Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Noncontractible Investments and Reference Points

We analyze noncontractible investments in a model with shading. A seller can make an investment that affects a buyer’s value. The parties have outside options that depend on asset ownership. When shading is not possible and there is no contract renegotiation, an optimum can be achieved by giving the seller the right to make a take-it-or-leave-it offer. However, with shading, such a contract creates deadweight losses. We show that an optimal contract will limit the seller’s offers, and possibly create ex post inefficiency. Asset ownership can improve matters even if revelation mechanisms are allowed.
Understanding the Level of Achievement Bilingual Education Fosters in Students

Traditional approaches to examining the effectiveness of bilingual programs typically compare them to monolingual programs and rarely discuss the meaning and complexity of the notion of achievement therein. A vertical case study framework is used to examine this local phenomenon at a bilingual elementary school in Chicago, Illinois across local, national, and global contexts. This vertical case study aims to answer the question; how does a bilingual program define the notion of achievement and work to facilitate that achievement for students? To do this, I conducted interviews and analyzed policy documents to examine how achievement is defined in bilingual education based on the two basic levels of achievement. Through examining the inner workings of a bilingual school as well as analyzing the type of achievement students can demonstrate; we gain a better understanding of what bilingual education can achieve for students. This Thesis describes how bilingual education policy has changed throughout the years, and how national and global definitions of achievement fall short in supporting sound bilingual education policy. I conclude by explaining how national and global contexts have attributed to the disconnect that exists between teacher and administrator definitions of achievement. Furthermore, findings indicate that the lack of supportive legislation influences a lower level of achievement at this bilingual elementary school. Keywords: dual-language, achievement, student achievement, bilingual education
The Genetic Architecture of Sucrose Responsiveness in the Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.)

One of the best examples of a natural behavioral syndrome is the pollen-hoarding syndrome in honeybees that ties together multiple behavioral phenotypes, ranging from foraging behavior to behavioral ontogeny and learning performance. A central behavioral factor is the bees' responsiveness to sucrose, measured as their proboscis extension reflex. This study examines the genetics of this trait in diploid worker and haploid male honeybees (drones) to learn more about the genetic architecture of the overall behavioral syndrome, using original strains selected for pollen-hoarding behavior. We show that a significant proportion of the phenotypic variability is determined by genotype in males and workers. Second, our data present overwhelming evidence for pleiotropic effects of previously identified quantitative trait loci for foraging behavior (pln-QTL) and epistatic interactions among them. Furthermore, we report on three genomic QTL scans (two reciprocal worker backcrosses and one drone hybrid population) derived from our selection strains. We present at least one significant and two putative new QTL directly affecting the sucrose response of honeybees. Thus, this study demonstrates the modular genetic architecture of behavioral syndromes in general, and elucidates the genetic architecture of the pollen-hoarding behavioral syndrome in particular. Understanding this behavioral syndrome is important for understanding the division of labor in social insects and social evolution itself.
An overview of the clinical use of ondansetron in preschool age children

The introduction of 5-HT3 receptor antagonist has revolutionized the prevention and treatment of nausea and vomiting in preschool aged children. These distressing symptoms, arising from multiple etiologies such as anesthesia, chemotherapy, and viral infection, are a major concern of patients and their families. Clinical research has demonstrated the antiemetic effectiveness of ondansetron in children. Although most of these studies focus primarily on preventing vomiting across the pediatric age group, they provide strong evidence for the use of ondansetron in preschool age children. For children at high risk, pediatric practice guidelines recommend ondansetron in conjunction with other antiemetics to achieve complete control of symptoms.
Effect of dietary supplementation of crude microalgal extracts on growth performance, survival and disease resistance of Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) larvae

The present study aimed to assess growth performance and health status of Lates calcarifer larvae fed with crude microalgal extracts. Larvae weighing 5.96 ± 0.39 mg were randomly divided into four experimental groups in triplicates, with each replicate having 35 larvae. Four diets formulated to contain 55% protein and 12% lipid, were prepared with pigment rich microalgal extracts at 0% (T1) and 1% each of crude phycocyanin (T2), chlorophyll (T3) and astaxanthin (T4) extracts. The experiment was carried out in 30 l plastic tanks by feeding experimental diets to satiation. There was no significant difference (p<0.05) in growth performance in larval groups fed different experimental diets. Percentage survival during the feeding experiment was significantly higher in the astaxanthin fed group (77.14±1.65) and lower in chlorophyll fed group (36.19±0.95) compared to control group. Cannibalism (%) was significantly reduced in the treatments fed astaxanthin (7.61±0.95) and phycocyanin (8.57±0.3) pigmented diets compared to chlorophyll fed group (13.33±0.95) and control group. Bacterial challenge with pathogenic Vibrio alginolyticus revealed highest resistance in astaxanthin and phycocyanin fed larvae. The study confirms that astaxanthin and phycocyanin at 1% dietary levels improve survival and disease resistance in Asian seabass larvae but do not affect growth performance.
E-Learning for Deaf Adults from a User-Centered Perspective

Deaf individuals present differences compared to their hearing peers in terms of their learning profile. In addition, deaf adults seem to still be socially excluded nowadays, given that the transition from school to work is more difficult for people with hearing loss. This study aims to analyze the cognitive characteristics of deaf adults, as well as the way they learn better, for the development of an innovative and user-friendly e-learning platform, which will be adapted to the educational needs of the target group. Fifty-three deaf or hard-of-hearing adults participated in the field research for the needs of this study. According to the results, participants prefer e-learning modules with continuity in terms of the content, which offer comprehension questions during the sessions, as well as practice exercises after their completion. Furthermore, participants had positive attitudes towards the use of special graphics and explanatory videos.
Improved analysis and interpretation of 7D Magnetic Resonance - Phase Contrast flow images

3D-Magnetic Resonance (MR) - Phase Contrast techniques produce 7D flow data sets (3D volume, 3 vector components and time resolution up to 20 heart phases), which offer a large number of interpretation and analysis methods, such as vector field analysis, (cone-, streamline- and vector plots), volume and area changes due to the heart beat, and flow profiles in the region of interest. Visualization techniques are adjusted to the specific cases and quantitative analysis methods are presented.
Dielectronic Recombination of Fe 3pq Ions: A Key Ingredient for Describing X-Ray Absorption in Active Galactic Nuclei

We have carried out multiconfiguration Breit-Pauli AUTOSTRUCTURE calculations for the dielectronic recombination (DR) of Fe8+-Fe12+ ions. We obtain total DR rate coefficients for the initial ground level that are an order of magnitude larger than those corresponding to radiative recombination (RR), at temperatures where Fe 3pq (q = 2-6) ions are abundant in photoionized plasmas. The resultant total (DR+RR) rate coefficients are then an order of magnitude larger than those currently in use by photoionized plasma modeling codes such as CLOUDY, ION, and XSTAR. These rate coefficients, together with our previous results for q = 0 and 1, are critical for determining the ionization balance of the M-shell Fe ions that give rise to the prominent unresolved-transition-array X-ray absorption feature found in the spectrum of many active galactic nuclei. This feature is poorly described by CLOUDY and ION, necessitating an ad hoc modification to the low-temperature DR rate coefficients. Such modifications are no longer necessary, and a rigorous approach to such modeling can now take place using these data.
Gamification of Dietary Decision-Making in an Elementary-School Cafeteria

Despite the known health benefits of doing so, most US children do not consume enough fruits and vegetables (FV). School-based interventions can be effective in increasing FV consumption, but the most effective of these require that schools allocate their time, effort, and financial resources to implementing the program: expenditures that schools may be reluctant to provide in climates of academic accountability and economic austerity. The present demonstration project used a behaviorally based gamification approach to develop an intervention designed to increase FV consumption while minimizing material and labor costs to the school. During the intervention, the school (N = 180 students in grades K-8) played a cooperative game in which school-level goals were met by consuming higher-than-normal amounts of either fruit or vegetables (alternating-treatments experimental design). School-level consumption was quantified using a weight-based waste measure in the cafeteria. Over a period of 13 school days, fruit consumption increased by 66% and vegetable consumption by 44% above baseline levels. Use of an alternating-treatment time-series design with differential levels of FV consumption on days when fruit or vegetable was targeted for improvement supported the role of the intervention in these overall consumption increases. In post-intervention surveys, teachers rated the intervention as practical in the classroom and enjoyed by their students. Parent surveys revealed that children were more willing to try new FV at home and increased their consumption of FV following the intervention. These findings suggest that a behaviorally based gamification approach may prove practically useful in addressing concerns about poor dietary decision-making by children in schools.
Multiplexing oscillatory biochemical signals

In recent years it has been increasingly recognized that biochemical signals are not necessarily constant in time and that the temporal dynamics of a signal can be the information carrier. Moreover, it is now well established that the protein signaling network of living cells has a bow-tie structure and that components are often shared between different signaling pathways. Here we show by mathematical modeling that living cells can multiplex a constant and an oscillatory signal: they can transmit these two signals simultaneously through a common signaling pathway, and yet respond to them specifically and reliably. We find that information transmission is reduced not only by noise arising from the intrinsic stochasticity of biochemical reactions, but also by crosstalk between the different channels. Yet, under biologically relevant conditions more than 2 bits of information can be transmitted per channel, even when the two signals are transmitted simultaneously. These observations suggest that oscillatory signals are ideal for multiplexing signals.
Determining Consumers’ Discount Rates with Field Studies

Because utility/profits, state transitions, and discount rates are confounded in dynamic models, discount rates are typically fixed for the purpose of identification. The authors propose a strategy of identifying discount rates. The identification rests on imputing the utility/profits using decisions made in a context in which the future is inconsequential, the objective function is concave, and the decision space is continuous. They then use these utilities/profits to identify discount rates in contexts in which dynamics become material. The authors exemplify this strategy using a field study in which cell phone users transitioned from a linear to a three-part-tariff pricing plan. They find that the estimated discount rate corresponds to a weekly discount factor (.90), lower than the value typically assumed in empirical research (.995). When using a standard . 995 discount factor, they find that the price coefficient is underestimated by 16%. Moreover, the predicted intertemporal substitution pattern and demand elasticities are biased, leading to a 29% deterioration in model fit and suboptimal pricing recommendations that would lower potential revenue gains by 76%.
Mapping an open digital university in Malawi: Implications for Africa

The ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have considerably transformed the higher educational landscape and are now providing an increasing number of novel and dynamic pathways for education delivery. The steady growth of flexible and affordable ICTs is impacting upon the higher education domain resulting in a departure from traditional education systems to more technologically driven forms of pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to investigate how best to exploit the available ICT infrastructures to support the creation of an open digital university at Mzuzu University in Malawi and to investigate the implications on a wider African context. The data were collected from lecturers, campus-based undergraduate students, and open and distance learning undergraduate students. The main results reveal that students and lecturers at Mzuzu University are conversant with a plethora of ICTs that can be adopted and customised to create a digital university. In that regard, we conclude that a digital university is possible in Malawi. We further conclude that, considering that African universities operate in mostly similar economic, technological and political landscapes, African universities are ready to embrace the concept of a digital university. This is regardless of the prevailing challenges.
Plasma adiponectin and E-selectin concentrations in patients with coronary heart disease and newly diagnosed disturbances of glucose metabolism.

PURPOSE Adiponectin is a fat derived hormone, which enhances insulin sensitivity. In experimental studies adiponectin was shown to have antiatherogenic properties by suppressing endothelial expression of adhesion molecules. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate plasma adiponectin and E-selectin concentrations in patients with coronary artery disease and impaired glucose metabolism and evaluation of their relationship with selected anthropometric, biochemical and clinical parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study group consisted of 62 patients with coronary heart disease, without previous diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (mean age 48.6 +/- 6.0 years; mean BMI 28.6 +/- 3.13 kg/m2). In the studied group the OGTT with glucose and insulin estimation was performed and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was calculated. In the fasting state, the plasma adiponectin, soluble form of E-selectin, HbA1c and lipid parameters were estimated. RESULTS Adiponectin concentration was not different in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance (n = 36) in comparison to the group with normal glucose tolerance (n = 26). There was also no difference in adiponectin concentration in relation to atherosclerosis progression. There was no significant correlation between adiponectin and calculated insulin resistance index, while there was marked inverse correlation between adiponectin and BMI (r = -0.30; p = 0.018), body weight (r = -0.33; p = 0.008), E-selectin (r = -0.263; p = 0.039), TG concentration (r = -0.27; p = 0.036), duration of coronary heart disease (r = -0.33; p = 0.009) and borderline significance with ejection fraction (r = -0.268; p = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS Our study supports the hypothesis that adiponectin could be recognised as a protective protein for the development of atherosclerosis.
The Gender Pay Gap and Trade Liberalisation: Evidence for India

This paper uses nationally representative employment surveys to examine the magnitude of the gender pay gap in India and its relationship to a set of trade liberalisation measures. Separate wage equations, corrected for selection bias, are estimated for men and women in wage employment. Conventional index number procedures are used to decompose the gender pay gap into ‘endowment’ and ‘treatment’ components. The ‘treatment’ components comprise about one-third of the overall wage gap – a result in comport with the existing evidence for India. There is some evidence that the ‘treatment’ or residual components are declining over time but the point estimates for the differentials in these components between the initial and terminal years of our analysis are found to be imprecisely determined. A methodology suggested by Horrace and Oaxaca (2001) is used to compute industry specific gender pay gaps and their relationship with selected trade-related measures (e.g., tariff rates and trade ratios) is then examined econometrically within a GLS framework. We find little evidence that the trade-related measures are important determinants of the industry-level gender pay gap and appear to have exerted a relatively benign influence on the evolution of the industry gender pay gap in India over the last two decades.
Relating Disjunctive Logic Programs to Default Theories

This paper presents the relationship between disjunctive logic programs and default theories. We rst show that Bidoit and Froidevaux's positivist default theory causes a problem in the presence of disjunctive information in a program. Then we present a correct transformation of disjunctive logic programs into default theories and show a one-to-one correspondence between the stable models of a program and the extensions of its associated default theory. We also extend the results to extended disjunctive programs and investigate their connections with Gelfond et al's disjunctive default theory, autoepistemic logic, and circumscription.
Depolymerization of Chitosan Using a High Pressure Homogenizer

Large molecular weight chitosan was depolymerized ba high pressure homogenizer with a micro orifice module. 1chitosan solution was prepared with 1 % (v/v) acetic acid solution. T he chitosan solution was passed through a high pressure homogenizer at 500, 1000 and 1500 bar for 1 to 5 cycles. An increase in the pressure and the nu mber of passes causes the viscosity and molecular weight to decrease without the use of any additives, such as acid/alkali solutions. The FT-IR spectra in dicated no obvious modifications of the chemical structure of chitosan before and after the high pressure homogenizer treatment. The UV spectra show ed a new absorption band of carbonyl groups at 255 nm. The carbonyl gro ups might be formed during depolymerization. The XRD results showed tha t the crystallinity of the chitosan decreased with increases in the pressure a nd the number of passes.
The Effect of School Type on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Indonesia

Using data from Indonesia, Newhouse and Beegle to evaluate the impact of school type on academic achievement of junior secondary school students (grades 7-9). Students that graduate from public junior secondary schools, controlling for a variety of other characteristics, score 0.15 to 0.3 standard deviations higher on the national exit exam than comparable privately schooled peers. This finding is robust to OLS, fixed-effects, and instrumental variable estimation strategies. Students attending Muslim private schools, including Madrassahs, fare no worse on average than students attending secular private schools. The results provide indirect evidence that higher quality inputs at public junior secondary schools promote higher test scores.
A study of the core of the Shapley Concentration — III. Properties of the clusters in the A3558 complex⋆

The Shapley Concentration is the richest supercluster of clusters in the nearby Universe, and its core is a remarkable complex formed by the ACO clusters A3558, A3562 and A3556, and by the two minor groups SC 1327−312 and SC 1329−314. This structure has been studied in various wavelength bands, revealing that it is probably dynamically very active. In this paper we present 174 new galaxy redshifts in this cluster complex, which are added to the sample of 540 already existing velocities. The large number of redshifts permits a more accurate and robust analysis of the dynamical parameters of the clusters. In particular, we discuss the complex velocity distribution of A3558, and the bimodal distribution of A3556 and SC 1329−313, and also calculate the mean velocity and velocity dispersion of A3562. Moreover, for the three ACO clusters we derive the luminosity functions by adopting a new fitting technique, which takes into account the galaxy density profiles.
THE CHANDRA DEEP PROTOCLUSTER SURVEY: Lyα BLOBS ARE POWERED BY HEATING, NOT COOLING

We present the results of a 400 ks Chandra survey of 29 extended Lyα emitting nebulae (Lyα Blobs, LABs) in the z = 3.09 protocluster in the SS A22 field. We detect luminous X-ray counterparts in five LABs, implying a large fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in LABs, fAGN = 17+12−7% down to L2–32 keV ∼ 1044 erg s−1. All of the AGN appear to be heavily obscured, with spectral indices implying obscuring column densities of NH > 1023 cm−2. The AGN fraction should be considered a lower limit, since several more LABs not detected with Chandra show AGN signatures in their mid-infrared (mid-IR) emission. We show that the UV luminosities of the AGN are easily capable of powering the extended Lyα emission via photoionization alone. When combined with the UV flux from a starburst component, and energy deposited by mechanical feedback, we demonstrate that “heating” by a central source, rather than gravitational cooling is the most likely power source of LABs. We argue that all LABs could be powered in this manner, but that the luminous host galaxies are often just below the sensitivity limits of current instrumentation, or are heavily obscured. No individual LABs show evidence for extended X-ray emission, and a stack equivalent to a ≳9 Ms exposure of an average LAB also yields no statistical detection of a diffuse X-ray component. The resulting diffuse X-ray/Lyα luminosity limit implies there is no hot (T ≳ 107 K) gas component in these halos, and also rules out inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons, or local far-IR photons, as a viable power source for LABs.
Preparing Red‐Green‐Blue Images from CCD Data

We present a new, and we believe arguably correct, algorithm for producing red‐green‐blue (RGB) composites from three‐band astronomical images. Our method ensures that an object with a specified astronomical color (e.g., g−r and r−i) has a unique color in the RGB image, as opposed to the burnt‐out white stars to which we are accustomed. A natural consequence of this is that we can use the same colors to code color‐magnitude diagrams, providing a natural “index” to our images. We also introduce the use of an arcsinh stretch that allows us to show faint objects while simultaneously preserving the structure of brighter objects in the field, such as the spiral arms of large galaxies. We believe that in addition to their aesthetic value, our images convey far more information than do the traditional ones, and we provide examples from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging, the Hubble Deep Field (HDF), and Chandra to support our claims.