model has been developed. Three improved drain-source current (I-V) modeling equations capable of representing arbitrarily shaped transconductance (Gm) curves are proposed from level-1 to level-3. These models are characterized by the static dc and the multibias pulsed I-V measurements along with their dependences on temperature, so as to account for the frequency dispersion and the self-heating effects. By partitioning the Gm plots into five regions, specific parameters of the various model levels can be directly associated with the regions. Besides, the fitting parameters have inherent consistent definitions among different model levels, where some of the key model parameters can be extracted directly from measurements. For the gate-charge formulation (Q-V), a novel charge-conservative gate charge model is presented to accurately trace the nonlinear gate-source (C gs) and gate-drain (C gd) capacitance values. The comprehensive large-signal model is then validated by comparing the predicted I-V, C-V, S-parameters as well as power characteristics with the measured results of III-V FETs.
Determinants of mental health treatment seeking among soldiers who recognize their problem: implications for high-risk occupations

ABSTRACT Although research has documented an increased risk of mental health problems among employees in high-stress occupations, little attention has been devoted to the process by which employees seek treatment for these problems. Using components of the Stages of Change Model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982), this study examined the correlates of considering and receiving treatment for such problems among active-duty military personnel in the U.S. Army. A multidimensional assessment of determinants of treatment seeking was administered to 1725 military personnel, along with measures of mental health symptoms and treatment seeking. These determinants were examined as predictors of considering and receiving treatment among a sub-sample of 466 personnel who recognized having a current mental health problem. Multinomial logistic regressions indicated that attitudes towards treatment and a preference for self-reliance distinguished those considering treatment from those who had not sought treatment. A larger number of factors distinguished soldiers considering treatment from those who had actually received treatment, with operational barriers and self-reliance being the strongest and unique correlates. The discussion focuses on the importance of what organizations can do to facilitate treatment seeking among employees in high-risk environments.
Monetary and Financial Integration: Evidence from Portuguese Borrowing Patterns

This paper examines the impact of European Monetary Union (EMU) accession on bilateral Portuguese international borrowing patterns. Using a difference-in-differences methodology, I demonstrate that Portugal’s accession to the EMU was accompanied by a change in its borrowing pattern in favor of borrowing from its EMU partner nations. This extends the evidence in the literature that overall international borrowing is facilitated by the creation of a monetary union, and raises the issue of financial diversion. The results are shown to survive a wide variety of robustness checks and are corroborated by preliminary evidence concerning Greece’s accession to EMU in 2001.
Social media as amplification station: factors that influence the speed of online public response to health emergencies

ABSTRACT Online public response to health emergencies is a major and complex public health issue. This study employs hierarchical linear modeling to investigate the speed of online users’ response to health emergency information on Chinese microblogging sites. The distribution of response speed for all posts is highly skewed. Only a minimal number of posts are forwarded in less than one minute. We further examine the effects of the characteristics of original messages as well as the effects of the factors of reposted messages and information transmitters, to determine the response time of messages on health emergencies. Original messages with different emotional orientations have different response times. The homophily of geographical location among dyadic information transmitters, the addressivity of reposted messages, and the degree of activity and popularity of information transmitters shorten the response time. This study expands the social amplification of risk model to an online context and contributes to the literature on information diffusion by identifying the effects of dyadic relationships among information transmitters. Practical implications are briefly discussed.
The moderating influence of core self-evaluation, emotional intelligence and extraversion on career success

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating influences of core self-evaluation, emotional intelligence, and extraversion on the career success of master’s level business graduates. Much was known about the relationship between this study’s three dispositional variables and career success, but far less was known about how these items interact with one another to influence extrinsic and intrinsic career success. Our research involved the collection of data from master’s level business alumni from a large Southeastern university who graduated between 2000 and 2012. Established measures were used as gathering instruments for the three dispositional variables, the CSES for core self-evaluation, the WEIP-S for emotional intelligence, and the IPIP proxy of the NEO-PI-R for extraversion. In total, 4,790 alumni were surveyed and 534 alumni successfully completed the survey. The survey results found partial support for 2 of the 4 hypotheses. We found a moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between core self-evaluation and extrinsic career success. We also found that extraversion moderated the relationship between core self-evaluation and participant’s response to the question ‘time spent happy at work’. The data also produced a strong, positive relationship between core self-evaluation and intrinsic career success, and a modest relationship between intrinsic career success and both emotional intelligence and extraversion. This study concluded that personality does matter when it comes to career success of master’s level business graduates. These results have implications for business schools administrators that aim to improve the career success of their master’s level business graduates. By understanding the core selfevaluation traits and emotional intelligence abilities of applicants and students, business school leaders can seek to understand how these items are associated with higher performance in terms of job placement and career success. This knowledge could be incorporated into a more
PAX9 polymorphism and susceptibility to sporadic non-syndromic severe anodontia: a case-control study in southwest China

Our research aimed to look into the clinical traits and genetic mutations in sporadic non-syndromic anodontia and to gain insight into the role of mutations of PAX9, MSX1, AXIN2 and EDA in anodontia phenotypes, especially for the PAX9. Material and Methods: The female proband and her family members from the ethnic Han families underwent complete oral examinations and received a retrospective review. Venous blood samples were obtained to screen variants in the PAX9, MSX1, AXIN2, and EDA genes. A case-control study was performed on 50 subjects with sporadic tooth agenesis (cases) and 100 healthy controls, which genotyped a PAX9 gene polymorphism (rs4904210). Results: Intra-oral and panoramic radiographs revealed that the female proband had anodontia denoted by the complete absence of teeth in both the primary and secondary dentitions, while all her family members maintained normal dentitions. Detected in the female proband were variants of the PAX9 and AXIN2 including A240P (rs4904210) of the PAX9, c.148C>T (rs2240308), c.1365A>G (rs9915936) and c.1386C>T (rs1133683) of the AXIN2. The same variants were present in her unaffected younger brother. The PAX9 variations were in a different state in her parents. Mutations in the MSX1 and EDA genes were not identified. No significant diferences were found in the allele and genotype frequencies of the PAX9 polymorphism between the controls and the subjects with sporadic tooth agenesis. Conclusions: These results suggest that the association of A240P with sporadic tooth agenesis still remains obscure, especially for different populations. The genotype/phenotype correlation in congenital anodontia should be verified.
Networks and Trade: Evidence from the Jewish Diaspora

Recent literature finds that informal networks are quantitatively important in explaining the cross-country patterns of trade. We check the robustness of this result by looking at the Jewish community. Analyzing the effect of the Jewish Diaspora on trade is particularly interesting: (i) we build and uncover the Jewish population data from publications of the American Jewish Committee from 1899 to 2005, what allows a rich analysis both in panel and cross-sections; (ii) the creation of the State of Israel is an interesting exogeneous variation that has not been empirically exploited yet. We apply a theory-based gravity model, address the issue of heteroskedastic errors in log-linearized models and use the pseudo-maximum likelihood estimation as our main econometric strategy. Our results confirm the trade creation effect of social networks found in cross-sections by the previous literature, even though the effect we find is much smaller in comparison. Moreover, we show robust trade creation effects in a panel: in our benchmark specification for the period 1951-2000, the jewish networks lead to a trade creation of 0.85%, compared to 23.6% of trade creation due to free trade agreements. We divide networks between direct and indirect networks with Israel, and show that most of the network effect is captured by the direct links. Finally, we use the tariff equivalent to reafirm the trade-creating effects of the Jewish networks and find no evidence of a decrease of the network effect over time.
Cost-Effective Reduction of NOx Emissions from Electricity Generation

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the benefits and costs of policies to reduce NOx emissions from electricity generation in the United States. Because emissions of NOx contribute to the high concentration of atmospheric ozone in the eastern states associated with health hazards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called on eastern states to formulate state implementation plans (SIPs) for reducing NOx emissions. Our analysis considers three NOx reduction scenarios: a summer seasonal cap in the eastern states covered by EPA's NOx SIP Call, an annual cap in the same SIP Call region, and a national annual cap. All scenarios allow for emissions trading. Although EPA's current policy is to implement a seasonal cap in the SIP Call region, this analysis indicates that an annual cap in the SIP Call region would yield about $400 million more in net benefits (benefits less costs) than would a seasonal policy, based on particulate-related health effects only. An annual cap in the SIP Call region is also the policy that is most likely to achieve benefits in excess of costs. Consideration of omissions from this accounting, including the potential benefits from reductions in ozone concentrations, strengthens the finding that an annual program offers greater net benefits than does a seasonal program.
Q‐ball reconstruction of multimodal fiber orientations using the spherical harmonic basis

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) accurately delineates white matter pathways when the Gaussian model of diffusion is valid. However, DTI yields erroneous results when diffusion takes on a more complex distribution, as is the case in the brain when fiber tracts cross. High angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) overcomes this limitation of DTI by more fully characterizing the angular dependence of intravoxel diffusion. Among the various HARDI methods that have been proposed, QBI offers advantages such as linearity, model independence, and relatively easy implementation. In this work, reconstruction of the q‐ball orientation distribution function (ODF) is reformulated in terms of spherical harmonic basis functions, yielding an analytic solution with useful properties of a frequency domain representation. The harmonic basis is parsimonious for typical b‐values, which enables the ODF to be synthesized from a relatively small number of noisy measurements and thus brings the technique closer to clinical feasibility from the standpoint of total imaging time. The proposed method is assessed using Monte Carlo computer simulations and compared with conventional q‐ball reconstruction using spherical RBFs. In vivo results from 3T whole‐brain HARDI of adult volunteers are also provided to verify the underlying mathematical theory. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Internal disinhibition predicts 5‐year weight regain in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR)

Maintenance of weight loss remains elusive for most individuals. One potential innovative target is internal disinhibition (ID) or the tendency to eat in response to negative thoughts, feelings or physical sensations. Individuals high on ID do worse on average in standard behavioural treatment programmes, and recent studies suggest that disinhibition could play a significant role in weight regain.
Comparison between PSO and GA in System Restoration Solution

The use of the Evolutionary Computation (EC) grew in interest recently. Among various Evolutionary Computation approaches, Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) are used in optimization problems; they have much in common but also have some differences. This paper presents a decision support tool based on Particle Swarm Optimization Technique (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm Technique (GA). This tool is applied to electrical power system restoration after an incident. The operator support systems play an important role in a performance of the complex process involving decision-making problems of combinatory nature. The techniques are based on the change of system functional configuration and consist in the use of the maximization of power demand supplied and minimization of the number switched lines. These techniques also avoid the overload of system lines. A case study is introduced.
Hepatic Localization of Macrophage Phenotypes during Fibrogenesis and Resolution of Fibrosis in Mice and Humans

Macrophages have been found to both promote liver fibrosis and contribute to its resolution by acquiring different phenotypes based on signals from the micro-environment. The best-characterized phenotypes in the macrophage spectrum are labeled M1 (classically activated) and M2 (alternatively activated). Until now the in situ localization of these phenotypes in diseased livers is poorly described. In this study, we therefore aimed to localize and quantify M1- and M2-dominant macrophages in diseased mouse and human livers. The scarred collagen-rich areas in cirrhotic human livers and in CCl4-damaged mouse livers contained many macrophages. Though total numbers of macrophages were higher in fibrotic livers, the number of parenchymal CD68-positive macrophages was significantly lower as compared to normal. Scar-associated macrophages were further characterized as either M1-dominant (IRF-5 and interleukin-12) or M2-dominant (CD206, transglutaminase-2, and YM-1) and significantly higher numbers of both of these were detected in diseased livers as compared to healthy human and mouse livers. Interestingly, in mouse, livers undergoing resolution of fibrosis, the total number of CD68+ macrophages was significantly lower compared to their fibrotic counterparts. M2-dominant (YM-1) macrophages were almost completely gone in livers undergoing resolution, while numbers of M1-dominant (IRF-5) macrophages were almost unchanged and the proteolytic activity (MMP9) increased. In conclusion, this study shows the distribution of macrophage subsets in livers of both human and murine origin. The presence of M1- and M2-dominant macrophages side by side in fibrotic lesions suggests that both are involved in fibrotic responses, while the persistence of M1-dominant macrophages during resolution may indicate their importance in regression of fibrosis. This study emphasizes that immunohistochemical detection of M1/M2-dominant macrophages provides valuable information in addition to widely used flow cytometry and gene analysis.