Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Hindering the Deployment of Female Teachers to Headship Positions in Public Primary Schools in Nambale Sub-County, Kenya.

Worldwide, women representation in management and leadership positions is marginal. Despite immense academic advancement by women, few of them do advance to management positions. In Kenya, women make up a critical portion of human resource base. However, they are grossly underrepresented at leadership positions. This situation is reflected in school leadership positions as well, including headship of schools. Unless the gender gaps in management and leadership positions are addressed, the talent of high skilled women would be underutilized and there might be a reproduction of gender inequality across generations. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors hindering the deployment of female teachers to headship positions in public primary schools. The main objective of this study was to establish the extent to which the two-thirds gender policy was being applied in deployment of female teachers to headship positions. This study was conducted in Nambale Sub-county. Descriptive survey design was used in this study. Out of a study population of 519 respondents comprising 45 head teachers, 45 deputy head teachers, 427 teachers drawn from 45 public primary schools in Nambale Sub-County, the District Education Officer (DEO) and District Quality Assurance and Standard Officer (DQASO), stratified sampling technique was employed to select 35 head teachers, 35 deputy head teachers and 196 teachers. Saturated sampling was used to select the DEO and the DQASO. Therefore, a sample size of 268 respondents, representing 52% of the study population was used in this study. Questionnaires, interview schedule guide and document analysis guide were used as instruments of data collection. Quantitative data were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages. Findings from the study revealed that the Ministry of Education provided for equal opportunities in terms of deployment but the two-thirds gender policy was not applied in deployment of teachers to school headship. Based on these findings, the study proposed that the Teachers Service Commission should come up with clear and precise deployment policies expressed in writing so that their compliance can easily be checked and the Ministry of Education should design a mechanism for implementing the two-thirds gender policy in deployment of teachers to headship positions. Key words: Deployment to headship positions, female teachers, public primary schools.
Can Firms Learn to Acquire? The Impact of Post-Acquisition Decisions and Learning on Long-Term Abnormal Returns

The objective of this paper is to study empirically how post-acquisition decisions and learning from previous acquisition experience affect the long-term performance of acquiring firm. Using financial, accounting and questionnaire response data, we investigate the post-acquisition long-term performance of 47 US bank holding companies that executed 320 acquisitions in the 1986-1995 period and compare it with their competitors' performance. Applying a long-term event study methodology, we regress measures of abnormal financial performance on a set of explanatory variables, which include measures of post-acquisition decisions, such as the degree of integration of the target within the acquirer's structure and the replacement of the top management team, as well as approximations of the acquirer's capability to implement the integration process. We find that prior acquisition experience per se does not improve post-acquisition performance, but the degree to which acquirers articulate and codify their experience in ad-hoc tools significantly affects long-term performance. Furthermore, a high level of integration of the target within the acquirer's organization improves long-term performance, whereas the replacement of top management worsens it. Also, increasing levels of integration enhance the positive impact of knowledge codification processes. Finally, experiential and deliberate learning are substitutive mechanisms for learning, rather than complements.
Imaging and Diagnostic Testing Echocardiographic left atrial reverse remodeling after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation is predicted by preablation delayed enhancement of left atrium by magnetic resonance imaging

Echocardiographic left atrial reverse remodeling after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation is predicted by preablation delayed enhancement of left atrium by magnetic resonance imaging Suman S. Kuppahally, MD, Nazem Akoum, MD, Troy J. Badger, MD, Nathan S. Burgon, BS, Thomas Haslam, BS, Eugene Kholmovski, PhD, Rob Macleod, PhD, Christopher McGann, MD, and Nassir F. Marrouche, MD Salt Lake City, UT
Toward a Noonan syndrome specific social cognitive training

Objective: The neuropsychological profile of patients with Noonan syndrome (NS) is characterised by lowered processing speed and impairments in social cognition (SC). Treatment of SC deficits has proven to be effective in other neuropsychiatric populations. The aim of this study is to perform a systematic review and to incorporate the results in a new, customised intervention protocol for the improvement of SC in patients with NS. Participants and Methods: Controlled studies on SC interventions for adults with neuropsychiatric disorders, published between 1-1-2003 up to 1-1-2015, were identified through a systematic literature search in PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and PsycINFO databases. Results: From the initial 4.565 hits, 101 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, and 34 articles were included in the review. Studies predominantly focused on patients with schizophrenia (n=25), acquired brain injury (n=5), and autism (n=4). 'Simple' SC processes like emotion recognition were the main intervention targets. Treatment duration and intensity were highly variable (1-56 sessions; 1 week-2 years). Group size ranged from 1 to 12 patients, with an average of 5. Conclusions: As patients with NS show deficits in the perception, interpretation, and expression of social-emotional information, a comprehensive approach seems most appropriate to improve SC in this group. Therefore, besides training of emotion recognition and theory-of-mind strategies, a specific SC treatment for adults with NS should also address problems in the identification and verbalization of (own) emotions. A training protocol comprising the aforementioned elements will be presented.
Probabilistic risk assessment of reproductive effects of polychlorinated biphenyls on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Southeast United States coast

High levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been reported in the tissues of some species of marine mammals. The high concentrations are of concern because a growing body of experimental evidence links PCBs to deleterious effects on reproduction, endocrine homeostasis, and immune system function. Much of the recent research has focused on determining the exposure of marine mammal populations to PCBs, but very little effort has been devoted to the actual risk assessments that are needed to determine the expected impacts of the documented exposures. We describe a novel risk assessment approach that integrates measured tissue concentrations of PCBs with a surrogate dose‐response relationship and leads to predictions of health risks for marine mammals as well as to the uncertainties associated with these predictions. Specifically, we use PCB tissue residue data from three populations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), study the feasibility of published dose‐response data from a surrogate species, and combine this information to estimate the risk of detrimental reproductive effects in female dolphins. Our risk analyses for dolphin populations near Beaufort (NC, USA), Sarasota (FL, USA), and Matagorda Bay (TX, USA) indicate a high likelihood that reproductive success, primarily in primiparous females, is being severely impaired by chronic exposure to PCBs. Excess risk of reproductive failure, measured in terms of stillbirth or neonatal mortality, for primiparous females was estimated as 60% (Beaufort), 79% (Sarasota), and 78% (Matagorda Bay). Females of higher parity, which have previously off‐loaded a majority of their PCB burden, exhibit a much lower risk.
Improvement via hypercubic smearing in triplet and sextet QCD

We study nonperturbative improvement in SU(3) lattice gauge theory coupled to fermions in the fundamental and two-index symmetric representations. Our lattice action is defined with hypercubic smeared links incorporated into the Wilson--clover fermion kernel. Using standard Schr\"odinger-functional techniques, we estimate the clover coefficient ${c}_{\mathrm{SW}}$ and find that discretization errors are much smaller than in thin-link theories.
Optical polarimetry, high–resolution spectroscopy and IR analysis of the Chamaeleon I dark cloud

We present optical polarimetry and high res- olution spectroscopy of a sample of stars toward the Chamaeleon I dark cloud. We use our polarimetry which includes 33 stars to study the wavelength dependence of the degree and position angle of polarization. From ts to the normalized wavelength dependence of interstellar polarization, we derive estimates of Max ranging from 4500 A to 6700 A, and PMax ranging from 3 to 8%. The values ofMax were found to be well correlated with the IRAS 100 m intensity, whilePMax was found to increase with EB V. High resolution spectra of the Ca II, CH, and CH + lines were obtained for 10 stars, which show two compo- nents of Ca II in absorption at 3.0 <v LSR < 5k m s 1 , andvLSR= 3.0 km s 1 and a single strong molecular CH absorption component at 3.0 <v LSR < 5.0 km s 1 . From our data we found, by interpretation of the vari- ous correlations between the polarimetry, photometry and IRAS fluxes, the following: the probable presence of shocked molecular gas; a warm molecular CH component; small dust grains at the edges of the cloud, and larger grains in the central parts, which are causing the polarization. Our results provide a consistent picture of the gas and dust content in the Cha I region, where larger grains, re- sponsible of the starlight polarization, exist in the center of the cloud, surrounded by envelopes of warmer molecular and atomic material.
Decentralized Output Feedback Adaptive NN Tracking Control for Time-Delay Stochastic Nonlinear Systems With Prescribed Performance

This paper studies the dynamic output feedback tracking control problem for stochastic interconnected time-delay systems with the prescribed performance. The subsystems are in the form of triangular structure. First, we design a reduced-order observer independent of time delay to estimate the unmeasured state variables online instead of the traditional full-order observer. Then, a new state transformation is proposed in consideration of the prescribed performance requirement. Using neural network to approximate the composite unknown nonlinear function, the corresponding decentralized output tracking controller is designed. It is strictly proved that the resulting closed-loop system is stable in probability in the sense of uniformly ultimately boundedness and that both transient-state and steady-state performances are preserved. Finally, a simulation example is given, and the result shows the effectiveness of the proposed control design method.
Intrinsic properties and neuropharmacology of midline paraventricular thalamic nucleus neurons

Neurons in the midline and intralaminar thalamic nuclei are components of an interconnected brainstem, limbic and prefrontal cortex neural network that is engaged during arousal, vigilance, motivated and addictive behaviors, and stress. To better understand the cellular mechanisms underlying these functions, here we review some of the recently characterized electrophysiological and neuropharmacological properties of neurons in the paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT), derived from whole cell patch clamp recordings in acute rat brain slice preparations. PVT neurons display firing patterns and ionic conductances (IT and IH) that exhibit significant diurnal change. Their resting membrane potential (RMP) is maintained by various ionic conductances that include inward rectifier (Kir), hyperpolarization-activated nonselective cation (HCN) and TWIK-related acid sensitive (TASK) K+ channels. Firing patterns are regulated by high voltage-activated (HVA) and low voltage-activated (LVA) Ca2+ conductances. Moreover, transient receptor potential (TRP)-like nonselective cation channels together with Ca2+- and Na+-activated K+ conductances (KCa; KNa) contribute to unique slow afterhyperpolarizing potentials (sAHPs) that are generally not detectable in lateral thalamic or reticular thalamic nucleus neurons. The excitability of PVT neurons is also modulated by activation of neurotransmitter receptors associated with afferent pathways to PVT and other thalamic midline nuclei. We report on receptor-mediated actions of GABA, glutamate, monoamines and several neuropeptides: arginine vasopressin, gastrin-releasing peptide, thyrotropin releasing hormone and the orexins (hypocretins). This review represents an initial survey of intrinsic and transmitter-sensitive ionic conductances that are deemed to be unique to this population of midline thalamic neurons, information that is fundamental to an appreciation of the role these thalamic neurons may play in normal central nervous system (CNS) physiology and in CNS disorders that involve the dorsomedial thalamus.
Outbursts Large and Small from EXO 2030+375

During the summer of 2006, the accreting X-ray pulsar EXO 2030+375 underwent its first giant outburst since its discovery in 1985. Our observations include the first ever of the rise of a giant outburst of EXO 2030+375. EXO 2030+375 was monitored daily with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) from 2006 June to 2007 May. During the giant outburst we discovered evidence for a cyclotron feature at ~11 keV. This feature was confidently detected for about 90 days, during the brighter portion of the outburst. Daily observations of the next five EXO 2030+375 orbits detected pulsations at all orbital phases and normal outbursts shifted to a later orbital phase than before the giant outburst. An accretion disk appears to be present in both the normal and giant outbursts, suggesting that the long-term behavior is a product of the state of the Be star disk and the accretion disk. Here we will present flux and frequency histories from our detailed RXTE observations of the giant outburst and the normal outbursts that surrounded it. A new orbital analysis is presented that includes observations from 1991 to 2007 August.
The Cyclical Character of Fiscal Policy in Transition Countries

This study investigates the cyclical character of fiscal policy in transition countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) in the period from 1995 to 2011, using system GMM as the preferred estimation method for the underlying sample and model specification. The study finds discretionary policy in the CESEE EU Member States and in the Western Balkan countries to have been procyclical, thus aggravating economic fluctuations, whereas automatic stabilizers moved overall policy to an acyclical stance. In addition, the analysis indicates considerable differences in the cyclical character of fiscal policy between transition countries and the Western European EU Member States, where both overall fiscal policy and discretionary policy were acyclical. Finally, the study also offers several recommendations for policymakers, particularly in transition countries.
Improving Sparse Associative Memories by Escaping from Bogus Fixed Points

The Gripon-Berrou neural network (GBNN) is a recently invented recurrent neural network embracing a LDPC-like sparse encoding setup which makes it extremely resilient to noise and errors. A natural use of GBNN is as an associative memory. There are two activation rules for the neuron dynamics, namely sum-of-sum and sum-of-max. The latter outperforms the former in terms of retrieval rate by a huge margin. In prior discussions and experiments, it is believed that although sum-of-sum may lead the network to oscillate, sum-of-max always converges to an ensemble of neuron cliques corresponding to previously stored patterns. However, this is not entirely correct. In fact, sum-of-max often converges to bogus fixed points where the ensemble only comprises a small subset of the converged state. By taking advantage of this overlooked fact, we can greatly improve the retrieval rate. We discuss this particular issue and propose a number of heuristics to push sum-of-max beyond these bogus fixed points. To tackle the problem directly and completely, a novel post-processing algorithm is also developed and customized to the structure of GBNN. Experimental results show that the new algorithm achieves a huge performance boost in terms of both retrieval rate and run-time, compared to the standard sum-of-max and all the other heuristics.
Conditioned media from human macrophages of M1 phenotype attenuate the cytotoxic effect of 5-fluorouracil on the HT-29 colon cancer cell line

Resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy, such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), is an obstacle for successful treatment of cancer. As a follow-up of a previous study we have investigated the effect of conditioned media (CM) from macrophages of M1 or M2 phenotypes on 5-FU cytotoxicity on the colon cancer cell lines HT-29 and CACO-2. HT-29 cells, but not CACO-2 cells, having been treated with a combination of M1 CM and 5-FU recovered their cell growth to a much larger extent compared to cells having been treated with 5-FU alone when further cultured for 7 days in fresh media. M1 CM treatment of HT-29, but not CACO-2 cells, induced cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 and G2/M phases. 5-FU treatment induced accumulation of cells in S-phase in both HT-29 and CACO-2 cells. This accumulation of cells in S-phase was attenuated by combined M1 CM and 5-FU treatment in HT-29 cells, but not in CACO-2 cells. The mRNA expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins and 5-FU metabolic enzymes were analyzed in an attempt to find possible mechanisms for the M1 CM induced attenuation of 5-FU cytotoxicity in HT-29. Thymidylate synthetase (TS) and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) were found to be substantially downregulated and upregulated, respectively, in HT-29 cells treated with M1 CM, making them unlikely as mediators of reduced 5-FU cytotoxicity. Among cell cycle regulating proteins, p21 was induced in HT-29 cells, but not in CACO-2 cells, in response to M1 CM treatment. However, small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown of p21 had no effect on the M1 CM induced cell cycle arrest seen in HT-29 and neither did it change the growth recovery after combined treatment of HT-29 cells with M1 CM and 5-FU. In conclusion, treatment of HT-29 cells with M1 CM reduces the cytotoxic effect of 5-FU and this is mediated by a M1 CM induced cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 and G2/M phases. So far, we lack an explanation why this action is absent in the CACO-2 cells. The current findings may be important for optimization of chemotherapy in colon cancer.
The Baryon Fractions and Mass-to-Light Ratios of Early-Type Galaxies

We jointly model 22 early-type gravitational lens galaxies with stellar dynamical measurements using standard CDM halo models. The sample is inhomogeneous in both its mass distributions and the evolution of its stellar populations unless the true uncertainties are significantly larger than the reported measurement errors. In general, an individual system cannot constrain halo models, in the sense that the data poorly constrain the stellar mass fraction of the halo. An ensemble of systems, however, strongly constrains the average stellar mass represented by the visible galaxies to 0.026 ± 0.006 of the halo mass if we neglect adiabatic compression, rising to 0.056 ± 0.011 of the halo mass if we include adiabatic compression. Both estimates are significantly smaller than the global baryon fraction, corresponding to a star formation efficiency for early-type galaxies of 10%-30%. In the adiabatically compressed models, we find an average local B-band stellar mass-to-light ratio of (M/L)0 = 7.2 ± 0.5 M☉/L☉ that evolves as dlog (M/L)/dz = − 0.72 ± 0.08 per unit redshift. Adjusting the isotropy of the stellar orbits has little effect on the results. The adiabatically compressed models are strongly favored if we impose either local estimates of the mass-to-light ratios of early-type galaxies or weak-lensing measurements for the lens galaxies on 100 kpc scales as model constraints.
Malleability of Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity at the CA3–CA1 Synapse

The magnitude and direction of synaptic plasticity can be determined by the precise timing of presynaptic and postsynaptic action potentials on a millisecond timescale. In vivo, however, neural activity has structure on longer timescales. Here we show that plasticity at the CA3–CA1 synapse depends strongly on parameters other than millisecond spike timing. As a result, the notion that a single spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) rule alone can fully describe the mapping between neural activity and synapse strength is invalid. We have begun to explore the influence of additional behaviorally relevant activity parameters on STDP and found conditions under which underlying spike-timing-dependent rules for potentiation and depression can be separated from one another. Potentiation requires postsynaptic burst firing at 5 Hz or higher, a firing pattern that occurs during the theta rhythm. Potentiation is measurable after only tens of presynaptic-before-postsynaptic pairings. Depression requires hundreds of pairings but has less stringent long timescale requirements and broad timing dependence. By varying these parameters, we obtain STDP curves that are long-term potentiation only, bidirectional, or long-term depression only. This expanded description of the CA3–CA1 learning rule reconciles apparent contradictions between spike-timing-dependent plasticity and previous work at CA3–CA1 synapses.
The contrast analysis of facial expression recognition by human and computer

From the trial investigation of human to identify facial expressions, the contrast of facial expression recognition between human and computer is analyzed. The phenomena that one expression may arise from several emotions ("one to more") and various expressions may reflect one emotion ("more to one") result in the problem that facial expression recognition is a difficult task because of these mapping uncertainties. In this paper, some points on understanding facial expression recognition are raised and several important aspects of the feature research are also discussed
Sex di¡erences in the emotional brain

In this issue, Schienle et al. use brain imaging to examine emotionrelated activation di¡erencesbetweenmen andwomen. Are those di¡erences related to the way the sexes feel emotions? Are they hardwired? In this commentary, we brie£y review sex di¡erences in feeling, perception of emotionally evocative cues, and expression of emotions, and we discuss how they may be related to sex di¡erences in the emotional brain. NeuroReport16:85^87 c 2005 LippincottWilliams &Wilkins.
Notice of RetractionCustomer Asset Management Capability: Measurements and Performance Implications Based on China Firms

This paper identifies the key dimension of customer asset management capabilities by reviewing most extant literatures intensively and extensively. Then attention is paid to the development of measurement model of customer asset management capabilities by collecting data from enterprises in China and finally their impacts on business performance are examined for construct validation by taking a disaggregated perspective.