Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining the fakability of forced-choice individual differences measures

Forced-choice (FC) is a popular format for developing noncognitive individual differences measures, where individuals are forced to choose one or multiple statements out of several options. FC measures have been proposed as a valuable approach to reduce score inflation in high-stakes assessments, but their effectiveness has not yet been examined in a meta-analysis. In my dissertation, I conducted two studies to examine the fakability of forced-choice personality and vocational interest measures. In the first study, I conducted a meta-analysis of studies comparing FC personality measures between low-stakes and high-stakes situations. Results suggested that the overall score inflation effect size for FC personality measures is 0.05, which is much lower than the effect size for single-statement measures. The score inflation effect size was also found to vary across FC scale characteristics, study design factors, and personality facets. Specifically, a faking resistant FC scale should be constructed in a multidimensional PICK format, with statements balanced in social desirability and responses scored in a normative approach. Personality facets of high relevance to the target were found to exhibit larger inflation than facets of low relevance to the target job. In the second study, I conducted an induced faking study to examine the fakability of vocational interest measures and whether or not the FC format reduced the faking effect. With a sample of 1,559 respondents, I found that respondents consistently inflated the interest domain that matched the target job, and that the inflation led to a decreased level of criterion-related validity of interest-job fit. Multidimensional FC scales exhibited a smaller inflation effect on non-matched domains, but not on matched domains, than single-statement scales. However, the FC format did not reduce the level of criterion-related validity attenuation found in single-statement measures.
Production , Fruit Quality , and Nutritional Value of Spaghetti Squash *

INTRODUCTION Developing new kinds and types of vegetable crops is beneficial to both the grower and the consumer. Diversification of vegetable crops expands a grower’s market and simultaneously increases a consumer’s choice of vegetables. New cultivars can also improve fruit nutritional components. The objective of this investigation is to determine the adaptation and fruit nutritional content of two spaghetti squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) cultivars grown in south Florida. The traditional ‘Vegetable’ spaghetti squash originated in Mexico/Central America (Maynard et al. 2001). Cultural practices can vary considerably because of the wide diversity of environments which spaghetti squash are grown (Zitter et al. 1998). ‘Vegetable’ spaghetti squash production practices are similar to watermelon (Citrullus lanatus). Propagation begins with direct seeding and plants mature 80–100 days after seeding, depending on cultivar and environmental conditions. The plants have a vine habit and fruit mature between rows (bare soil) rather than directly on the plastic covered beds. The original orange type spaghetti squash, ‘Orangetti’, was developed in 1986 at the Department of Vegetable Crops, Agricultural Research Organization, Newe Ya’ar Experiment Station, Israel in 1986 and released in the United States in the early 1990s (Paris 1993). ‘Hasta La Pasta’ (Seedway, Inc., Hall, New York) are very similar to summer squash (yellow and zucchini). Direct seeding on raised, plastic covered beds produce a marketable yield in approximately 80 days from seeding. The compact bush plant habit helps to keep the fruit on the beds. Both cultivars are harvested once. Minimal research and marketing have been conducted comparing the two cultivars.
Multi-Agent Only-Knowing Revisited

Levesque introduced the notion of only-knowing to precisely capture the beliefs of a knowledge base. He also showed how only-knowing can be used to formalize non-monotonic behavior within a monotonic logic. Despite its appeal, all attempts to extend only-knowing to the many agent case have undesirable properties. A belief model by Halpern and Lakemeyer, for instance, appeals to proof-theoretic constructs in the semantics and needs to axiomatize validity as part of the logic. It is also not clear how to generalize their ideas to a first-order case. In this paper, we propose a new account of multi-agent only-knowing which, for the first time, has a natural possible-world semantics for a quantified language with equality. We then provide, for the propositional fragment, a sound and complete axiomatization that faithfully lifts Levesque's proof theory to the many agent case. We also discuss comparisons to the earlier approach by Halpern and Lakemeyer.
What Are Physicians' Reasons for Not Referring People with Life-Limiting Illnesses to Specialist Palliative Care Services? A Nationwide Survey

Background Many people who might benefit from specialist palliative care services are not using them. Aim We examined the use of these services and the reasons for not using them in a population in potential need of palliative care. Methods We conducted a population-based survey regarding end-of-life care among physicians certifying a large representative sample (n = 6188) of deaths in Flanders, Belgium. Results Palliative care services were not used in 79% of cases of people with organ failure, 64% of dementia and 44% of cancer. The most frequently indicated reasons were that 1) existing care already sufficiently addressed palliative and supportive needs (56%), 2) palliative care was not deemed meaningful (26%) and 3) there was insufficient time to initiate palliative care (24%). The reasons differed according to patient characteristics: in people with dementia the consideration of palliative care as not meaningful was more likely to be a reason for not using it; in older people their care needs already being sufficiently addressed was more likely to be a reason. For those patients who were referred the timing of referral varied from a median of six days before death (organ failure) to 16 days (cancer). Conclusions Specialist palliative care is not initiated in almost half of the people for whom it could be beneficial, most frequently because physicians deem regular caregivers to be sufficiently skilled in addressing palliative care needs. This would imply that the safeguarding of palliative care skills in this regular ‘general’ care is an essential health policy priority.
Educating Silicon Valley: Corporate education reform and the reproduction of the techno-economic revolution

Critical cultural and sociological studies of education have been concerned for the last half-century with how the knowledge, interests, and culture of powerful social actors are reproduced through the institutions of education. Recently, education has become the focus of significant interest in Silicon Valley, the world’s most successful site of technical and economic innovation. Established Silicon Valley technology companies, wealthy philanthropic entrepreneurs, venture capital investors, and new startup organizations have become committed to educational innovation and reform particularly since 2012. That year saw the publication of a report by Global Silicon Valley (a merchant bank that has advised, invested in and accelerated many technology companies) entitled American Revolution 2.0, which described key technical catalysts for educational transformation and reform—such as cloud computing, wired classrooms, low-cost hardware, and software—and estimated the K–12 education market to be worth over $2.2 trillion (Bulger, McCormick, and Pitcan 2017). As a result, a distinctive approach to education has emerged within Silicon Valley itself. New kinds of institutions, practices, partnerships and funding models have been developed and are being trialed and tested, in the hope that these will provide effective educational approaches that might be scaled up to other geographical, social, and demographic sites. Though “venture philanthropy” has been associated with forms of “corporate education reform” since the 1990s (Saltman 2010), the new Silicon Valley venture philanthropists, and the projects they promote and invest, take software development and computational products as the model for the future practices of education. They are prototyping these products and practices within the educational landscape of Silicon Valley, and seeking to extend them to the practices, institutions and governance of public education itself. Silicon Valley’s high-tech companies, tech-philanthropists, startups and culture of venture capital are “the centre of a techno-economic revolution” that is “now spreading outwards across the world, with major societal effects and implications” (Duff 2016, 5). In this article, I trace and map how education is being reimagined in Silicon Valley to address how it is seeking to reproduce its centrality to the techno-economic revolution. In other words, what are Silicon Valley’s distinctive pedagogies, and to what purposes are they none defined
A Large, Uniform Sample of X-Ray-emitting AGNs: Selection Approach and an Initial Catalog from the ROSAT All-Sky and Sloan Digital Sky Surveys

Many open questions in X-ray astronomy are limited by the relatively small number of objects in uniform optically identified and observed samples, especially when rare subclasses are considered or when subsets are isolated to search for evolution or correlations between wavebands. We describe the initial results of a new program aimed to ultimately yield ∼104 fully characterized X-ray source identifications—a sample about an order of magnitude larger than earlier efforts. The technique is detailed and employs X-ray data from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) and optical imaging and spectroscopic follow-up from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS); these two surveys prove to be serendipitously very well matched in sensitivity. As part of the SDSS software pipelines, optical objects in the SDSS photometric catalogs are automatically positionally cross-correlated with RASS X-ray sources. Then priorities for follow-on SDSS optical spectra of candidate counterparts are automatically assigned using an algorithm based on the known ratios of fx/fopt for various classes of X-ray emitters at typical RASS fluxes of ∼10-13 ergs cm-2 s-1. SDSS photometric parameters for optical morphology, magnitude, and colors, plus FIRST radio information, serve as proxies for object class. Initial application of this approach to RASS/SDSS data from 1400 deg2 of sky provides a catalog of more than 1200 spectroscopically confirmed quasars and other AGNs that are probable RASS identifications. Most of these are new identifications, and only a few percent of the AGN counterparts are likely to be random superpositions. The magnitude and redshift ranges of the counterparts are very broad, extending over 15 < m < 21 and 0.03 < z < 3.6, respectively. Although most identifications are quasars and Seyfert 1 galaxies, a variety of other AGN subclasses are also sampled. Substantial numbers of rare AGN types are found, including more than 130 narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies and 45 BL Lac candidates. These early results already provide a very sizable set of source identifications, demonstrate the utility of the sample in multiwaveband investigations, and show the capability of the joint RASS/SDSS approach to efficiently proceed toward the largest homogeneously selected/observed sample of X-ray–emitting quasars and other kinds of AGNs.
Harmonic Instability Analysis of a Single-Phase Grid-Connected Converter Using a Harmonic State-Space Modeling Method

The increasing number of renewable energy sources in the distribution grid is becoming a major issue for utility companies since grid-connected converters are operating at different operating points due to the probabilistic characteristics of the renewable energy. Usually, the harmonics and impedance from other renewable energy sources are not taken carefully into account in the installation and design of the systems. It can bring an unknown harmonic instability into a multiple power-sourced system and makes the analysis difficult due to the complexity of the grid network. This paper proposes a new model of a single-phase grid-connected renewable energy source by using the harmonic state-space modeling approach, which can identify such problems. The model can be extended to a multiple connected converter analysis. The modeling results show the harmonic impedance matrixes, which represent the harmonic coupling characteristic, as well as different dynamic characteristics. The theoretical modeling and analysis are verified by simulations, as well as experimental results.
Culture, Relationship Norm, and Dual Entitlement

According to the dual entitlement principle, consumers find it fair for firms to price asymmetrically to cost changes, that is, increasing prices when costs increase but maintaining prices when costs decrease. However, we conduct a meta-analysis revealing that asymmetric pricing is less prevalent in collectivistic (vs. individualistic) countries (study 1). We propose a fairness-based explanation, demonstrating that interdependent consumers in collectivistic cultures perceive asymmetric pricing to be less fair than do independent consumers in individualistic cultures (studies 2A-2C, 4 and 5). We attribute this cultural variation in the endorsement of dual entitlement to culture-specific relationship norms. Specifically, we argue that while the practice of asymmetric pricing is consistent with the exchange norms among independent consumers that emphasize self-interest pursuit, it is inconsistent with the communal norms among interdependent consumers mandating firm benevolence. Supporting this argument, we find that (a) directly manipulating communal (vs. exchange) norms yields similar differences in fairness perceptions that mimics those due to culture (studies 3 and follow-ups), (b) the cultural differences are mediated by the communal mandate for firm benevolence (study 4), and (c) the cultural differences are mitigated when a firm frames asymmetric pricing as benevolent (study 5). We conclude by discussing the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings for dual entitlement and asymmetric pricing, as well as for the role of culture in buyer-seller relationships and price fairness.
CS764 Project Update

The Computer Aided Engineering center at the College of Engineering of UW-Madison manages a platform of web, database, storage, and other related servers for a campus wide Moodle service (a learning management system). Due to the large scope and supported user base of this web application it encounters some interesting systems and database related problems. The main focus of this project is to evaluate and analyze some of the different database and related (eg: NoSQL) configurations for user session and application cache data that Moodle currently supports (or can be made to) with respect to their impact on scalability, reliability, security, and performance.
Cytotoxicity of ascorbate, lipoic acid, and other antioxidants in hollow fibre in vitro tumours

Vitamin C (ascorbate) is toxic to tumour cells, and has been suggested as an adjuvant cancer treatment. Our goal was to determine if ascorbate, in combination with other antioxidants, could kill cells in the SW620 hollow fibre in vitro solid tumour model at clinically achievable concentrations. Ascorbate anti-cancer efficacy, alone or in combination with lipoic acid, vitamin K3, phenyl ascorbate, or doxorubicin, was assessed using annexin V staining and standard survival assays. 2-day treatments with 10 mM ascorbate increased the percentage of apoptotic cells in SW620 hollow fibre tumours. Lipoic acid synergistically enhanced ascorbate cytotoxicity, reducing the 2-day LC50 in hollow fibre tumours from 34 mM to 4 mM. Lipoic acid, unlike ascorbate, was equally effective against proliferating and non-proliferating cells. Ascorbate levels in human blood plasma were measured during and after intravenous ascorbate infusions. Infusions of 60 g produced peak plasma concentrations exceeding 20 mM with an area under the curve (24 h) of 76 mM h. Thus, tumoricidal concentrations may be achievable in vivo. Ascorbate efficacy was enhanced in an additive fashion by phenyl ascorbate or vitamin K3. The effect of ascorbate on doxorubicin efficacy was concentration dependent; low doses were protective while high doses increased cell killing. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer. com
Verbal Ability, Argument Order, and Attitude Formation

The current study explored the interaction of verbal ability and presentation order on readers’ attitude formation when presented with two-sided arguments. Participants read arguments for and against compulsory voting and genetic engineering, and attitudes were assessed before and after reading the passages. Participants’ verbal ability was measured, combining vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension skill. Results suggested that low verbal-ability participants were more persuaded by the most recent set of arguments whereas high verbal-ability participants formed attitudes independent of presentation order. Contrary to previous literature, individual differences in the personality trait need for cognition did not interact with presentation order. The results suggest that verbal ability is an important moderator of the effect of presentation order when formulating opinions from complex prose.
Comments on bounds on central charges in = 1 superconformal theories

The ratio of central charges in four-dimensional CFTs has been suggested by Hofman and Maldacena to lie within an interval whose boundaries are fixed by the number of supersymmetries. We compute this ratio for a set of interacting = 1 superconformal field theories which arise as RG fixed points of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories with adjoint and fundamental matter. We do not find violations of the proposed bounds, which appear to be saturated by free field theories.
The Tully-Fisher relation for low surface brightness galaxies: implications for galaxy evolution

We present the B-band Tully-Fisher relation for low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies. These LSB galaxies follow the same Tully-Fisher relation as normal spiral galaxies. This implies that the mass-to-light ratio (M/L) of LSB galaxies is typically a factor of 2 larger than that of normal galaxies of the same total luminosity and morphological type. Since the dynamical mass of a galaxy is related to the rotational velocity and scalelength via M proportional to V(2)h, at fixed linewidth LSB galaxies must be twice as large as normal galaxies. This is confirmed by examining the relation between scalelength and linewidth for LSB and normal galaxies. The universal nature of the Tully-Fisher relation can be understood if LSB galaxies are galaxies with low mass surface density, sigma ($) over bar. The mass surface density apparently controls the luminosity evolution of a galaxy in such a way as to keep the product sigma ($) over bar M/L constant.
Which Firms Get Punished for Unethical Behavior? Explaining Variation in Stock Market Reactions to Corporate Misconduct

Although there is ample evidence that stock markets react negatively to unethical corporate behavior, our understanding of the mechanisms that shape variation in these reactions across different incidents of misconduct remains underdeveloped. We propose and test a framework for explaining this variation by focusing on the role of the media in disseminating initial information about misconduct. We argue that the signaling effects of this information are important for investors because corporations have strong incentives to limit the information they disclose about misconduct. More specifically, we hypothesize that investors are more likely to react negatively when the media presents clear and credible information that misconduct occurred, that the firm was responsible for it, and that the misconduct was the result of deeper organizational problems. We also predict that information which signals that a firm has restorative capacity tempers investor reactions when the media places blame for misconduct on the corporation rather than specific individuals. We test our hypotheses in a unique sample of 345 acts of corporate misconduct in five European countries. Our findings provide broad support for our hypotheses, and we discuss implications for research on corporate misconduct and the role of non-state actors in regulating unethical corporate behavior.
Can Clinicians Use the PHQ-9 to Assess Depression in People with Vision Loss?

Purpose. To investigate whether the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) possesses the essential psychometric characteristics to measure depressive symptoms in people with visual impairment. Methods. The PHQ-9 scale was completed by 103 participants with low vision. These data were then assessed for fit to the Rasch model. Results. The participants' mean ± standard deviation (SD) age was 74.7 ± 12.2 years. Almost one half of them (n = 46; 44.7%) were considered to have severe vision impairment (presenting visual acuity <6/60 in the better eye). Disordered thresholds were evident initially. Collapsing the two middle categories produced ordered thresholds and fit to the Rasch model (&khgr;2 = 10.1; degrees of freedom = 9; p = 0.34). The mean (SD) items and persons Fit Residual values were −0.31 (1.12) and −0.25 (0.78), respectively, where optimal fit of data to the Rasch model would have a mean = 0 and SD = 1. Unidimensionality was demonstrated confirming the construct validity of the PHQ-9 and there was no evidence of differential item functioning on a number of factors including visual disability. The person separation reliability value was 0.80 indicating that the PHQ-9 has satisfactory precision. There was a degree of mistargeting as expected in this largely non-clinically depressed sample. Conclusions. Our findings demonstrate that the PHQ-9, when scaled with Rasch analysis, forms a linear interval measurement of depressive symptoms suitable for use in a vision impaired population.