Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Important are Terms‐Of‐Trade Shocks?

According to conventional wisdom, terms of trade shocks represent a major source of business cycles in emerging and poor countries. This view is largely based on the analysis of calibrated business-cycle models. We argue that the view that emerges from empirical SVAR models is strikingly different. We estimate country-specific SVARs using data from 38 poor and emerging countries and find that terms-of-trade shocks explain only 10 percent of movements in aggregate activity. We then build a fully-fledged, open economy model with three sectors, importables, exportables, and nontradables, and use data from each of the 38 countries to obtain country-specific estimates of key structural parameters, including those defining the terms-of-trade process. In the estimated theoretical business-cycle models terms-of-trade shocks explain on average 30 percent of the variance of key macroeconomic indicators, three times as much as in SVAR models.
unctional near-infrared spectroscopy study on primary motor and sensory ortex response to clenching

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the influence of clenching and clenching intensity on oxygenated hemoglobin (OxyHb) levels in regional cerebral blood flow as an indicator of brain activity in the primary motor and sensory cortices. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to minimize the effect of clenching-associated muscle activity in eight healthy subjects. Subjects were required to clench at 20%, 50% and 80% of maximum clenching force. To minimize the effect of temporal muscle activity
Perspectives of Parents of Children with Autism or Intellectual Disability on Inclusive Education in Urban China

Author(s): Chen, Weiwei Chen | Advisor(s): Wang, Mian | Abstract: The dissertation study is focused on an investigation of the attitudes on inclusive education and the Chinese approximation of it—the “Learning in Regular Classrooms” (LRC) by parents of children having autism or intellectual disability in urban China, as well as their perceptions of their children in terms of their disabilities, in reference to their typical peers. 16 qualitative interviews were conducted on parents of pre-school and school-aged children with autism and Down’s syndrome, from two metropolitan cities, Beijing and Chengdu in China. It was found that although most of the parents possessed concrete understanding of inclusive education, the poor implementation of LRC, as well as the unsupportive climate on disability in the outer society constantly made them feel the huge gap in practice. However, they unanimously expressed their determination to have their children mainstream in LRC, in comparison to the special educational schools, based on their ultimate goal for their children to enjoy an independent and honorable life in the future. In support of the aim at securing the LRC placement, the parents also listed a number of mental and pragmatic strategies to tackle the challenges the LRC placement could confront them with, especially the severe stigmatization brought about by being disabled in China, from the school administrators, typical peers, teachers, and others.
Molecular Features and Survival Outcomes of the Intrinsic Subtypes Within HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Background The clinical impact of the biological heterogeneity within HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer is not fully understood. Here, we evaluated the molecular features and survival outcomes of the intrinsic subtypes within HER2+ breast cancer. Methods We interrogated The Cancer Genome Atlas (n = 495) and Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (METABRIC) datasets (n = 1730) of primary breast cancers for molecular data derived from DNA, RNA and protein, and determined intrinsic subtype. Clinical HER2 status was defined according to American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)/College of American Pathologists (CAP) guidelines or DNA copy-number aberration by single nucleotide polymorphism arrays. Cox models tested the prognostic significance of each variable in patients not treated with trastuzumab (n = 1711). Results Compared with clinically HER2 (cHER2)-negative breast cancer, cHER2+ breast cancer had a higher frequency of the HER2-enriched (HER2E) subtype (47.0% vs 7.1%) and a lower frequency of Luminal A (10.7% vs 39.0%) and Basal-like (14.1% vs 23.4%) subtypes. The likelihood of cHER2-positivity in HER2E, Luminal B, Basal-like and Luminal A subtypes was 64.6%, 20.0%, 14.4% and 7.3%, respectively. Within each subtype, only 0.3% to 3.9% of genes were found differentially expressed between cHER2+ and cHER2-negative tumors. Within cHER2+ tumors, HER2 gene and protein expression was statistically significantly higher in the HER2E and Basal-like subtypes than either luminal subtype. Neither cHER2 status nor the new 10-subtype copy number-based classification system (IntClust) added independent prognostic value to intrinsic subtype. Conclusions When the intrinsic subtypes are taken into account, cHER2-positivity does not translate into large changes in the expression of downstream signaling pathways, nor does it affect patient survival in the absence of HER2 targeting.
Effects of an illusory orientation of the head on straight-ahead pointing movements

En l'absence d'information visuelle, une rotation de la tete induit une deviation contralaterale des mouvements de pointage droit devant. Afin de dissocier l'influence de la representation interne de la tete et celle de sa position veritable, nous avons utilise le phenomene de retour, illusion d'un lent deplacement de la tete vers sa position neutre, lorsqu'elle est maintenue tournee pendant plusieurs minutes, les yeux fermes. Plonges dans l'obscurite, la tete tournee passivement a 40°, huit sujets ont, a 4 reprises (0, 3, 6 et 9 minutes apres la rotation), evalue l'orientation de leur tete a l'aide d'un dispositif analogique manuel, et execute des pointages manuels droit devant leur tronc. Pour determiner les effets consecutifs du phenomene de retour, les memes mesures ont ete effectuees apres la rotation prolongee, une fois la tete passivement ramenee en position sagittale. La rotation de la tete produit immediatement une deviation contralaterale des mouvements de pointage. L'orientation percue de la tete derive de 9,5° pendant les 9 minutes de rotation prolongee. Replacee en position centrale, la tete est percue comme tournee de plus de 15° dans la direction opposee a la rotation initiale. Les pointages droit devant sont alors devies contralateralement a l'orientation percue de la tete. La direction des mouvements de pointage droit devant depend donc de la representation de la tete plutot que de sa position reelle. Les resultats sont discutes en relation avec le concept de schema corporel dont les composantes sensorimotrice et cognitive sont distinguees.
XML with incomplete information

We study models of incomplete information for XML, their computational properties, and query answering. While our approach is motivated by the study of relational incompleteness, incomplete information in XML documents may appear not only as null values but also as missing structural information. Our goal is to provide a classification of incomplete descriptions of XML documents, and separate features—or groups of features—that lead to hard computational problems from those that admit efficient algorithms. Our classification of incomplete information is based on the combination of null values with partial structural descriptions of documents. The key computational problems we consider are consistency of partial descriptions, representability of complete documents by incomplete ones, and query answering. We show how factors such as schema information, the presence of node ids, and missing structural information affect the complexity of these main computational problems, and find robust classes of incomplete XML descriptions that permit tractable query evaluation.
Tactile Stimulation and Consumer Response

Tactile behavior is a basic communication form as well as an expression of interpersonal involvement. This article presents three studies offering evidence for the positive role of casual interpersonal touch on consumer behavior. More specifically, it provides initial support for the view that tactile stimulation in various consumer behavior situations enhances the positive feeling for and evaluation of both the external stimuli and the touching source. Further, customers touched by a requester tend to comply more than customers in no-touch conditions. Implications for consumer behavior theory and research are discussed. Copyright 1992 by the University of Chicago.
Parenting processes, self-esteem, and aggression: A mediation model

Abstract The present study examined the relations between perceived maternal and paternal parenting processes and adolescent aggression, and to what extent these relations were mediated by self-esteem in a sample of 546 (43.8% males and 56.2% females) Turkish adolescents. Participants’ ages ranged from 14 to 18 with a mean of 15.91 years (SD = .95). Findings supported our hypothesized model of the effect of perceived parenting processes on aggression as being mediated through self-esteem for both maternal and paternal parenting measures. Specifically, self-esteem mediated the relations between parental closeness, monitoring, peer approval and adolescent aggression. Self-esteem is an important individual charecteristic to consider for prevention efforts of adolescent aggressive behaviors, along with key parenting behaviors.
A data clustering algorithm for mining patterns from event logs

Today, event logs contain vast amounts of data that can easily overwhelm a human. Therefore, mining patterns from event logs is an important system management task. The paper presents a novel clustering algorithm for log file data sets which helps one to detect frequent patterns from log files, to build log file profiles, and to identify anomalous log file lines.
Analogy-Based Reasoning with Memory Networks for Future Prediction

Making predictions about what might happen in the future is important for reacting adequately in many situations. For example, observing that “Man kidnaps girl” may have the consequence that “Man kills girl”. While this is part of common sense reasoning for humans, it is not obvious how machines can learn and generalize over such knowledge automatically. The order of event’s textual occurrence in documents offers a clue to acquire such knowledge automatically. Here, we explore another clue, namely, logical and temporal relations of verbs from lexical resources. We argue that it is possible to generalize to unseen events, by using the entailment relation between two events expressed as (subject, verb, object) triples. We formulate our hypotheses of analogy-based reasoning for future prediction, and propose a memory network that incorporates our hypotheses. Our evaluation for predicting the next future event shows that the proposed model can be competitive to (deep) neural networks and rankSVM, while giving interpretable answers.
Simultaneous reliable regulation in decentralized control systems

This paper addresses the design of a regulator for a linear, time-invariant plant described by a finite set of models. The regulator must guarantee closed loop asymptotic stability along with signal tracking and disturbance rejection. The control system has to be reliable. This means that it enjoys these properties both when all the instrumentation is in operation, and, at their maximum possible extent, when some sensors and/or actuators faults occur. The faults cause the opening of some feedback loops. In a sense, a single regulator has to be found, which is able to solve a certain number of classical regulator problems at the same time. Referring to a fully decentralized control structure, the paper presents a constructive necessary and sufficient condition for the problem to admit a solution when the exogenous signals are steps.
Sprouting by semi‐arid plants: testing a dichotomy and predictive traits

A widely-used description of vegetation response to fire is that species can be clearly classified as sprouters or non-sprouters. We aimed to assess: (1) how well this dichotomous classification (sprouter/non-sprouter) described the responses of a semi-arid flora to experimental disturbance; (2) how similar were sprouting responses to treatments mimicking intense herbivory and fire; (3) how well easily-measured traits could predict sprouting. Sprouting was assessed for 45 species from a range of growth forms (grasses, forbs, sub-shrubs, woody shrubs and trees) from semi-arid south-eastern Australia. We used two treatments: clipping at stem base, and clipping followed by burning with a blowtorch. A dichotomy accounted for >60% of deviance explained by species identity. Models with three or four groups were not substantially better. The dichotomy was not between 0% and 100% sprouting, rather between ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ sprouters. Probabilities of sprouting for weak sprouters were 23% after clipping and 6% after burning, while strong sprouters had sprouting probabilities of 90% after clipping and 79% after burning. While sprouting varied in space and time, the dichotomy was robust to this variation. Sprouting ability increased with size in most of the species with variable sprouting. Sprouting was partially related to growth form; grasses sprouted strongly, chenopods weakly, and forb and woody species covered the range of sprouting. Strong sprouters were likely to have more stems per plant, greater basal area, shorter potential height and deeper buds than weak sprouters. A hierarchical model that used growth form and then stems-per-plant provided a simple, robust predictor of sprouting. Four-fifths of species responded consistently to clipping and burning while one-fifth of species were strong sprouters after clipping but weak sprouters after burning. Burning reduced sprouting most in intermediate sprouters. Differences between sprouting after clipping and burning reflected increased intensity and were related to the depth of buds below ground.
The Effect of Planning Time in Different Contexts of Elicitation on EFL Writer's Performance

Concerning the limited capacity of working memory and drawing on Skehan's (1198) Limited Attentional Capacity Model, this paper explored the effect of planning time on Iranian EFL writers' performance in the different contexts of elicitation. Forty-one Iranian EFL learners in two contexts (university and institute) were asked to write in an argumentative genre under different planning time conditions (pre-task planning and online planning). The results from evaluating the participants' textual outputs in terms of three language production aspects, namely complexity, accuracy, and fluency, revealed a significant effect of planning time on the learners' written performance. The pre-task planning, by reducing the cognitive loads on working memory, helped the learners to have better performance in terms of fluency during the task completion. However, the planning process did not exert statistically significant differences on the complexity and accuracy of the written productions. Given the context of elicitation, the results indicated a significant effect on the participants' written performance in terms of complexity and accuracy. Moreover, significant interaction effects were found between planning time and context. The findings of this article shed more light on understanding the effect of the planning process as a major cognitive component of the writing process in second/foreign language learning. Furthermore, the results of the study have pedagogical implications for utilizing planning process to improve writing performance of the language learners.
Domain Adaptation of Statistical Machine Translation using Web-Crawled Resources: A Case Study

We tackle the problem of domain adaptation of Statistical Machine Translation by exploiting domain-specific data acquired by domain-focused web-crawling. We design and evaluate a procedure for automatic acquisition of monolingual and parallel data and their exploitation for training, tuning, and testing in a phrase-based Statistical Machine Translation system. We present a strategy for using such resources depending on their availability and quantity supported by results of a large-scale evaluation on the domains of Natural Environment and Labour Legislation and two language pairs: English‐French, English-Greek. The average observed increase of BLEU is substantial at 49.5% relative.
Response to Comment on "Phytoplankton Calcification in a High-CO2 World"

Recently reported increasing calcification rates and primary productivity in the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi were obtained by equilibrating seawater with mixtures of carbon dioxide in air. The noted discrepancy with previously reported decreasing calcification is likely due to the previously less realistic simulation of bicarbonate due to addition of acid or base to obtain simulated future CO2 partial pressure conditions.
Chemical Analysis of Different Parts of Date Palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) Using Ultimate, Proximate and Thermo-Gravimetric Techniques for Energy Production

The objective of the study was to analyze chemical structure of date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) by employing ultimate, proximate and thermo-gravimetric techniques. Samples from different anatomical parts of date palm, namely trunk, frond base, frond midrib, leaflets, coir, fruit stem, date stone, and fruit empty bunches were considered for the experiments. Based on the findings in this work palm leaflet samples gave the highest amount of extractives content (32.9%), followed by date palm stone specimens with 31.5%. Cellulose content values of 32.8% and 47.5% were obtained for date palm stone and palm coir samples, respectively. Overall the hemicellulose contents of all samples were relatively similar to those of typical wood or non-wood lignocellulosic materials with the two exceptions of palm coir and palm leaflets. Both palm coir and palm leaflet specimens had 12.6% and 16.1% hemicellulose content. Volatile matter values of 74.3% and 87.5% were determined for leaflets and fruit empty bunch samples. The ash content of the samples ranged from 1.4% for date stone to 15.2% for palm leaflet samples. The thermal decomposition was completed below a temperature of 500 °C with an exception of those samples taken from palm leaflets. Taken together the data indicate that date palm stone and palm coir revealed could be more viable for renewable energy production than the other specimens considered in this work.
HOPE AND HAPPINESS OF FEMALE POST GRADUATE STUDENTS

Hope and Happiness are the positive emotions which are important subjects in the life of individuals. The present study analysed the Hope and Happiness which are the psychological variables among female post graduate university students. The samples of female post graduate students of North-Eastern Hill University are selected randomly. The tools used in the study are the Adult Hope Scale and the Subjective Happiness Scale. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation and t-test are used for analysing the data. The result of the study reported significant relationship between Hope and Happiness of Female post graduate students. It also reported differences in gender on Hope but not on Happiness. The study contributes to the understanding of the Hope and Happiness of Female post graduate students studying in North-Eastern Hill University.
Managing Loose Coupling in the Implementation of Large-Scale ERP

This paper presents a case study of implementation of a complex ERP by a worldwide company with headquarters in the US (Iris Co). Organizational units are represented as systems which interact in the process of technology appropriation. We study the interactions between the implementation of large-scale IS and management of the tradeoff between non-coupled vs. tightly coupled systems. We focus on the process and the dialectic of loosely coupled systems as a way to balance efficiency and flexibility when organizations are required to achieve efficiency through centralization and control at the expense of autonomy and flexibility. Our findings highlight the importance of developing learning skill for achieving this balance.
Cognitive, Affective, Personality, and Demographic Predictors of Foreign-Language Achievement

Abstract The ability of cognitive, affective, personality, and demographic variables to predict second-language acquisition among college students was investigated. An all possible subsets regression analysis was used to compare the proportion of variance in foreign-language achievement explained by each variable. The analysis revealed that variables from each of the 4 domains were important predictors of foreign-language achievement. Overall, academic achievement, as measured by GPA average, was the best predictor, explaining 11.5% of the variance in foreign-language achievement. Foreign-language anxiety, the next best predictor, explained 10.5% of the variance. The educational implications of these findings for understanding foreign-language achievement are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.
North–south gradients in plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and other components of one-carbon metabolism in Western Europe: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study

Different lifestyle patterns across Europe may influence plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and one-carbon metabolites and their relation to chronic disease. Comparison of published data on one-carbon metabolites in Western European regions is difficult due to differences in sampling procedures and analytical methods between studies. The present study aimed, to compare plasma concentrations of one-carbon metabolites in Western European regions with one laboratory performing all biochemical analyses. We performed the present study in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort among 5446 presumptively healthy individuals. Quantile regression was used to compare sex-specific median concentrations between Northern (Denmark and Sweden), Central (France, Germany, The Netherlands and United Kingdom) and Southern (Greece, Spain and Italy) European regions. The lowest folate concentrations were observed in Northern Europe (men, 10·4 nmol/l; women, 10·7 nmol/l) and highest concentrations in Central Europe. Cobalamin concentrations were slightly higher in Northern Europe (men, 330 pmol/l; women, 352 pmol/l) compared with Central and Southern Europe, but did not show a clear north–south gradient. Vitamin B2 concentrations were highest in Northern Europe (men, 22·2 nmol/l; women, 26·0 nmol/l) and decreased towards Southern Europe (Ptrend< 0·001). Vitamin B6 concentrations were highest in Central Europe in men (77·3 nmol/l) and highest in the North among women (70·4 nmol/l), with decreasing concentrations towards Southern Europe in women (Ptrend< 0·001). In men, concentrations of serine, glycine and sarcosine increased from the north to south. In women, sarcosine increased from Northern to Southern Europe. These findings may provide relevant information for the study of regional differences of chronic disease incidence in association with lifestyle.