Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The overuse of suspension in American public schools threatens the success of all students

n 2010, over 3 million children were suspended from U.S. schools, with black and Latino youth disproportionately affected. In new research, Brea L. Perry looks at the consequences of what has become a widespread punishment for young adults. By using records of school suspensions and academic achievement, she finds that suspensions are used as a punitive response to negative behavior, rather than to keep schools safer, and that their use does not improve the learning environment for any students. She also finds that suspensions are particularly harmful to students’ academic achievement if they are used without restraint and in schools with lower levels of student violence.
Cold dust in a selected sample of nearby galaxies. I. The interacting galaxy NGC 4631

We have observed the continuum emission of the interacting galaxy NGC 4631 at 870m and 1.23 mm using the Heinrich-Hertz-Telescope on Mt. Graham and the IRAM 30-m telescope on Pico Veleta. We have obtained fully sampled maps which cover the optical emission out to a radius of about 7 0 at both wavelengths. For a detailed analysis, we carefully subtracted the line contributions and synchrotron and free-free emission from the data, which added up to 6% at 1.23 mm and 10% at 0.87 mm. We combined the flux densities with FIR data to obtain dust spectra and calculate dust temperatures, absorption cross sections, and masses. Assuming a "standard" dust model, which consists of two populations of big grains at moderate and warm temperatures, we obtained temperatures of 18 K and 50 K for the both components. However, such a model suers from an excess of the radiation at 1:23 mm, and the dust absorption cross section seems to be enhanced by a factor 3 compared to previous results and theoretical expectations. At large galactocentric radii, where the galaxy shows disturbances as a result of gravitational interaction, this eect seems to be even stronger. Some possibilities to resolve these problems are discussed. The data could be explained by a very cold dust component at a temperature of 4-6 K, an increased abundance of very small grains, or a component of grains with unusual optical properties. We favour the latter possibility, since the first two lead to inconsistencies
Measuring competition in the Portuguese economy using profit elasticities

This article takes the set of Portuguese markets and computes a new competition measure suggested by Boone (2008), which draws on the concept of profi t elasticity to marginal costs in a given market. The article concludes that the majority of markets presented a reduction in competition in the period 2000-2009, though there is substantial heterogeneity. In addition, markets that faced competition reductions represent the large majority of sales, gross value added and employment in the Portuguese economy. The non-tradable sector presents lower competition intensity than the tradable sector. Moreover, reductions in competition are relatively widespread across markets in both sectors, but in terms of sales, gross value added and employment these reductions are more substantial in the non-tradable sector.
The Role of Neuronal Connexins 36 and 45 in Shaping Spontaneous Firing Patterns in the Developing Retina

Gap junction coupling synchronizes activity among neurons in adult neural circuits, but its role in coordinating activity during development is less known. The developing retina exhibits retinal waves—spontaneous depolarizations that propagate among retinal interneurons and drive retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to fire correlated bursts of action potentials. During development, two connexin isoforms, connexin36 (Cx36) and Cx45, are expressed in bipolar cells and RGCs, and therefore provide a potential substrate for coordinating network activity. To determine whether gap junctions contribute to retinal waves, we compared spontaneous activity patterns using calcium imaging, whole-cell recording, and multielectrode array recording in control, single-knock-out (ko) mice lacking Cx45 and double-knock-out (dko) mice lacking both isoforms. Wave frequency, propagation speed, and bias in propagation direction were similar in control, Cx36ko, Cx45ko, and Cx36/45dko retinas. However, the spontaneous firing rate of individual retinal ganglion cells was elevated in Cx45ko retinas, similar to Cx36ko retinas (Hansen et al., 2005; Torborg and Feller, 2005), a phenotype that was more pronounced in Cx36/45dko retinas. As a result, spatial correlations, as assayed by nearest-neighbor correlation and functional connectivity maps, were significantly altered. In addition, Cx36/45dko mice had reduced eye-specific segregation of retinogeniculate afferents. Together, these findings suggest that although Cx36 and Cx45 do not play a role in gross spatial and temporal propagation properties of retinal waves, they strongly modulate the firing pattern of individual RGCs, ensuring strongly correlated firing between nearby RGCs and normal patterning of retinogeniculate projections.
Housing Price Response to the Interaction of Positive Coastal Amenities and Negative Flood Risks

Since 1968 homeowners’ flood insurance in the United States has been mainly provided through the federally-run National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which as of December 2012 had 5.55 million NFIP policies-in-force nationwide with a total of $1.28 trillion of insured coverage (Michel-Kerjan et al, 2014). In 2012, Congress passed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act (BW-12) in order to address a number of the well-documented structural and fiscal issues of the program, including key provisions of the bill that would increase existing discounted premiums to full-risk levels. However, BW-12 was itself reformed in March 2014 with the passage of Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (HFIAA-14) that importantly curbed many of the planned BW-12 rate increases. Realtors, homebuilders, and lenders had provided steep opposition to BW-12 (WSJ, 2013) decrying the movement toward risk-based premiums as causing “property values to steeply decline and made many homes unsellable, hurting the real estate market” (Insurance Journal, March 2014). In this paper we aim to shed some further light on this depressed property value assertion through a hedonic property analysis that accounts for the potential negative housing price effects of higher flood risk (and thus higher risk-based flood insurance rates), as well as the potential positive housing price effects of living close to the water, acting together on housing sales prices in a coastal community in Texas.
THE DIVERSITY OF INTEGRATION IN A MULTIETHNIC METROPOLIS

Abstract Although there is little debate that Census data reveal declines in standard measures of segregation over the past several decades, depending on who you ask, racial residential segregation is either just about gone or is stubbornly persistent. In this study, we draw attention to how the murkiness in the conceptualization of what has replaced ‘segregation’ and the related question of what integration is, contributes to this disagreement. Through an analysis of attitudes toward racially integrated neighborhoods, we demonstrate the pitfalls of our lack of consistency and clarity about the conceptual and operational definition of integration. Our analysis reveals the diversity of attitudes toward integrated communities—depending on who is asked, and what kind of integration is considered—and points to a fragility of commitment to the ideals of integration. We do this by using an innovative survey dataset that includes both open and closed-ended questions asked of a large probability sample of Whites, African Americans, and Latinos living in the Chicago metropolitan area. The survey asked individuals to describe their ideal neighborhood racial/ethnic composition and explain why it was ideal; they were then asked to describe (and explain) their least desired neighborhood racial/ethnic composition. Juxtaposing the results, we reveal that integration is both enthusiastically endorsed and much maligned—even within the same person—and that whether it is good or bad very much depends on the type of integration. We argue that appreciating the diversity of integration attitudes is critical if we are to develop a more nuanced understanding of future patterns of residential stratification in our increasingly diverse nation.
Resisting schoolification from the classroom. Exploring the professional identity of early childhood teachers in Chile / Resistiendo la escolarización desde el aula. Explorando la identidad profesional de las docentes de primera infancia en Chile

Abstract This article presents a study which aimed to explore the professional identity of early childhood teachers in Chile, applying a sociocultural approach. Relying on an exploratory qualitative design, data were collected through focus groups and photo-narratives. The findings show that these teachers understand that child-centred pedagogy is the pillar of their professional identity; that they perceive that this is under threat from the schoolification of early childhood education; and that they admit that their capacity to resist this tendency is limited to the classroom. These findings suggest that, having scarce resources available to negotiate their professional identity in their working context, early childhood teachers in Chile have a limited capacity for agency.
The Bank of England Macroeconomic Model: Its Nature and Implications

Abstract: The Bank of England’s report on its approach to macroeconomic modeling reveals the underlying structure of their macroeconomic model used for policy purposes. A simplified representation of the Bank of England model is presented, which is less disaggregated than the original model and focuses on the “long run” relationships. Following current econometric practice, the Bank of England generally estimates long-run steady-state relationships that have embedded short-run dynamics and error correction mechanisms. It is argued that the Bank of England has adopted an essentially endogenous view of money. The model is used to explore the effectiveness of the use of interest rates for the control of inflation and the implications of the macroeconomic model for monetary policy and its channels of influence throughout the economy.
Design of 60-GHz Low-Noise Amplifiers With Low NF and Robust ESD Protection in 65-nm CMOS

This paper presents two 60-GHz low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) with different electrostatic (ESD) protection schemes, including the diode-based and LC-based configurations. By codesigning ESD network and input matching, both LNAs are optimized for minimum noise figure (NF) while maintaining a similar gain. Compared with the conventional double-diode approach, the proposed LC-based design uses a high current capability spiral inductor and a high breakdown voltage metal-oxide-metal capacitor as effective bidirectional ESD protection, showing much improved ESD protection level and NF under reduced power consumption. The test results demonstrate an over 8-kV human-body-model ESD level and an over 13-A very fast transmission line pulse current level for charge-device-model ESD protection. The measured NF and power gain are 5.3 dB and 17.5 dB, respectively, at 58 GHz, under a power consumption of only 18 mW. To the best of our knowledge, the LC-based ESD-protected LNA demonstrates a highest ESD protection level with a lowest NF, compared with prior arts operating at similar frequencies.
Shifting focus: Antecedents and outcomes of proactive feedback seeking from peers

Are there benefits to seeking feedback from peers, or is it not worth the time and effort as employees sometimes believe? If there are benefits, does it matter in teams both with and without formal supervisors, and what contextual conditions facilitate such seeking? These questions motivate the current research. Based on the theoretical differences between peers and supervisors as targets of feedback seeking, we adopt a cost-value perspective to examine whether task interdependence and psychological safety affect the seeking of feedback from peers in a team. We also assess whether such seeking creates value for the seeker him-/herself (by having a cross-source effect on the supervisor’s evaluations) and for the collective (by impacting the team’s creativity). We test these ideas in two studies. In a sample of 209 employee-supervisor dyads (Study 1), we find that employees seek more peer feedback when tasks are interdependent, especially when they perceive their working environment as psychologically safe, and that supervisors view employees who seek more peer feedback as better team contributors. Then, in a longitudinal sample of 88 self-managed MBA consulting teams (Study 2), we find that the average level of peer feedback seeking in a team enhances the team’s creativity. Our findings highlight the power of seeking feedback from peers as well as the context factors shaping it.
Audit Fee Theory and Estimation : A Consideration of the Logarithmic Audit Fee Model

Regressing the natural logarithm of fees on a set of predictor variables, including the natural logarithm of assets, has become the de facto standard functional form for estimating audit fees. We demonstrate that this represents a multiplicative model of fees in which all the predictor variables interact and where predicted coefficients represent elasticities; constant elasticity between fees and assets, and linearly increasing elasticity between fees and the other predictors. We show that the actual elasticities do not exhibit these properties, but that regressing by year and size partitions improves the estimation, greatly increases the explanatory power of the model, and produces residuals uncorrelated with size. We also provide examples of how the use of partitions can influence the inferences drawn from past studies. JEL classification: M40, M42
Computing voting power in easy weighted voting games

Weighted voting games are ubiquitous mathematical models which are used in economics, political science, neuroscience, threshold logic, reliability theory and distributed systems. They model situations where agents with variable voting weight vote in favour of or against a decision. A coalition of agents is winning if and only if the sum of weights of the coalition exceeds or equals a specified quota. The Banzhaf index is a measure of voting power of an agent in a weighted voting game. It depends on the number of coalitions in which the agent is the difference in the coalition winning or losing. It is well known that computing Banzhaf indices in a weighted voting game is NP-hard. We give a comprehensive classification of weighted voting games which can be solved in polynomial time. Among other results, we provide a polynomial ($O(k{(\frac{n}{k})}^k)$) algorithm to compute the Banzhaf indices in weighted voting games in which the number of weight values is bounded by $k$.
Isoalantolactone Induces Reactive Oxygen Species Mediated Apoptosis in Pancreatic Carcinoma PANC-1 Cells

Isoalantolactone, a sesquiterpene lactone compound possesses antifungal, antibacteria, antihelminthic and antiproliferative activities. In the present study, we found that isoalantolactone inhibits growth and induces apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. Further mechanistic studies revealed that induction of apoptosis is associated with increased generation of reactive oxygen species, cardiolipin oxidation, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome c and cell cycle arrest at S phase. N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), a specific ROS inhibitor restored cell viability and completely blocked isoalantolactone-mediated apoptosis in PANC-1 cells indicating that ROS are involved in isoalantolactone-mediated apoptosis. Western blot study showed that isoalantolactone increased the expression of phosphorylated p38 MAPK, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3 and decreased the expression of Bcl-2 in a dose-dependent manner. No change in expression of phosphorylated p38 MAPK and Bax was found when cells were treated with isoalantolactone in the presence of NAC, indicating that activation of these proteins is directly dependent on ROS generation. The present study provides evidence for the first time that isoalantolactone induces ROS-dependent apoptosis through intrinsic pathway. Furthermore, our in vivo toxicity study demonstrated that isoalantolactone did not induce any acute or chronic toxicity in liver and kidneys of CD1 mice at dose of 100 mg/kg body weight. Therefore, isoalantolactone may be a safe chemotherapeutic candidate for the treatment of human pancreatic carcinoma.
Initial clinical experience with the ADAPT technique: A direct aspiration first pass technique for stroke thrombectomy

Background The development of new revascularization devices has improved recanalization rates and time but not clinical outcomes. We report our initial results with a new technique utilizing a direct aspiration first pass technique with a large bore aspiration catheter as the primary method for vessel recanalization. Methods A retrospective evaluation of a prospectively captured database of 37 patients at six institutions was performed on patients where the ADAPT technique was utilized. The data represent the initial experience with this technique. Results The ADAPT technique alone was successful in 28 of 37 (75%) cases although six cases had large downstream emboli that required additional aspiration. Nine cases required the additional use of a stent retriever and one case required the addition of a Penumbra aspiration separator to achieve recanalization. The average time from groin puncture to at least Thrombolysis in Cerebral Ischemia (TICI) 2b recanalization was 28.1 min, and all cases were successfully revascularized. TICI 3 recanalization was achieved 65% of the time. On average, patients presented with an admitting National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score of 16.3 and improved to an NIHSS score of 4.2 by the time of hospital discharge. There was one procedural complication. Discussion This initial experience highlights the fact that the importance of the technique with which new stroke thrombectomy devices are used may be as crucial as the device itself. The ADAPT technique is a simple and effective approach to acute ischemic stroke thrombectomy. Utilizing the latest generation of large bore aspiration catheters in this fashion has allowed us to achieve excellent clinical and angiographic outcomes.
Multiobjective Optimization of FPGA-Based Medical Image Registration

With a multitude of technological innovations, one emerging trend in image processing, and medical image processing, in particular, is custom hardware implementation of computationally intensive algorithms in the quest to achieve real-time performance. For reasons of area-efficiency and performance, these implementations often employ limited-precision datapaths. Identifying effective wordlengths for these datapaths while accounting for tradeoffs between design complexity and accuracy is a critical and time consuming aspect of this design process. Having access to optimized tradeoff curves can equip designers to adapt their designs to different performance requirements and target specific devices while reducing design time. This paper presents a multiobjective optimization strategy developed in the context of field-programmable gate array-based implementation of medical image registration. Within this framework, we compare several search methods and demonstrate the applicability of an evolutionary algorithm-based search for efficiently identifying superior multiobjective tradeoff curves. This strategy can easily be adapted to a wide range of signal processing applications, including areas of image and video processing beyond the medical domain.
A Review of the Decoherent Histories Approach to Quantum Mechanics a

I review the decoherent (or consistent) histories approach to quantum mechanics, due to Griffiths, to Gell-Mann and Hartle, and to Omnes. This is an approach to standard quantum theory specifically designed to apply to genuinely closed systems, up to and including the entire universe. It does not depend on an assumed separation of classical and quantum domains, on notions of measurement, or on collapse of the wave function. Its primary aim is to find sets of histories for closed systems exhibiting negligble interference, and therefore, to which probabilities may be assigned. Such sets of histories are called consistent or decoherent, and may be manipulated according to the rules of ordinary (Boolean) logic. The approach provides a framework from which one may predict the emergence of an approximately classical domain for macroscopic systems, together with the conventional Copenhagen quantum mechanics for microscropic subsystems. In the special case in which the total closed system naturally separates into a distinguished subsystem coupled to an environment, the decoherent histories approach is closed related to the quantum state diffusion approach of Gisin and Percival.
Complex Fluid Mixing Flows: Simulation vs. Theory vs. Experiment

It is an old saw that science has as its three pillars theory, experiment, and simulation. That we can believe simulation when the three do not agree is a testament to a newfound credence for simulations. Our story concerns widely different simulation and experimental results in a problem of long standing: determination of the rates of chaotic mixing resulting from acceleration across a fluid density discontinuity, namely the classic Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability. RT and other interface instabilities [1,9] have long attracted the attention of leading applied mathematicians and physicists, not only Rayleigh and Taylor but also Kelvin, Chandrasekhar, Fermi, Garrett Birkhoff, and John Wheeler, among others. These instabilities occur in flows important both to basic science (supernova explosions) and to technology (inertial confinement fusion). The simplest and most important variable used to describe the mixing rate of fluids of different densities is the dimensionless parameter α, which characterizes the penetration distance h of the lighter fluid (in structures called bubbles) into the heavier fluid: h = α Agt. Here, g is the acceleration force, such as gravity; A is the Atwood number, a dimensionless measure of the contrast in the densities (ρ1 and ρ2) of the two fluids: A = (ρ2 – ρ1)/(ρ2 + ρ1); and t is time. In gravitational free fall, α = 1/2; this value of α describes the penetration of the heavier fluid (in structures called spikes) in the case of an extreme density contrast, A = 1. The formula predicts constant acceleration for the mixing front, as explained below (Theory).