Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High Occupancy Toll lane Performance Under Alternative Pricing Policies

This paper explores how alternative pricing and operating policies influence revenue generation, level of service, and travel time costs for high occupancy toll (HOT) lane facilities. A framework for modeling HOT lanes is applied to a hypothetical facility. The analysis suggests that the way in which tolls are set can have a non-trivial influence on competing measures of HOT lane performance. Other operating characteristics, such as the number of lanes designated as free and priced and whether carpools are allowed to ride free or must pay a toll to access the HOT lanes, are shown to significantly influence performance as well.
Endogenous Technology Adoption Under Production Risk: Theory and Application to Irrigation Technology

The use of modern irrigation technologies has been proposed as one of several possible solutions to the problem of water resource scarcity and environmental degradation in many agricultural areas around the world. The main objective of this paper is to present a theoretical framework that conceptualizes adoption as a decision process involving information acquisition by farmers who face yield uncertainty and vary in their risk preferences. This is done by integrating the microeconomic foundations used to analyze production uncertainty at the farm level with the traditional technological adoption models. First we follow the approach of Antle (1987) based on higher-order moments of profit, which enables flexible estimation of the stochastic technology without ad hoc specification of risk preferences. Then individual risk preferences are derived, which are then used to explain farmer’s decision to adopt modern water saving technologies. The proposed model is applied to a randomly selected sample of 265 farms located in Crete, Greece. Results show that risk preferences affect the probability of adoption and provide evidence that farmers invest in new technologies as a means to hedge against input related production risk.
From Adoption to Residential Treatment Centers

Abstract Although children who have been adopted are referred for mental health services more often than their non-adopted peers and might be overrepresented within residential treatment centers (RTCs), little is known about adoptive families' experiences with RTCs. The present study sought to understand the experiences of families whose children were placed in residential treatment facilities after a finalized adoption. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a total of ten families who had adopted 21 children. Of these, 13 children had been placed in an RTC after the finalized adoption. Most of the children in the sample were between zero and five years of age at placement. Adoptive families reported the need for in-the-trenches training and community-based services that could provide ongoing support post-adoption. Implications from these findings include increasing in-home services and other options within the adoptive families' own communities. Future research could incorporate a larger sample to assess whether the experiences of families in this study are similar to other adoptive families.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging Shows Different Topographic Involvement of the Thalamus in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Corticobasal Degeneration

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD), postmortem studies show different topographic involvement of the thalamus, basal ganglia, and their cortical connections. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an MR imaging technique sensitive to gray and white matter microstructure integrity. This study was performed to determine whether DTI may demonstrate microstructural differences between PSP and CBD, particularly within the thalamus and its cortical connections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine patients with probable PSP, 11 with probable CBD, and 7 controls formed the study group. Apparent diffusion coefficient average (ADCave) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were measured in regions of interest positioned in the ventrolateral (motor), medial, anterior, and posterior regions of the thalami, basal ganglia, fronto-orbital white matter, cingulum, supplementary motor area (SMA), and precentral and postcentral gyri in patients and controls. RESULTS: In PSP, ADCave values were increased in several areas: the thalamus, particularly in its anterior and medial nuclei; cingulum; motor area; and SMA. FA values were particularly decreased in the fronto-orbital white matter, anterior cingulum, and motor area. In CBD, ADCave was increased in the motor thalamus, in the precentral and postcentral gyri, ipsilateral to the affected frontoparietal cortex, and in the bilateral SMA. FA was mainly decreased in the precentral gyrus and SMA, followed by the postcentral gyrus and cingulum. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with PSP, thalamic involvement was diffuse and prevalent in its anterior part, whereas in CBD involvement was asymmetric and confined to the motor thalamus. DTI may be useful in the differential diagnosis of these 2 parkinsonian disorders.
In-Register Duplication: Exploiting Narrow-Width Value for Improving Register File Reliability

Protecting the register value and its data buses is crucial to reliable computing in high-performance microprocessors due to the increasing susceptibility of CMOS circuitry to soft errors induced by high-energy particle strikes. Since the register file is in the critical path of the processor pipeline, any reliable design that increases either the pressure on the register file or the register file access latency is not desirable. In this paper, we propose to exploit narrow-width register values, which present the majority of the generated values, for duplicating a copy of the value within the same data item, called in-register duplication (IRD), eliminating the requirement of additional copy registers. The datapath pipeline is augmented to efficiently incorporate parity encoding and parity checking such that error recovery is seamlessly supported in IRD and the parity checking is overlapped with the execution stage to avoid increasing the critical path. Our experimental evaluation using the SPEC CINT2000 benchmark suite shows that IRD provides superior read-with-duplicate (RWD) and error detection/recovery rates under heavy error injection as compared to previous reliability schemes
Cadherin Cell Adhesion System in Canine Mammary Cancer: A Review

Cadherin-catenin adhesion complexes play important roles by providing cell-cell adhesion and communication in different organ systems. Abnormal expression of cadherin adhesion molecules constitutes a common phenomenon in canine mammary cancer and has been frequently implicated in tumour progression. This paper summarizes the current knowledge on cadherin/catenin adhesion molecules (E-cadherin, β-catenin, and P-cadherin) in canine mammary cancer, focusing on the putative biological functions and clinical significance of these molecules in this disease. This paper highlights the need for further research studies in this setting in order to elucidate the role of these adhesion molecules during tumour progression and metastasis.
Pornography use and marital quality: Testing the moral incongruence hypothesis†

Correspondence Samuel L. Perry, Department of Sociology, University of Oklahoma, 780 Van Vleet Oval, Kaufman Hall 335A, Norman, OK 73019. Email: samperry@ou.edu Studies often report a negative association between pornography use and marital quality. A number of studies, however, find this negative association to be stronger among religious Americans, suggesting that “moral incongruence” may be a key moderating factor. This theory is tested with panel data from the nationally representative 2006–2012 Portraits of American Life Study (N = 612). Support for the theory is mixed. Any pornography use in 2006 predicts lower marital quality in 2012 regardless of whether the viewer felt pornography use was always immoral. However, among pornography viewers, the negative association between marital quality and viewing frequency is stronger for those who morally oppose pornography. Findings hold regardless of gender. Data limitations and implications for future research are discussed.
Sleep duration and body mass index in a rural population.

BACKGROUND A growing body of epidemiological evidence suggests an association between short sleep duration and obesity. Recently, potential hormonal links have been observed that may account for the relationship. The possible connection between sleep duration and body mass index (BMI) has not been explored in rural populations. Rural populations are of interest because obesity rates are high and lifestyle patterns of nutrition, physical activity, work hours, and sleep may differ from those in urban and suburban populations. We conducted this study to determine whether short sleep duration is related to BMI and obesity in a rural population in southeast Iowa. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data collected in the Keokuk County Rural Health Cohort Study, 1999-2004. Study participants were from a population-based sample consisting of 990 employed adults in a rural community in southeastern Iowa. The main outcome measure was BMI. Multiple linear regression modeling was used to adjust for potential confounding variables. RESULTS Self-reported sleep duration on weeknights was negatively correlated (beta = -0.42; 95% confidence interval, -0.77 to -0.07) with higher BMI after adjusting for sex, age, educational achievement, physical job demand, household income, depressive symptoms, marital status, alcohol consumption, and snoring. CONCLUSION These data support an association between short sleep duration and higher BMI in this rural population, which is consistent with the relationship found in other settings.
Micronutrient Deficiencies and Related Factors in School-Aged Children in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study in Libo Kemkem and Fogera Districts, Amhara Regional State

Introduction The present study describes the distribution of selected micronutrients and anaemia among school-aged children living in Libo Kemkem and Fogera (Amhara State, Ethiopia), assessing differences by socio-demographic characteristics, health status and dietary habits. Methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out during May–December 2009. Socio-demographic characteristics, health status and dietary habits were collected. Biomarkers were determined for 764 children. Bivariate and multivariable statistical methods were employed to assess micronutrient deficiencies (MD), anaemia, and their association with different factors. Results More than two thirds of the school-aged children (79.5%) had at least one MD and 40.5% had two or more coexisting micronutrient deficiencies. The most prevalent deficiencies were of zinc (12.5%), folate (13.9%), vit A (29.3%) and vit D (49%). Anaemia occurred in 30.9% of the children. Children living in rural areas were more likely to have vit D insufficiency [OR: 5.9 (3.7–9.5)] but less likely to have folate deficiency [OR: 0.2 (0.1–0.4)] and anaemia [OR: 0.58 (0.35–0.97)]. Splenomegaly was positively associated with folate deficiency and anaemia [OR: 2.77 (1.19–6.48) and 4.91 (2.47–9.75)]. Meat and fish consumption were inversely correlated with zinc and ferritin deficiencies [OR: 0.2 (0.1–0.8) and 0.2 (0.1–0.9)], while oil consumption showed a negative association with anaemia and deficiencies of folate and vitamin A [0.58 (0.3–0.9), OR: 0.5 (0.3–0.9) and 0.6 (0.4–0.9)]. Serum ferritin levels were inversely correlated to the presence of anaemia (p<0.005). Conclusion There is a high prevalence of vitamin A deficiency and vitamin D insufficiency and a moderate prevalence of zinc and folate deficiencies in school-aged children in this area. The inverse association of anaemia and serum ferritin levels may be due to the presence of infectious diseases in the area. To effectively tackle malnutrition, strategies should target not only isolated micronutrient supplementation but also diet diversification.
A new approximate proximal-extragradient type method for system of monotone variational inequalities

In this paper, we extended our recent modified approximate proximal point algorithm (APPA) published in [16] to solve system of monotone variational inequalities (SMVI). Under some mild conditions, we show that the proposed method is globally convergent. The results presented in this paper generalize and improve the inexact proximal point algorithm for SMVI proposed in [17]. The proposed method is quite general and flexible and includes several well-known results.
In Search of the Prosocial Personality: Personality Traits as Predictors of Prosociality and Prosocial Behavior

Prosocial behavior is intended to benefit others rather than oneself and is positively linked to personality traits such as Agreeableness and Honesty-Humility, and usually negatively to the Dark Triad traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy). However, a significant proportion of the research in this area is conducted solely on self-report measures of prosocial behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between prosociality and the basic (i.e., HEXACO) and dark personality traits, comparing their contribution in predicting both self-reported prosociality and prosocial behavior. Results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that the Dark Triad traits explain prosociality and prosocial behavior above and beyond the HEXACO traits, emphasizing the importance of the Dark Triad in the personality space.
Optimal control of inhomogeneous spin ensembles : applications in NMR and quantum optics

L’objectif de cette these est d’appliquer la theorie du controle optimal a la dynamique d’ensembles inhomogenes de spins. La premiere partie est devouee au controle d’un ensemble de spins couple a une cavite. La theorie est introduite en detail, et une methode generale pour controler efficacement les spins est presentee. Plusieurs pulses sont determines dans les regimes de bonne et de mauvaise cavite. De meme, les fonctions non lineaires generalisees sont utilisees afin de determiner des approximations simples. Dans un second temps, le probleme de la maximisation du Signal-sur-Bruit d’un echo de spin est aborde, et des conditions d’optimisations sont etablies. Il est montre que les nouveaux pulses sont superieurs a ceux de l’etat de l’art, en termes de fidelite et d’augmentation du Signal-sur-Bruit. Par ailleurs, ils permettent d’explorer de nouvelles situations (e.g. mesure de FID (Free Induction Decay) en CQED avec un taux de perte de cavite plus long que T2∗). La seconde partie est devouee a des problemes de RMN/IRM standard. Deux situations de "selectivite" sont etudiees. La premiere consiste a determiner le pulse le plus court qui produit la transformation la plus selective par rapport aux offsets. Dans le cas ultra-selectif, la solution optimale est un arc singulier d’amplitude constante. Cependant, si des contraintes de robustesse sont ajoutees, la solution optimale peut-etre un arc regulier. La seconde est celle de l’optimisation de base de donnees pour des experiences de MR-fingerprinting. Dans ce cas, un champ de controle est concu pour generer une base de donnees "d’empreinte digitale" qui maximise le processus de reconnaissance entre spins de parametres differents.
From Balkanisation to Boundary Crossing:Using a Teacher Learning Community to Explore the Impact of AssessmentOn Teaching and Learning in a Disadvantaged School

Irish education is currently witnessing a fundamental shift in focus from an emphasis on curriculum revision, professional development and policy implementation to one of review, with the concomitant effect that issues of evaluation and assessment are increasingly high on the agenda. This is evidenced by the publication in recent years of a series of evaluation reports which, in addition to identifying successes achieved, have highlighted a number of related iterative weaknesses in the system that continue to thwart progress. One is the apparent lack of assessment literacy which has been attributed mainly, but not exclusively, to teachers. Another is the growing body of international evidence suggesting that pedagogical practices in schools serving disadvantaged children are qualitatively different to those found in more advantaged settings. Finally, there is the evidence that low levels of literacy persist in Ireland, despite significant investment and innovation. In responding to these challenges, this study examined the potential of a teacher learning community (TLC) as a vehicle of professional development, to bring about changes in teachers’ understanding and use of Assessment for Learning (AfL), in order to improve the reading competency of a cohort of children attending a designated disadvantaged, junior school, in the Republic of Ireland. Employing a partially mixed, concurrent, equal status, quantitative/qualitative design, the study investigated three research hypotheses pertaining to (1) children’s reading achievement, (2) their motivation to read/employment of AfL strategies when reading and (3) teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes of/to AfL. Outcomes from the quantitative data with respect to the first two hypotheses indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in mean reading achievement between control and experimental groups following the intervention, although significant differences were found for reading strategies. The qualitative data relating to the third hypothesis revealed that important changes had occurred in teachers’ attitudes and classroom practice over the duration of the project. The study concludes by drawing attention to the potential of a TLC, reconceived as a boundary zone, to challenge the traditional balkanisation of teachers’ working lives.
Group diversity and group identification: The moderating role of diversity beliefs

Research on diversity in teams and organizations has revealed ambiguous results regarding the effects of group composition on workgroup performance. The categorization—elaboration model (van Knippenberg et al., 2004) accounts for this variety and proposes two different underlying processes. On the one hand diversity may bring about intergroup bias which leads to less group identification, which in turn is followed by more conflict and decreased workgroup performance. On the other hand, the information processing approach proposes positive effects of diversity because of a more elaborate processing of information brought about by a wider pool and variety of perspectives in more diverse groups. We propose that the former process is contingent on individual team members' beliefs that diversity is good or bad for achieving the team's aims. We predict that the relationship between subjective diversity and identification is more positive in ethnically diverse project teams when group members hold beliefs that are pro-diversity. Results of two longitudinal studies involving postgraduate students working in project teams confirm this hypothesis. Analyses further reveal that group identification is positively related to students' desire to stay in their groups and to their information elaboration. Finally, we found evidence for the expected moderated mediation model with indirect effects of subjective diversity on elaboration and the desire to stay, mediated through group identification, moderated by diversity beliefs.
Leadership of identified gifted compared to high-potential students studying Iowa's natural history

At one time, students were only considered gifted if they received a score of 140 or higher on an IQ test. Renowned gifted researcher, Joseph Renzulli, challenged this notion with his three-ring conception of giftedness; an interaction between above average ability, creativity, and task-commitment in areas of passion. Renzulli also promoted the development ofleadership and social capital through Operation Houndstooth. Today, the national definition for gifted children acknowledges academics, leadership, arts, and creative talents. Schools are beginning to expand their definitions and identification procedures to acknowledge students with creative talents and leadership abilities. How do these students compare when interacting and exploring topics with academically gifted students? This question was explored through a ninelesson prairie restoration unit within a middle-school extended learning program. Students studied prairies and prairie restoration using Edward de Bono's CoRT Thinking Skills, creative choice activities, and content knowledge. Results showed the creative, high-potential students outperformed their academically-gifted peers on the content knowledge posttest and throughout the lesson activities. They provided more responses during CoRT Thinking Skill activities, incorporated more creative strengths in their products, and connected content to their personal lives. All students showed task-commitment and responsible leadership during the creation and implementation of their Type III projects and creativity was present throughout the unit. The results of this project show that creative; high-potential students benefit from gifted programming and should be included with academically-gifted peers.
The Emergence Themes of Staff and Course Evaluation at UniMAP: A Grounded Theory Approach

This paper concentrates on the emergence factors and themes that surfaced as result of paper and online course evaluation activities among students at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) that have never been reported prior to this. Before the online course and lecturer evaluation practices every semester, students need to fill out the form manually in order to evaluate the courses and lecturers, and this brings a lot of disadvantages and problems to the university. School of Human Development and Technocommunication (iKOM) has initiated the online course and evaluation approach, and is now being utilized by all schools at UniMAP. This research and innovation has also been awarded gold at the 11th Innovative and Creative Convention held at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in 2015. The actual research attempted to assist the university to improve its way of handling and processing information that occurs every semester or biannually by focusing on factors that contribute to its predicament for staff and students at UniMAP. In addition, the research seeks to understand the antecedents, contexts, and prevailing conditions that influence it as well as the phenomenon, the coping strategies, and the consequences resulting from the coping strategies. Using a grounded theory methodology, in-depth interviews were conducted on students and staff from different schools at UniMAP. The data were analyzed using NVivo 10 by methodically coding and categorizing the data in open, axial, and selective coding to arrive at a model development. Working hypotheses were obtained based on informants’ individual comments and experiences that uniquely contribute to the body of knowledge on this new phenomenon at UniMAP. The involved elements derived from the model are the antecedents, the phenomenon itself, the coping strategies by informants, and the consequences resulting from these strategies. The significance of this study lies in its attempt to provide a working framework for reducing the dilemma when the time comes to execute staff and course evaluation that will eventually add up to time and money lost. This study is hoped to benefit all the parties: staff, students, the university, and other stakeholders to maximize the benefits of online evaluation practices. At a time when most assessments are done online around the world, this research is both timely and necessary.