Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools

Nearly the whole of America's partisan politics centers on a single question: Can markets solve our social problems? And for years this question has played out ferociously in the debates about how we should educate our children. Policy makers have increasingly turned to market-based models to help improve our schools, believing that private institutions - because they are competitively driven - are better than public ones. With The Public School Advantage, Christopher A. and Sarah Theule Lubienski offer powerful evidence to undercut this belief, showing that public schools in fact outperform private ones. Decades of research have shown that students at private schools score, on average, at higher levels than students do at public schools. Drawing on two large-scale, nationally representative databases, the Lubienskis show, however, that this difference is more than explained by demographics-private school students largely come from more privileged backgrounds, offering greater educational support. After correcting for demographics, the authors go on to show that gains in student achievement at public schools are at least as great and often greater than those at private ones, and the very mechanism that market-based reformers champion-autonomy - may be the crucial factor that prevents private schools from performing better. Alternatively, those practices that these reformers castigate, such as teacher certification and professional reforms of curriculum and instruction, turn out to have a significant effect on school improvement. Offering facts, not ideologies, The Public School Advantage reveals that education is better off when provided for the public by the public.
A study of variable bandwidth selection for local polynomial regression

A decisive question in nonparametric smoothing techniques is the choice of the bandwidth or smoothing parameter. The present paper addresses this question when using local polynomial approximations for estimating the regression function and its derivatives. A fully-automatic bandwidth selection procedure has been proposed by Fan and Gijbels (1995a), and the empirical performance of it was tested in detail via a variety of examples. Those experiences supported the methodology towards a great extend. In this paper we establish asymptotic results for the proposed variable bandwidth selector. We provide the rate of convergence of the bandwidth estimate, and obtain the asymptotic distribution of its error relative to the theoretical optimal variable bandwidth. These asymptotic properties give extra support to the proposed bandwidth selection procedure. It it also demonstrated how the proposed selection method can be applied in the density estimation setup. Some examples illustrate this application.
Maximum Lifetime Routing Based on Fuzzy Set Theory in Wireless Sensor Networks

To solve the problem of energy saving in the design of wireless sensor networks, a new maximum lifetime routing algorithm was proposed based on uneven cluster, linear programing and fuzzy set theory (UCLF) in wireless sensor networks, which formulated the system maximum lifetime problem as a linear programming problem and selected cluster head based on fuzzy set theory, where the objectives is to output optimal clusters which closer to the sink node have fewer nodes than those farther away from the sink node and seek a balance point between energy consumption and routing efficiency to maximize the network lifetime. Compared with the classical energy efficient algorithm, such as CMAX, simulation results show that UCLF can effectively extend the network lifetime.
The Clinical Importance of Perforator Preservation in Intracranial Aneurysm Surgery: An Overview with a Review of the Literature

Clipping for intracranial aneurysms is done to achieve complete occlusion of the aneurysm without a remnant sac. Despite modern advancements of neurosurgical techniques, morbidity related to the clipping of intracranial aneurysms still exists. Clip occlusion of a parent artery or small hidden perforators commonly leads to permanent neurological deficits, and is a serious and unwanted complication. Thus, preserving blood flow in the branches and perforators of a parent artery is very important for successful surgery without postoperative morbidity and mortality. The aim of this review article is to discuss the consequences of perforator injury and how to avoid this phenomenon in aneurysm surgeries using intraoperative monitoring devices.
The Neonatal Ventromedial Hypothalamus Transcriptome Reveals Novel Markers with Spatially Distinct Patterning

The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is a distinct morphological nucleus involved in feeding, fear, thermoregulation, and sexual activity. It is essentially unknown how VMH circuits underlying these innate responses develop, in part because the VMH remains poorly defined at a cellular and molecular level. Specifically, there is a paucity of cell-type-specific genetic markers with which to identify neuronal subgroups and manipulate development and signaling in vivo. Using gene profiling, we now identify ∼200 genes highly enriched in neonatal (postnatal day 0) mouse VMH tissue. Analyses of these VMH markers by real or virtual (Allen Brain Atlas; http://www.brain-map.org) experiments revealed distinct regional patterning within the newly formed VMH. Top neonatal markers include transcriptional regulators such as Vgll2, SF-1, Sox14, Satb2, Fezf1, Dax1, Nkx2-2, and COUP-TFII, but interestingly, the highest expressed VMH transcript, the transcriptional coregulator Vgll2, is completely absent in older animals. Collective results from zebrafish knockdown experiments and from cellular studies suggest that a subset of these VMH markers will be important for hypothalamic development and will be downstream of SF-1, a critical factor for normal VMH differentiation. We show that at least one VMH marker, the AT-rich binding protein Satb2, was responsive to the loss of leptin signaling (Lepob/ob) at postnatal day 0 but not in the adult, suggesting that some VMH transcriptional programs might be influenced by fetal or early postnatal environments. Our study describing this comprehensive “VMH transcriptome” provides a novel molecular toolkit to probe further the genetic basis of innate neuroendocrine behavioral responses.
Bivariate Causality between Immigration and Long-Term Unemployment in Australia, 1981-1998

This paper is concerned with the possible bivariate Granger causality between immigration, measured as the proportion of net permanent and long-term movement to resident population, and long-term unemployment, measured as the proportion of long-term unemployed to total unemployed, in Australia in the period of 1981 to 1998. Using quarterly, both seasonally unadjusted and adjusted data, first we try to determine whether these series are stationary or have nonseasonal and/or seasonal unit roots. After having established the univariate properties of these series we focus on the possibility of common features, such as common trend and seasonality. Finally, we test for causality. Our final conclusion is that there is unidirectional Granger causality, both between the seasonally unadjusted and adjusted series, running from immigration to long-term unemployed in the future. This relationship is negative, i.e., more migrants mean relatively less long-term unemployed in the future. Although, as regards causality, the analysis of both the seasonally unadjusted and adjusted data led to the same conclusion, it is also apparent from our study that seasonal adjustment might significantly affect the outcomes of hypothesis tests for unit root and stationarity.
Do Unions Redistribute Income from Capital to Labour? Union Density and Wage Shares Since 1960

The income distribution between capital and labour is understudied within industrial relations. This article investigates the relationship between union density, taken as an indicator of the bargaining power of unions, and the wage share of national income in 16 advanced capitalist economies since 1960. It is shown that overall there is a positive relationship between union density and the wage share, as one would expect. But the relationship is weak or non-existent in the Nordic countries, and in some specifications in Germany and Anglo-Saxon countries, and overall it is weak in the 1980s and early 1990s. The article discusses the differences between countries in relationship to the literature on corporatism and wage moderation, and the decreasing effect over time with reference to increased global competition and conservatism of monetary policy from about 1980 on, increasing unions' incentives for wage moderation policies.
The role of allergic risk and other factors that affect the occurrence of atopic dermatitis in the first 6 months of life

Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammation of the skin that often appears in early childhood. The manifestation is related to the tendency towards T helper 2 cytokine immune responses (interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5). Genetic factors are suggested to play important roles in AD, and it can be transmitted to newborns, increasing their risk of developing allergies. Objective To determine the association between cord-blood cytokine levels (IL-5, interferon (IFN) γ), cord-blood total immunoglobulin E (IgE) level, perinatal environmental exposure, and the risks of allergy as well as the development of AD in the first 6 months of life. Methods A 6-month cohort study with a nested case-control within was conducted on newborns in Jakarta from December 2008 until May 2009. After the umbilical cord blood samples were taken and stored, subjects were followed up monthly until 6 months old. The occurrence of AD and lifestyle or environmental exposures were recorded. The allergic risk was determined using a modified pediatric allergy immunology work groups scoring system based on allergic history (allergic rhinitis, asthma, AD) in the family. The levels of IL-5 and IFN-γ were measured using ELISA and total IgE by CAP system FEIA. Multivariate analysis was used to evaluate risk factors. Results This study was conducted on 226 subjects. The incidence of AD was 16.4%; of those, 59% had low risk allergy, 38.5% moderate, and 2% high risk. AD mostly occurred at the age of 1 month (57%). Cord blood samples were examined in 37 subjects with AD and 51 without AD; of those, 25% showed high levels of total IgE (>1.2 IU/µL), and 51% showed normally-distributed high absorbance IL-5 values (≥0.0715, absolute value was undetected). The increased level of IL-5 was directly proportional to IgE. High absorbance IFN-γ values (≥0.0795, absolute value = 18.681 pg/µL) were observed in 52% of subjects. Conclusion The associations between the risk of allergy in the family, cord-blood total IgE, IL-5, IFN levels, and some perinatal environmental exposure with AD in the first 6 months of life have not been established.
Natural flow regime, temperature and the composition and richness of invertebrate assemblages in streams of the western United States

1. We tested how strongly aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa richness and composition were associated with natural variation in both flow regime and stream temperatures across streams of the western United States. 2. We used long-term flow records from 543 minimally impacted gauged streams to quantify 12 streamflow variables thought to be ecologically important. A principal component analysis reduced the dimensionality of the data from 12 variables to seven principal component (PC) factors that characterised statistically independent aspects of streamflow: (1) zero flow days, (2) flow magnitude, (3) predictability, (4) flood duration, (5) seasonality, (6) flashiness and (7) base flow. K-means clustering was used to group streams into 4–8 hydrologically different classes based on these seven factors. 3. We also used empirical models to estimate mean annual, mean summer and mean winter stream temperatures at each stream site. We then used invertebrate data from 63 sites to develop Random Forest models to predict taxa richness and taxon-specific probabilities of capture at a site from flow and temperature. We used the predicted taxonspecific probabilities of capture to estimate how well predicted assemblages matched observed assemblages as measured by RIVPACS-type observed ⁄expected (O ⁄E) indices and Bray–Curtis dissimilarities. 4. Macroinvertebrate taxon richness was only weakly associated with streamflow and temperature variables, implying that other factors more strongly influenced taxa richness. 5. In contrast to taxa richness, taxa composition was strongly associated with streamflow and temperature. Predictions of taxa composition (O ⁄E and Bray–Curtis) were most precise when both temperature and streamflow PC factors were used, although predictions based on either streamflow PC factors or temperature alone were also better than null model predictions. Of the seven aspects of the streamflow regime we examined, variation in baseflow conditions appeared to be most directly associated with invertebrate biotic composition. We were also able to predict assemblage composition from the conditional probabilities of hydrological class membership nearly as well as Random Forests models that were based directly on continuous PC factors.
Blind Steganalysis: A Countermeasure for Binary Image Steganography

In this paper, we propose a new blind steganalytic method to detect the presence of secret messages embedded in black and white images using the steganographic techniques. We start by extracting several sets of matrix, such as run length matrix, gap length matrix and pixel difference. We also apply characteristic function on these matrices to enhance their discriminative capabilities. Then we calculate the statistics which include mean, variance, kurtosis and skewness to form our feature sets. The presented empirical works demonstrate our proposed method can effectively detect three different types of steganography. This proves the universality of our proposed method as a blind steganalysis. In addition, the experimental results show our proposed method is capable of detecting small amount of the embedded message.
New Lease on Life: Section 23 Housing and the Poor

American efforts in public housing began in earnest during the 1930's;'in the early years there were high hopes for the program's success. Since the end of the Second World War, however, the program has been unpopular with Congress, and has suffered from bad publicity, a bad public image and a constant lack of funds and imagination. Governmental disillusionment with public housing probably mirrors the disillusionment of the politically active public. In the big cities, public housing is commonly equated with highly segregated high-rise, high-crime projects, ugly in reputation and design.2 The political right always has despised public housing on the grounds that it is socialistic; ' the left generally has come to condemn the program on the grounds that it is dreary, despotic, discriminatory and dysfunctional.4 Public housing had become, by the early 1960's, one of the least popular federal welfare programs, devoid of all capacity for major growth and subject to withering attack. To some extent, public housing has been more a scapegoat than a villain. It has been judged by its very worst examples; good projects are smeared by the same brush that tars the bad. Public housing is not the cause of many of the evils that projects admittedly embody. Public housing did not create the urban ghetto; the housing program, like the neighborhood school system, merely reflects the
Globetrotting or global citizenship? : perils and potential of international experiential learning

Figures and Tables List of Contributors 1. International Experiential Learning and Global Citizenship - Rebecca Tiessen (University of Ottawa, Global Studies) and Robert Huish (Dalhousie University, International Development Studies) 2. Grounding Experiential Learning in Thick Conceptions of Global Citizenship - John Cameron (Dalhousie University, International Development Studies) 3. Critical Hyper-Reflexivity and Challenging Power: Pushing Past the Dichotomy of Employability and Good Global Citizenship in Development Studies Experiential Learning Contexts - Jonathan Langdon (St Francis Xavier University, Development Studies) and Coleman Agyeyoamh (Director of Venceremos Development Consults) 4. Career Aspirations and Experiential Learning Abroad: Perspectives from Canadian Youth on Short-Term Placements - Rebecca Tiessen 5. Uncovering What Lies Beneath: An Examination of Power, Privilege and Racialization in International Social Work - Lahoma Thomas (University of Toronto) and Uppala Chandrasekera (M.S.W., RSW) 6. Secondary School Experiential Learning Programs in the Global South: Critical Reflections from an Ontario Study - Katie Fizzell (Queen's University, Global Development Studies) and Marc Epprecht (Queen's University, Development Studies) 7. Experiential Learning in Challenging Settings: Lessons from Post-Genocide Rwanda - Marie-Eve Desrosiers (University of Ottawa, International Development and Global Studies) and Susan Thomson (Colgate University, Peace and Conflict Studies) 8. "Would Flexner close the doors on this? " The Ethical Dilemmas of International Health Electives in Medical Education - Robert Huish 9. Getting Prepared for International Experiential Learning: An Ethical Imperative - Julie Drolet (Thompson Rivers University, Human, Social and Educational Development Studies) 10. Getting the Most out of Studying Abroad: Ways to Maximize Learning in Short-Term Study Trips - Stacie Travers (Canadian Bureau for International Education, Program Manager) 11. (De)colonizing Pedagogies: An Exploration of Learning with Students Volunteering Abroad - Katie MacDonald (University of Alberta) 12. Visual Representation and Canadian Government-Funded Volunteer Abroad Programs: Picturing the Canadian Global Citizen - Ellyn Clost (Researcher, Kingston, Ontario) 13. Volunteer Stories about International Development: Challenges of Public Engagement Campaigns in Youth NGOs - Manda Ann Roddick (University of Victoria) 14. Afterword: The Should be Nothing Experimental about Experiential Learning: From Globetrotting to Global Citizenship - Robert Huish and Rebecca Tiessen
Efficiently Inefficient: How Smart Money Invests and Market Prices Are Determined

Efficiently Inefficient describes the key trading strategies used by hedge funds and demystifies the secret world of active investing. Leading financial economist Lasse Heje Pedersen combines the latest research with real-world examples and interviews with top hedge fund managers to show how certain trading strategies make money—and why they sometimes don’t. Pedersen views markets as neither perfectly efficient nor completely inefficient. Rather, they are inefficient enough that money managers can be compensated for their costs through the profits of their trading strategies and efficient enough that the profits after costs do not encourage additional active investing. Understanding how to trade in this efficiently inefficient market provides a new, engaging way to learn finance. Pedersen analyzes how the market price of stocks and bonds can differ from the model price, leading to new perspectives on the relationship between trading results and finance theory. He explores several different areas in depth—fundamental tools for investment management, equity strategies, macro strategies, and arbitrage strategies—and he looks at such diverse topics as portfolio choice, risk management, equity valuation, and yield curve logic. The book’s strategies are illuminated further by interviews with leading hedge fund managers: Lee Ainslie, Cliff Asness, Jim Chanos, Ken Griffin, David Harding, John Paulson, Myron Scholes, and George Soros. Efficiently Inefficient effectively demonstrates how financial markets really work.
Molecular population genetics and selection in the glycolytic pathway

Summary In this review, I discuss the evidence for differential natural selection acting across enzymes in the glycolytic pathway in Drosophila. Across the genome, genes evolve at very different rates and possess markedly varying levels of molecular polymorphism, codon bias and expression variation. Discovering the underlying causes of this variation has been a challenge in evolutionary biology. It has been proposed that both the intrinsic properties of enzymes and their pathway position have direct effects on their molecular evolution, and with the genomic era the study of adaptation has been taken to the level of pathways and networks of genes and their products. Of special interest have been the energy-producing pathways. Using both population genetic and experimental approaches, our laboratory has been engaged in a study of molecular variation across the glycolytic pathway in Drosophila melanogaster and its close relatives. We have observed a pervasive pattern in which genes at the top of the pathway, especially around the intersection at glucose 6-phosphate, show evidence for both contemporary selection, in the form of latitudinal allele clines, and inter-specific selection, in the form of elevated levels of amino acid substitutions between species. To further explore this question, future work will require corroboration in other species, expansion into tangential pathways, and experimental work to better characterize metabolic control through the pathway and to examine the pleiotropic effects of these genes on other traits and fitness components.
IT aided training in international technology transfer

Companies are increasingly forced to internationalize through technology transfer. Adequate training is essential to upgrade the knowledge and skills of the technology recipient and transfer technology effectively. This study investigates how firms have been able to use IT aided training in technology transfer. The authors' study began with a literature review of printed and digitized resources. In-depth interviews with companies were then conducted.
Childhood microbial experience, immunoregulation, inflammation and adult susceptibility to psychosocial stressors and depression in rich and poor countries

As communities undergo the transition from traditional rural life to modern urban lifestyles, the prevalence of chronic inflammatory disorders such as allergies, autoimmunity and inflammatory bowel diseases increases dramatically. It now appears that this is at least in part attributable to diminished efficiency of immunoregulation resulting from inadequate exposure to macroand microorganisms (“Old Friends”). These Old Friends had to be tolerated, and they evolved methods of manipulating host immune systems, e.g. priming immunoregulatory pathways, sometimes by secreting molecules that directly expand Treg populations [reviewed and referenced in 1]. Thus they were entrusted by co-evolutionary processes with setting up immunoregulatory circuits. Recently these ideas have been expanded to include a subset of depressed patients who demonstrate persistently high levels of inflammatory mediators “at rest” and an exaggerated cytokine response to psychosocial stressors [2]. Such observations prompted the suggestion that some depression in rich urbanized societies is a chronic inflammatory disorder attributable to an immunoregulatory deficit. Several lines of evidence converge to support this possibility. First, prolonged administration of inflammatory mediators such as interferon (IFN)-alpha causes a depression-like state that is treatable with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants. Second, the cytokine antagonist infliximab demonstrates antidepressant properties, but only in depressed individuals with evidence of increased peripheral inflammation prior to treatment [3].