Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Labor Earnings, Discrimination, and the Racial Composition of Jobs

This paper examines the effect of the racial composition of labor markets on wage rates and the racial wage gap. The wage rates of white as well as black workers are significantly lower in industry-occupation-regional groups with high densities of black workers, while the racial wage gap does not vary systematically with respect to racial density. Interpretation of racial gap estimates can be sensitive to inclusion of a racial density variable, particularly in sparse specifications. An explanation for the wage-density relationship cannot be established, but results are most consistent with a quality sorting explanation and, to a lesser extent, the crowding hypothesis.
Strategy and vision: The influence of the AMWU on the NZEU from 1987-1992 with respect to education and training reforms

It has been established that in the late 1980s, early 1990s the AMWU and the NZEU developed a close relationship through which the NZEU altered it traditional bargaining strategies. This study set out to discover the specific details of this relationship and its implications, with respect to education and training reforms, from around 1987-1992. The thesis began the investigation with a literature review, followed by an extensive series of interviews in Australia and New Zealand. The interviews were conducted with officials and former officials of the AMWU and the NZEU. Key players from the education and training reform process in both countries. The conclusion of this thesis is that, the pressure from the rise of neo-liberalism and the changes to production drove the NZEU to find alternative bargaining strategy. The strength of the unions in Australia and historical ties drew the NZEU to the AMWU, who under similar constraints, had formulated new bargaining strategies. These new strategies embraced ‘partnership unionism’ which used co-operative practices and training as a means of maintaining leverage under hostile conditions. This thesis asserts that the NZEU took on board the AMWU’s ‘partnership unionism’, through their relationship, as they saw them as a means of maintaining leverage in a neo-liberal environment. Training is the linchpin of this approach highlighting the strategic importance of education and training to unions. This thesis concludes that the NZEU has been able to maintain its leverage in a neo-liberal environment because, in line with Wolfgang Streeck’s analysis, it has recognised that education and training provide a degree of leverage in a hostile environment.
Diffusion coefficients for multi-step persistent random walks on lattices

We calculate the diffusion coefficients of persistent random walks on lattices, where the direction of a walker at a given step depends on the memory of a certain number of previous steps. In particular, we describe a simple method which enables us to obtain explicit expressions for the diffusion coefficients of walks with a two-step memory on different classes of one-, two- and higher dimensional lattices.
Progesterone receptor loss identifies luminal-type local advanced breast cancer with poor survival in patients who fail to achieve a pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of progesterone receptor (PgR) as a biomarker for differentiating estrogen receptor (ER)-positive patients who fail to achieve a pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) with different prognoses. A total of 327 consecutive, locally advanced breast cancer patients with ER-positive disease were included in this study. According to their HER-2 and Ki-67 status, the patients were classified into the Luminal-A or Luminal-B subtype. We evaluated the clinical and pathological response to NCT and relapse or death occurring during follow-up according to PgR status in the different luminal subtypes. In the Luminal-B subtype, patients with PgR- tumors had a relatively higher pathological complete response (pCR) rate (29.5% vs. 4.7% pCR, P < 0.001) and Miller-Payne grades (45.5% vs. 23.5% of grade 4-5, P = 0033) compared to PgR+ tumors. In Luminal-B patients with residual tumor after NCT, PgR loss was also independently correlated with poor relapse-free survival (P = 0.017; HR = 0.430; PgR- as a reference) and overall survival (P = 0.013; HR = 0.355; PgR- as a reference). However, in the Luminal-A subtype, there were no statistically significant differences between PgR+ and PgR- disease in response to NCT or survival. Our findings have demonstrated the prognostic value of PgR loss in the neoadjuvant setting, indicating that ER+/PgR- Luminal-B tumors warrant further attention due to their high risk of relapse after primary treatment.
Implementation of a Fast and Power Efficient Carry Select Adder using Reversible Gates

All reversible circuits have an intrinsic advantage over traditional irreversible circuits, because the reduce power consumption. Due to this, reversible circuits have been a source of constant excitement and great enthusiasm in the scientific community. Reversible logic is highly useful in nanotechnology, low power design and quantum computing. This paper proposes a design for a faster adder using reversible gates.
Clusters of synaptic inputs on dendrites of layer 5 pyramidal cells in mouse visual cortex

The spatial organization of synaptic inputs on the dendritic tree of cortical neurons plays a major role for dendritic integration and neural computations, yet, remarkably little is known about it. We mapped the spatial organization of glutamatergic synapses between layer 5 pyramidal cells by combining optogenetics and 2-photon calcium imaging in mouse neocortical slices. To mathematically characterize the organization of inputs we developed an approach based on combinatorial analysis of the likelihoods of specific synapse arrangements. We found that the synapses of intralaminar inputs form clusters on the basal dendrites of layer 5 pyramidal cells. These clusters contain 4 to 14 synapses within ≤30 µm of dendrite. According to the spatiotemporal characteristics of synaptic summation, these numbers suggest that there will be non-linear dendritic integration of synaptic inputs during synchronous activation. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.09222. 001
Large-scale EM Analysis of the Drosophila Antennal Lobe with Automatically Computed Synapse Point Clouds

The promise of extracting connectomes and performing useful analysis on large electron microscopy (EM) datasets has been an elusive dream for many years. Tracing in even the smallest portions of neuropil requires copious human annotation, the rate-limiting step for generating a connectome. While a combination of improved imaging and automatic segmentation will lead to the analysis of increasingly large volumes, machines still fail to reach the quality of human tracers. Unfortunately, small errors in image segmentation can lead to catastrophic distortions of the connectome. In this paper, to analyze very large datasets, we explore different mechanisms that are less sensitive to errors in automation. Namely, we advocate and deploy extensive synapse detection on the entire antennal lobe (AL) neuropil in the brain of the fruit fly Drosophila, a region much larger than any densely annotated to date. The resulting synapse point cloud produced is invaluable for determining compartment boundaries in the AL and choosing specific regions for subsequent analysis. We introduce our methodology in this paper for region selection and show both manual and automatic synapse annotation results. Finally, we note the correspondence between image datasets obtained using the synaptic marker, antibody nc82, and our datasets enabling registration between light and EM image modalities.
A 23.2dBm at 210GHz to 21.0dBm at 235GHz 16-Way PA-Cell Combined InP HBT SSPA MMIC

A 3-stage, 16-way PA-cell combined InP HBT solidstate power amplifier MMIC is presented demonstrating 23.2dBm (208.7mW) Pout at 210GHz to 21.0dBm (126.0mW) at 235GHz for 10dBm Pin - this represents 13.2-11.0dB large-signal gain. The total high-power bandwidth of this SSPA is between 190.8-237GHz. The amplifier has 24.3-26.7dB S21 gain from 206243GHz. The total PDC is 5.81W. A power-cascode cell topology is used for the PA unit cell, which is used to generate a 3-Stage, 4Cell output combined SSPA - then four of these 4-Cell SSPAs are combined using low insertion loss Wilkinson dividers and combiners to realize the overall 16-way PA cell combined MMIC. This is the first reported SSPA MMIC demonstrating > 200mW Pout above 200GHz operation. The output powers from this work across 190.8-237GHz are the highest values reported from an SSPA MMIC and improves upon state-of-the-art by 1.16-1.6× from 190.8-225GHz and by 1.6× from 230-235GHz. This result closely meets or exceeds across the same frequency operation the highest Pout reported from a solid-state based PA, a four-chip waveguide-block combined module.
Exploring Software Architecture Context

Architecture description can be modeled as a set of alternative choices and decisions, where the rationale and tradeoffs for each decision are documented and understood as needed to inform subsequent decisions. Each decision, based on ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010, pertains to one or more stakeholder concerns. These concerns combined with the system environment and scenarios provide architecture design context that clarifies the motivation for decisions. Subsequent authors have introduced the notion of an influencing decision force, using a many-to-many relationship with concern, to provide further context for decisions. For both concerns and forces it is left to the architect to identify the nature of this context. This paper proposes a systematic process for identifying and documenting design context in support of architectural decisions. For our work decision force is used as a central unifying aspect of the architecture framework metamodel. We extend the decision Forces Viewpoint to capture detailed design context descriptions, and add features for tagging the architecture description elements to facilitate identification of commonality, classification, and specialization. Initial feedback from industry stakeholders indicates this approach should be explored further.
Reliability of the Semmes Weinstein Monofilaments to measure coetaneous sensibility in the feet of healthy subjects

Purpose. To determine the intrarater-reliability, interrater-reliability and normal reference scores of the Semmes Weinstein Monofilament test (SWM) of the feet of healthy subjects. In addition, the stability of the SWM for prospective use was assessed by determining systematic changes in sensory thresholds. Methods. Interrater-reliability was assessed on five locations of the plantar side of both feet using monofilaments 1.65, 2.36, 2.44, 2.83, 3.22, 3.61, 3.84, 4.08, 4.31, 5.56, 6.65 in 60 healthy subjects by two or three investigators (test day 1). Intrarater-reliability and systematic changes in sensory thresholds were assessed 3 weeks later (test day 22) by one investigator. Results. Median interrater-reliability for the five test locations for both feet was poor to moderate. Median intrarater-reliability was good for the left foot and poor to moderate for the right foot. Significantly lower median sensory thresholds were found for the first SWM measurement at test day 22 compared to the first and second measurement of test day 1. Given the observed reliability of the SWM, a normal sensory score for the feet was situated between monofilament 3.22 and 4.08. Conclusions. The SWM are reliable when measured by one researcher. Systematic changes in sensory thresholds were observed; therefore, the stability of the SWM for use in prospective studies could not be verified.
A Global Morphology of Gravity Wave Activity in the Stratosphere Revealed by the GPS Occultation Data (GPS/MET)

Using temperature profiles obtained by the GPS/MET (GPS Meteorology) experiment from April 1995 to February 1997, we have extracted mesoscale temperature perturbations with vertical wavelengths ranging from 2 to 10 km and background Brunt-Vaisala frequency squared, N2. For each occultation event, we can evaluate a potential energy Ep which is assumed to be caused by atmospheric gravity waves. The monthly mean values of Ep at 15–20 km around Japan showed an annual variation with an enhancement in winter, which is consistent with the climatological behavior of the kinetic energy of gravity waves observed with the MU (middle and upper atmosphere) radar (34.9°N, 136.0°E) from 1985 to 1989. We have then derived the global distribution of Ep at 20–30 km during Northern Hemisphere winter (from November to February). Our analysis shows that the largest Ep values are generally centered around the equator between 25°N and 25°S with considerable longitude variations. Longitudinal variations of Ep at 20–30 km in a latitude range of 30°–60°N are also analyzed, resulting in larger Ep values over the continents than over the Pacific Ocean. Using GPS/MET data without antispoofing, latitudinal variations of Ep are determined in 15–45 km. Although large Ep values are concentrated near the equator at 20–30 km, Ep tends to become larger at midlatitudes at 30–40 km and higher-altitude regions. At midlatitudes, Ep is found to be larger in winter months in both hemispheres. Height variations of Ep indicate a decrease at 25–30 km and a monotonic increase above 30 km.
Drought under global warming: a review

This article reviews recent literature on drought of the last millennium, followed by an update on global aridity changes from 1950 to 2008. Projected future aridity is presented based on recent studies and our analysis of model simulations. Dry periods lasting for years to decades have occurred many times during the last millennium over, for example, North America, West Africa, and East Asia. These droughts were likely triggered by anomalous tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs), with La Niña‐like SST anomalies leading to drought in North America, and El‐Niño‐like SSTs causing drought in East China. Over Africa, the southward shift of the warmest SSTs in the Atlantic and warming in the Indian Ocean are responsible for the recent Sahel droughts. Local feedbacks may enhance and prolong drought. Global aridity has increased substantially since the 1970s due to recent drying over Africa, southern Europe, East and South Asia, and eastern Australia. Although El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO), tropical Atlantic SSTs, and Asian monsoons have played a large role in the recent drying, recent warming has increased atmospheric moisture demand and likely altered atmospheric circulation patterns, both contributing to the drying. Climate models project increased aridity in the 21st century over most of Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East, most of the Americas, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Regions like the United States have avoided prolonged droughts during the last 50 years due to natural climate variations, but might see persistent droughts in the next 20–50 years. Future efforts to predict drought will depend on models' ability to predict tropical SSTs. WIREs Clim Change 2011 2 45–65 DOI: 10.1002/wcc.81
The amortized complexity of non-blocking binary search trees

We improve upon an existing non-blocking implementation of a binary search tree from single-word compare-and-swap instructions. We show that the worst-case amortized step complexity of performing a Find, Insert or Delete operation op on the tree is O(h(op)+c(op)) where h(op) is the height of the tree at the beginning of op and c(op) is the maximum number of operations accessing the tree at any one time during op. This is the first bound on the complexity of a non-blocking implementation of a search tree.
10-30 micrometer Maps of the Central 5 parsecs of the Galaxy: Heating of the Cavity and Neutral-Gas Disk

Maps are presented for 10, 20, and 30 micrometers of the central 60' X 90' (RA X Dec) of the galaxy made at approximately 4' resolution with the MSFC bolometer array. The maps are the first to show the thermal emission from dust particles in both the ionized cavity and the neutral-gas ring with high sensitivity and an angular resolution as good as several arcsec.
A Silurian short-great-appendage arthropod

A new arthropod, Enalikter aphson gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Silurian (Wenlock Series) Herefordshire Lagerstätte of the UK. It belongs to the Megacheira (=short-great-appendage group), which is recognized here, for the first time, in strata younger than mid-Cambrian age. Discovery of this new Silurian taxon allows us to identify a Devonian megacheiran representative, Bundenbachiellus giganteus from the Hunsrück Slate of Germany. The phylogenetic position of megacheirans is controversial: they have been interpreted as stem chelicerates, or stem euarthropods, but when Enalikter and Bundenbachiellus are added to the most comprehensive morphological database available, a stem euarthropod position is supported. Enalikter represents the only fully three-dimensionally preserved stem-group euarthropod, it falls in the sister clade to the crown-group euarthropods, and it provides new insights surrounding the origin and early evolution of the euarthropods. Recognition of Enalikter and Bundenbachiellus as megacheirans indicates that this major arthropod group survived for nearly 100 Myr beyond the mid-Cambrian.
Healthcare libraries in Saudi Arabia: analysis and recommendations

Purpose – The paper aims to gain a detailed understanding of the current health library/information environment in Saudi Arabia, to identify problems, issues, and areas for improvement, to make recommendations for improvement, and to instantiate these in models and prototypes.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method empirical approach is used in 11 health libraries, including literature survey, institutional profiling, questionnaire, interviews, non‐participant observation, and examination of documents. A model for supporting change management in Saudi health libraries is proposed, and a prototype for a Saudi Health Information Network is developed.Findings – The healthcare libraries are well‐used, and appreciated by their users, and the staff are generally satisfied with their work. Problems and issues are identified: use of information communication technologies and digital resources; lack of proactive information services; education, training and continuing professional development for health libra.
Empowerment of Non-Academic Personnel in Higher Education: Exploring Associations with Perceived Organizational Support for Innovation and Organizational Trust.

Employee empowerment has long been associated with organizational outcomes such as innovation, greater effectiveness, and better performance. Non-academic professional employees in higher education are responsible for the important day-to-day operations of a university; therefore, organizational strategies such as employee empowerment that encourage initiatives and innovative behaviors among them may become crucial to the long-term survival of today’s colleges and universities. Surprisingly, non-academic professional employees in higher education have received little attention in the scholarly literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the levels of empowerment and perceived organizational support for innovations and organizational trust among non-academic professional employees within a public comprehensive university in a Midwestern state. The study also tested the hypotheses that organizational trust may affect perceived employee empowerment and influence the relationship between perceived organizational support for innovation and employee empowerment. A survey instrument was distributed by email to all eligible professional and scientific employees (N = 558) in the selected university. Data were collected using a web survey method. A total of 255 completed instruments were returned, which yielded a 45.7% net response rate. Overall, there was substantial evidence supporting a relationship between empowerment and the four distinct cognitions of empowerment, supporting the notion that empowerment is the “gestalt” of the four dimensions. Perceived organizational support for innovation was a significant predictor of employees’ perceived empowerment among non-academic professional employees. The respondents who reported higher levels of perceived organizational support for innovation perceived higher levels of empowerment. The study’s findings indicated the influence of organizational trust on empowerment. The findings also showed that administrative responsibilities had a
Alliance Formation and Coercion in Networks

This paper presents a game-theoretic model of network formation, which allows agents to enter bilateral alliances and to extract payoffs from enemies. Each pair of agents creates a surplus of one, which allies divide in equal parts. If agents are enemies, then the agent with more allies obtains a larger share of the surplus. I show that Nash equilibria are of two types. First, a state of utopia, where all agents are allies. Second, asymmetric equilibria, such that agents can be partitioned into sets of different size, where agents within the same set are allies and agents in different sets are enemies. These results stand in contrast to coalition formation games in the economics of conflict literature, where stable group structures are generally symmetric. The model provides a game-theoretic foundation for structural balance, a long- standing notion in social psychology, which has been fruitfully applied to the study of alliance formation in international relations.
Development of software effort and schedule estimation models using Soft Computing Techniques

Accurate estimation of the software effort and schedule affects the budget computation. Bidding for contracts depends mainly on the estimated cost. Inaccurate estimates will lead to failure of making a profit, increased probability of project incompletion and delay of the project delivery date. In this paper, we explore the use of Soft Computing Techniques to build a suitable model structure to utilize improved estimations of software effort for NASA software projects. In doing so, we plan to use Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to tune the parameters of the famous COnstructive COst MOdel (COCOMO). We plan also to explore the advantages of Fuzzy Logic to build a set of linear models over the domain of possible software Line Of Code (LOC). The performance of the developed model was evaluated using NASA software projects data set [1]. A comparison between COCOMO tuned-PSO, Fuzzy Logic (FL), Halstead, Walston-Felix, Bailey-Basili and Doty models were provided.
Individual Differences in Second-Language Proficiency

This study examined the relation between musical ability and second-language (L2) proficiency in adult learners. L2 ability was assessed in four domains: receptive phonology, productive phonology, syntax, and lexical knowledge. Also assessed were various other factors that might explain individual differences in L2 ability, including age of L2 immersion, patterns of language use and exposure, and phonological short-term memory. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine if musical ability explained any unique variance in each domain of L2 ability after controlling for other relevant factors. Musical ability predicted L2 phonological ability (both receptive and productive) even when controlling for other factors, but did not explain unique variance in L2 syntax or lexical knowledge. These results suggest that musical skills may facilitate the acquisition of L2 sound structure and add to a growing body of evidence linking language and music.