Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MODERATING EFFECTS OF ETHNIC IDENTITY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS ON SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS OF URBAN LATINO/A YOUTH

Latinos are the largest growing and overall youngest population in the US, in comparison to other ethnic groups. Nearly 40% of Hispanic youth were found to be living in poverty, the largest group of any minority. As of 2014, 20% of Hispanics had less than a high school education and fourteen percent had an educational attainment between ninth and tenth grades; indicating that they had begun a high school education but were unable to finish. Racial and ethnic disparities have also been found to exist within the justice system; Hispanics accounted for twenty-two percent of the prison population while only accounting for seventeen percent of the general population. Racial disproportionality in school discipline, particularly that of exclusionary punishment such as out-of-school suspensions, may account for differences in educational achievement and negative outcomes associated with these disparities noted to exist between minority groups and their white counterparts. Since the 1990s there has been an increase in use of zero-tolerance policies by school districts nationwide. Use of such policies, and passing of laws by various states mandating the referral to law enforcement for various school infractions, have facilitated the increase in the number of police officers used in schools. Researchers have noted a strong association between the increased use of zero-tolerance policies in school discipline, disproportionate suspension and expulsion rates, and increased use of the criminal justice system. The combined effects of ecological risk factors with school suspensions and arrests, have significantly predicted antisocial behaviors (behaviors warranting school discipline), more out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and school drop-out than to reduce the likelihood of more disruptive behavior. Although Latino/a youth face a plethora of ecological risk within their communities, not all succumb to the same devastating outcomes. This study used resiliency theory as a framework to investigate whether ethnic identity served as a
A new Emoia samoensis group lizard (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Cook Islands, South-central Pacific

The first published report of a large treeskink from Rarotonga, Cook Islands, appeared in 1988. The first museum voucher specimen was collected in 1984. Although this skink seems likely to be a recent arrival to the island of Rarotonga, it represents a unique member of the Emoia samoensis species group. We compare this population with other members of the E. samoensis group and describe the population as Emoia tuitarere n. sp. , distinguished by a suite of external characters including SVL, number of dorsal scale rows, and number of subdigital lamellae of the fourth toe. We provide preliminary definitions for the concolor and samoensis species subgroups proposed by Brown (1991), although current molecular data do not support their monophyly (Hamilton et al., 2010).
REVIEW: Do polycultures promote win‐wins or trade‐offs in agricultural ecosystem services? A meta‐analysis

Summary Agriculture comprises the largest global land use, makes it a leading cause of habitat loss. It is therefore critical to identify how to best construct agricultural systems that can simultaneously provide food and other ecosystem services. This challenge requires that we determine how to maximize win-win relationships and minimize trade-offs between services. Through meta-analysis, we tested whether within-field crop diversification (polyculture) can lead to win-win relationships between two ecosystem services: yield of a focal crop species and biocontrol of crop pests. We selected only studies that recorded both services (N = 26 studies; 301 observations), allowing us to better determine the underlying mechanisms of our principal findings. We calculated log-response ratios for both ecosystem services in mono- and polycultures. We found win-win relationships between per-plant yield of the primary crop and biocontrol in polyculture systems that minimized intraspecific competition via substitutive planting. Additionally, we found beneficial effects on biocontrol with no difference in per-unit area yield of the primary crop in polyculture fields at high cropping densities (additive planting) where legumes were used as the secondary crop. These results suggest that there is a strong potential for win-win relationships between biocontrol and per-unit area yield under certain scenarios. Our findings were consistent across geographical regions and by type of primary crop. We did not find evidence that biocontrol had an effect on yield, but rather, both were independently affected by polycultural cropping. Synthesis and applications. We show that well-designed polycultures can produce win-win outcomes between per-plant, and potentially per-unit area, primary crop yield and biocontrol. Biocontrol services are consistently enhanced in polycultures, so polyculture management that focuses on yield optimization is likely to be the best strategy for maximizing both services. In doing so, we suggest that practitioners utilize polycultures that decrease plant–plant competition through a substitution of relatively large quantities of the primary crop for compatibly harvestable secondary crops. Additionally, if planting at high cropping densities, it is important that legumes be the secondary crop.
QCD analysis of inclusive B decay into charmonium

We compute the decay rates and {ital H}-energy distributions of {ital B} mesons into the final state H+X, where {ital H} can be any one of the {ital S}-wave or {ital P}-wave charmonia, at next-to-leading order in the strong coupling. We find that a significant fraction of the observed J/{psi},{psi}{sup {prime}} and {chi}{sub c} must be produced through c{bar c} pairs in a color octet state and should therefore be accompanied by more than one light hadron. At the same time we obtain stringent constraints on some of the long-distance parameters for color octet production. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}
A numerical study of tropical cross-tropopause transport by convective overshoots

Observations obtained during the Tropical Convection, Cirrus and Nitrogen Oxides (TROCCINOX) golden day have revealed the presence of ice particles up to 410 K (18.2 km) 2 km above the local tropopause. The case was investigated using a three-dimensional quadruply nested non-hydrostatic simulation and Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) observations. The simulation reproduced the measurements along the flight track fairly well. A reasonable agreement with MSG observations was also achieved: the 10.8-μm brightness temperature (BT) minimum of 187 K was reproduced (a value 6 K colder than the environmental cold-point temperature) as was the positive BT difference between the 6.2- and 10.8-μm bands, an overshoot signature. The simulation produced several overshooting plumes up to 410 K yielding an upward transport of water vapour of a few tons per second across the tropical tropopause. The estimated mass flux agrees with those derived from over tracer budgets, indicating that convection transports mass across the tropopause.
From trauma to trial: Proposing new methods for examining the variability of sharp force trauma on bone

FROM TRAUMA TO TRIAL: PROPOSING NEW METHODS FOR EXAMINING THE VARIABILITY OF SHARP FORCE TRAUMA ON BONE By Amanda D. Feldman Although sharp force trauma is not the most common form of homicide in the United States, it accounts for the majority of violent crimes committed in the United Kingdom, and the frequency of knife related crimes has been increasing over several decades. Despite the prevalence of sharp force trauma in forensic literature, there is still a large gap linking weapons to skeletal injuries. Although there have been forensic studies on the effects of fabric during decomposition, very little data exist on the effects of fabric and bodily coverings on wounds during stabbing events. In a significant number of homicide cases, victims are clothed. Therefore, understanding the effects of bodily coverings is crucial to better understanding a number of forensic contexts. In this thesis, a preliminary pilot study and a skeletal cut mark analysis study with a guided-drop impacting device were used to address this issue by analyzing the effects of fabric resistance during stabbing events. The results indicated that weapon type and fabric type significantly altered kerf mark appearance (p<0.05). Weapon type had a significant effect on kerf wall gradients, marginal distortion, width, and depth (p<0.05). Fabric type significantly altered wall gradients, width, and depth (p<0.05). Finally, low powered standard light microscopy was shown to be an accurate and inexpensive method for examining cut marks on bone.
Correcting for the Alias Effect When Measuring the Power Spectrum Using a Fast Fourier Transform

Because of mass assignment onto grid points in the measurement of the power spectrum using a fast Fourier transform (FFT), the raw power spectrum ⟨|δf(k)|2⟩ estimated with the FFT is not the same as the true power spectrum P(k). In this paper we derive a formula that relates ⟨|δf(k)|2⟩ to P(k). For a sample of N discrete objects, the formula reads ⟨|δf(k)|2⟩ = [|W( + 2kN)|2P( + 2kN) + 1/N|W( + 2kN)|2], where W(k) is the Fourier transform of the mass assignment function W(r), kN is the Nyquist wavenumber, and n is an integer vector. The formula is different from that in some previous works in which the summation over n is neglected. For the nearest grid point, cloud-in-cell, and triangular-shaped cloud assignment functions, we show that the shot-noise term |W( + 2kN)|2 can be expressed by simple analytical functions. To reconstruct P(k) from the alias sum |W( + 2kN)|2P( + 2kN), we propose an iterative method. We test the method by applying it to an N-body simulation sample and show that the method can successfully recover P(k). The discussion is further generalized to samples with observational selection effects.
Text extraction from graphical document images using sparse representation

A novel text extraction method from graphical document images is presented in this paper. Graphical document images containing text and graphics components are considered as two-dimensional signals by which text and graphics have different morphological characteristics. The proposed algorithm relies upon a sparse representation framework with two appropriately chosen discriminative overcomplete dictionaries, each one gives sparse representation over one type of signal and non-sparse representation over the other. Separation of text and graphics components is obtained by promoting sparse representation of input images in these two dictionaries. Some heuristic rules are used for grouping text components into text strings in post-processing steps. The proposed method overcomes the problem of touching between text and graphics. Preliminary experiments show some promising results on different types of document.
Dividend Resumption, Future Profitability and Stock Returns

We present a new approach to examining the dividend signalling hypothesis by investigating dividend resumptions by former payers. Evidence regarding the signalling hypothesis has been mixed to date. In support of previous work, we fund that dividend policy is sticky, whereby the achievement of profitability does not necessarily lead to the resumption of dividend payment. We find no evidence of future growth in profitability following the resumption of dividend payment, but some evidence of a negative effect in the following two years, which is clearly inconsistent with dividend signalling theory. Firms resuming dividend payment fail to achieve significant excess stock returns in the three years after the dividend decision.
Impact of a Service Provider Incentive Payment Scheme on Quality of Reproductive and Child-health Services in Egypt

A case-control, quasi-experimental study was designed (post-test only) to investigate the effect of a performance-based incentive payment scheme on behaviours of public-sector service providers in delivering a basic package of maternal and child-health services in Egyptian primary healthcare units. The results showed significant improvements in the quality of family-planning, antenatal care, and child-care services as reported by women seen in clinics where the incentive payment scheme was in operation as measured by various indicators, including both technical and inter-personal communication content. An analysis of characteristics of the service providers and clients found no significant or meaningful differences between the study groups, and the facilities of both the study groups were essentially the same. Some findings are suggestive of other influences on behaviours of the service providers not captured by the data-collection instruments of the study. Subsequent to this study, the payment scheme has been rolled out to other districts in Egypt.
Innate Synchronous Oscillations in Freely-Organized Small Neuronal Circuits

Background Information processing in neuronal networks relies on the network's ability to generate temporal patterns of action potentials. Although the nature of neuronal network activity has been intensively investigated in the past several decades at the individual neuron level, the underlying principles of the collective network activity, such as the synchronization and coordination between neurons, are largely unknown. Here we focus on isolated neuronal clusters in culture and address the following simple, yet fundamental questions: What is the minimal number of cells needed to exhibit collective dynamics? What are the internal temporal characteristics of such dynamics and how do the temporal features of network activity alternate upon crossover from minimal networks to large networks? Methodology/Principal Findings We used network engineering techniques to induce self-organization of cultured networks into neuronal clusters of different sizes. We found that small clusters made of as few as 40 cells already exhibit spontaneous collective events characterized by innate synchronous network oscillations in the range of 25 to 100 Hz. The oscillation frequency of each network appeared to be independent of cluster size. The duration and rate of the network events scale with cluster size but converge to that of large uniform networks. Finally, the investigation of two coupled clusters revealed clear activity propagation with master/slave asymmetry. Conclusions/Significance The nature of the activity patterns observed in small networks, namely the consistent emergence of similar activity across networks of different size and morphology, suggests that neuronal clusters self-regulate their activity to sustain network bursts with internal oscillatory features. We therefore suggest that clusters of as few as tens of cells can serve as a minimal but sufficient functional network, capable of sustaining oscillatory activity. Interestingly, the frequencies of these oscillations are similar those observed in vivo.
A Survey of Open Source Products for Building a SIP Communication Platform

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a multimedia signalling protocol that has evolved into a widely adopted communication standard. The integration of SIP into existing IP networks has fostered IP networks becoming a convergence platformfor both real-time and non-real-time multimedia communications. This converged platform integrates data, voice, video, presence, messaging, and conference services into a single network that offers new communication experiences for users. The open source community has contributed to SIP adoption through the development of open source software for both SIP clients and servers. In this paper, we provide a survey on open SIP systems that can be built using publically available software. We identify SIP features for service development and programming, services and applications of a SIP-converged platform, and the most important technologies supporting SIP functionalities. We propose an advanced converged IP communication platform that uses SIP for service delivery. The platform supports audio and video calls, along with media services such as audio conferences, voicemail, presence, and instant messaging. Using SIP Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), the platform allows the deployment of advanced integrated services. The platform is implemented with open source software. Architecture components run on standardized hardware with no need for special purpose investments.
Annual basal area increment and growth duration of Pinus taeda in response to eight years of free-air carbon dioxide enrichment

Rising CO2 is predicted to increase forest productivity, although the duration of the response and how it might be altered by variation in rainfall, temperature and other environmental variables are not well understood. We measured the basal area of rapidly growing Pinus taeda trees exposed to free-air CO2 enrichment for 8 years and used these measurements to estimate monthly and annual growth. We used these measurements in a statistical model to estimate the start and end of growth in each year. Elevated CO2 increased the basal area increment (BAI) of trees by 13–27%. In most years, exposure to elevated CO2 increased the growth rate but not the duration of the active growth period. With the exception of 1 year following an extreme drought and a severe ice storm, BAI was positively correlated with the amount of rainfall during the active growth period. The interannual variation in the relative enhancement of BAI caused by elevated CO2 was strongly related to temperature and rainfall, and was greatest in years with high vapor pressure deficit. There was no evidence of a systematic reduction in the stimulation of growth during the first 8 years of this experiment, suggesting that the hypothesized limitation of the CO2 response caused by nitrogen availability has yet to occur.
Mediator Analysis of Employee Engagement: Role of Perceived Organizational Support, P-O Fit, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction

Given the multi-determinability of individual affect and attitudes, this paper seeks to explicate their display through some construct that captures the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural components of work-related roles. Employee engagement is found to be one such explanatory variable. This paper assesses the mediating role of employee engagement between perceived organizational support (POS) and person-organization fit (P-O fit) as the antecedents and organizational commitment and job satisfaction as the consequences. It tests the path model by using data from six Indian organizations and a sample of 246 Indian managers. The findings help find a direct effect of P-O fit and POS, which affects employee engagement and leads to variance in organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Further, the paper attempts to establish discriminant validity between employee engagement and organizational commitment. Yet, because of the similarity of wordings of the items measuring the employees� ratings of the two constructs, the authors conducted a confirmatory factor analysis leading to discriminant validity establishment to examine whether employee engagement and organizational commitment were distinct. AMOS software (version 17.0) was used to compare the fit of two nested models: (a) a one-factor model incorporating both the constructs and (b) a two-factor model distinguishing employee engagement and organizational commitment. It also provides empirical support to job satisfaction and its linkage with employee engagement. The findings suggest that when individuals perceive positive levels of organizational collaboration, they are intrinsically encouraged towards exerting considerably higher levels of effort. The notion that P-O fit deals with the congruence between employees� personal values and those of the organization makes for greater meaningfulness and psychological safety leading to higher levels of employee engagement. Furthermore, when individual values are perceived to fit organizational norms, the former are entrusted with greater responsibilities and are made to feel more empowered. A high level of employee engagement reflects a greater trust and loyal relationship between the individual and the organization. This suggests the building up of higher degree of commitment by the employee towards their employing organization. The paper contributes to theory building in the employee engagement and organizational commitment domains.
Seeing the Big Picture: Deep Embedding with Contextual Evidences

In the Bag-of-Words (BoW) model based image retrieval task, the precision of visual matching plays a critical role in improving retrieval performance. Conventionally, local cues of a keypoint are employed. However, such strategy does not consider the contextual evidences of a keypoint, a problem which would lead to the prevalence of false matches. To address this problem, this paper defines "true match" as a pair of keypoints which are similar on three levels, i.e., local, regional, and global. Then, a principled probabilistic framework is established, which is capable of implicitly integrating discriminative cues from all these feature levels. Specifically, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is employed to extract features from regional and global patches, leading to the so-called "Deep Embedding" framework. CNN has been shown to produce excellent performance on a dozen computer vision tasks such as image classification and detection, but few works have been done on BoW based image retrieval. In this paper, firstly we show that proper pre-processing techniques are necessary for effective usage of CNN feature. Then, in the attempt to fit it into our model, a novel indexing structure called "Deep Indexing" is introduced, which dramatically reduces memory usage. Extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets demonstrate that, the proposed Deep Embedding method greatly promotes the retrieval accuracy when CNN feature is integrated. We show that our method is efficient in terms of both memory and time cost, and compares favorably with the state-of-the-art methods.
Anaphors and Local Coherences

We present two visual world studies indicating that local syntactic coherences interact with binding constraints (Chomsky, 1981) of both reflexives and pronouns. Gazes to depicted referents or events suggest that when sentences containing a local coherence with a pronoun or reflexive are presented, locally coherent antecedents become activated. Our results strengthen the assumption that local syntactic coherences are interpreted and extend the effect to online anaphora resolution and complementary binding constraints.
Constraints on the Inner Cluster Mass Profile and the Power Spectrum Normalization from Strong Lensing Statistics

Strong gravitational lensing is a useful probe of both the intrinsic properties of the lenses and the cosmological parameters of the universe. The large number of model parameters and small sample of observed lens systems, however, have made it difficult to obtain useful constraints on more than a few parameters from lensing statistics. Here we examine how the recent Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe measurements help improve the constraining power of statistics from the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey (CLASS). We find that the absence of θ > 3′′ lenses in CLASS places an upper bound of β < 1.25 (1.60) at a 68% (95%) confidence level (CL) on the inner density profile, ρ ∝ r-β, of cluster-sized halos. Furthermore, the favored power spectrum normalization is σ8 ≳ 0.7 (95% CL). We discuss two possibilities for stronger future constraints: a positive detection of at least one large-separation system and next-generation radio surveys such as the proposed Low-Frequency Array.