Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of Effective Rural Elementary Schools for Students with Disabilities

While 25 to 30 percent of U. S. children attend schools in rural areas, there is little research into how teachers in these schools are responding to the challenges of including students with disabilities in standards-based reform. In response to this concern, we identified 13 high-poverty, high-performing rural elementary schools in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania that were also effective for students with disabilities. We conducted classroom observations and in-depth interviews. Our analyses of these data revealed four school-level characteristics of effective, low-income rural elementary schools. Finally, we present recommendations that principals and school improvement teams at the elementary level can use to better understand how to engage in continuous improvement of special education services.
Gauge-Higgs unification in orbifold models

Six-dimensional orbifold models where the Higgs field is identified with some internal component of a gauge field are considered. We classify all possible T-2/Z(N) orbifold constructions based on a SU(3) electroweak gauge symmetry. Depending on the orbifold twist, models with two, one or zero Higgs doublets can be obtained. Models with one Higgs doublet are particularly interesting, as they lead to a prediction for the Higgs mass that is twice the W boson mass at leading order: m(H) = 2 m(W). The electroweak scale is quadratically sensitive to the cut-off, but only through very specific localized operators. We study in detail the structure of these operators at one loop, and identify a class of models where they do not destabilize the electroweak scale at the leading order. This provides a very promising framework to construct realistic and predictive models of electroweak symmetry breaking.
Adipose tissue and sustainable development: a connection that needs protection

Obesity is generally considered as an excess body fat that increases the risk to develop ergonomic, metabolic, and psychosocial problems. As suggested in this paper, body fat gain is also a protective adaptation that prevents body lipotoxicity, contributes to the secretion of molecules involved in metabolic regulation, and dilutes lipid soluble persistent organic pollutants. Recent literature shows that this protective role of adipose tissue is more solicited in a modern context in which unsuspected factors can affect energy balance to a much greater extent than what is generally perceived by health care professionals. These factors include short sleep duration, demanding mental work, and chemical pollution whose impact is more detectable in a context dominated by economic productivity and competitiveness. Since these factors might also include the increase in atmospheric CO2, it is likely that obesity prevention will need the support of a promotion in sustainable development, whether it is for human health, and well-being or global ecological protection.
Optimized hybrid shape descriptor-based 3D ojbect retrieval

The 3D object retrieval systems receive great concerns in the fields of pattern recognition and computer graphics because of their diverse applications. Traditional approaches of view-based 3D object retrieval have focused on finding descriptors which can efficiently represent the specific geometric information of the 3D object. By combining the local and the global features in order to improve the performance of 3D object retrieval, we propose a sparse coding based feature optimization technique using the hybrid gradient features of the projected images from 3D object. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed approach.
Intra-Accumbens Amphetamine Increases the Conditioned Incentive Salience of Sucrose Reward: Enhancement of Reward “Wanting” without Enhanced “Liking” or Response Reinforcement

Amphetamine microinjection into the nucleus accumbens shell enhanced the ability of a Pavlovian reward cue to trigger increased instrumental performance for sucrose reward in a pure conditioned incentive paradigm. Rats were first trained to press one of two levers to obtain sucrose pellets. They were separately conditioned to associate a Pavlovian cue (30 sec light) with free sucrose pellets. On test days, the rats received bilateral microinjection of intra-accumbens vehicle or amphetamine (0.0, 2.0, 10.0, or 20.0 μg/0.5 μl), and lever pressing was tested in the absence of any reinforcement contingency, while the Pavlovian cue alone was freely presented at intervals throughout the session. Amphetamine microinjection selectively potentiated the cue-elicited increase in sucrose-associated lever pressing, although instrumental responding was not reinforced by either sucrose or the cue during the test. Intra-accumbens amphetamine can therefore potentiate cue-triggered incentive motivation for reward in the absence of primary or secondary reinforcement. Using the taste reactivity measure of hedonic impact, it was shown that intra-accumbens amphetamine failed to increase positive hedonic reaction patterns elicited by sucrose (i.e., sucrose “liking”) at doses that effectively increase sucrose “wanting. ” We conclude that nucleus accumbens dopamine specifically mediates the ability of reward cues to trigger “wanting” (incentive salience) for their associated rewards, independent of both hedonic impact and response reinforcement.
On the role of induced fields in railguns

We provide a comprehensive analysis of the nature of emfs that are induced during the operation of a railgun. The main sources of these emfs are changes in rail currents and the motion of the armature. Our experience with the current railgun literature and private communications indicates that the topic of induced emfs is a neglected area of analysis. Common misconceptions are discussed and new perspectives are presented. It is shown, for example, that there is a wide diversity of conflicting views on the nature of the emf generated by armature motion. We conclude that there is no true motional emf in railguns, and offer a resolution of the conflicting views in terms of localized flux creation. Finite element modelling is used to illustrate the main concepts and consequences of induced emfs, and to validate the analyses. Experimental data from laboratory railgun tests provide added validation. The results offer insights into many previously unexplained phenomena commonly observed in railguns.
AL2CO: calculation of positional conservation in a protein sequence alignment

MOTIVATION Amino acid sequence alignments are widely used in the analysis of protein structure, function and evolutionary relationships. Proteins within a superfamily usually share the same fold and possess related functions. These structural and functional constraints are reflected in the alignment conservation patterns. Positions of functional and/or structural importance tend to be more conserved. Conserved positions are usually clustered in distinct motifs surrounded by sequence segments of low conservation. Poorly conserved regions might also arise from the imperfections in multiple alignment algorithms and thus indicate possible alignment errors. Quantification of conservation by attributing a conservation index to each aligned position makes motif detection more convenient. Mapping these conservation indices onto a protein spatial structure helps to visualize spatial conservation features of the molecule and to predict functionally and/or structurally important sites. Analysis of conservation indices could be a useful tool in detection of potentially misaligned regions and will aid in improvement of multiple alignments. RESULTS We developed a program to calculate a conservation index at each position in a multiple sequence alignment using several methods. Namely, amino acid frequencies at each position are estimated and the conservation index is calculated from these frequencies. We utilize both unweighted frequencies and frequencies weighted using two different strategies. Three conceptually different approaches (entropy-based, variance-based and matrix score-based) are implemented in the algorithm to define the conservation index. Calculating conservation indices for 35522 positions in 284 alignments from SMART database we demonstrate that different methods result in highly correlated (correlation coefficient more than 0.85) conservation indices. Conservation indices show statistically significant correlation between sequentially adjacent positions i and i + j, where j < 13, and averaging of the indices over the window of three positions is optimal for motif detection. Positions with gaps display substantially lower conservation properties. We compare conservation properties of the SMART alignments or FSSP structural alignments to those of the ClustalW alignments. The results suggest that conservation indices should be a valuable tool of alignment quality assessment and might be used as an objective function for refinement of multiple alignments. AVAILABILITY The C code of the AL2CO program and its pre-compiled versions for several platforms as well as the details of the analysis are freely available at ftp://iole.swmed. edu/pub/al2co/.
1 Rating E-mail Personality at Zero Acquaintance *

Electronic media are pervasive in daily communication. But how well can personality traits be perceived through a short e-mail message? Working independently and under experimenter supervision, thirty judges each rated 18 short e-mail texts. These texts were written under experimental conditions by authors of known personality, who briefly described their recent activities, and were collected as part of a previous study, which demonstrated linguistic projection of personality. As predicted by the literature, we find that even with minimal textual cues there is relatively high agreement for ratings of author Extraversion, and lesser agreement for Psychoticism. However, agreement for Neuroticism ratings, especially between target and judges, appears to be further reduced by the environment. We suggest that these judgements may be mediated by stereotypes. In addition to reducing the cues available for personality rating, the study extends previous work in two main ways: it uses the three-factor model of personality, and thus measures Psychoticism; and it adopts exemplar-based and subjective measures of personality perception.
Detection of TCP performance degradation using link utilization statistics

In this paper, we propose a method of detecting TCP performance degradation using only bottleneck-link utilization statistics. The variance of link utilization normally increases as the mean link-utilization increases. However, because link-utilization has a maximum of 100%, as the mean approaches 100%, the variance decreases to zero. In this paper, using the M/G/R processor sharing model, we relate this phenomenon to the behavior of flows. We also show that by using this relationship, we can detect TCP performance degradation using the mean and variance of link utilization. Particularly, with this method, a network operator can determine whether or not the degradation originates from the congestion of his/her own network. Because our method requires us to measure link utilization only, the cost of performance management can be greatly decreased compared with the conventional method, which requires dedicated equipment to measure the network performance.
Top-Down Cortical Influences in Visual Expectation

Visual perception depends on prior experience. Previous encounters with visual objects allow an organism to form expectations about future encounters, and to use those expectations to tune the visual system to more efficiently process expected visual inputs. This paper explores the proposition that visual expectation involves top-down modulation of neurons in low-level areas of visual cortex in anticipation of expected stimuli. It reports evidence that top-down modulation occurs within task-specific coherent oscillatory networks in the visual cortex of a macaque monkey, and that this modulation is related to stimulus processing efficiency.
Factors associated with quality of life and caregiver strain amongst frail older adults referred to a community rehabilitation service: implications for service delivery

Purpose. To identify factors contributing to reduced quality of life and increased caregiver strain in an older population referred to a community rehabilitation team and to recommend service delivery models. Methods. Analytical cross-sectional study arising from baseline assessments from 107 subjects drawn from a randomised controlled trial of community rehabilitation service delivery models. Setting. A community rehabilitation team based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Measures. Primary outcome variables include quality of life (EQ-5D & VAS) and Carer Strain Index. Predictor variables include participation in functional activities, history of falls, number of medications, number of co-morbidities, depression, environmental hazards, physical function and nutrition. Association between variables assessed using linear regression. Results. Major factors contributing to reduced quality of life were having reduced participation in daily activities, depression, and having poor vision. Having poor nutrition and no longer driving also contributed to poor quality of life. The major factor contributing to increased caregiver strain was reduced participation in daily activities by the older person. Conclusions. Community rehabilitation services working with older populations must adopt models of care that screen for and address a wide range of factors that contribute to poor quality of life and caregiver strain.
Highly Efficient Broadband Continuous Inverse Class-F Power Amplifier Design Using Modified Elliptic Low-Pass Filtering Matching Network

This paper proposes a design approach for a broadband and high-efficiency continuous inverse Class-F (CCF-1) power amplifier (PA) based on a modified elliptic low-pass filtering (LPF) matching network (MN). From theoretical and practical perspectives, the importance of a swift impedance transition from the higher end of the fundamental frequency band to the lower end of the second harmonic band is discussed, when designing a broadband single-mode PA. After being compared with widely used Chebyshev LPF MNs, a modified elliptic LPF MN, which provides a sharp roll-off, is utilized to provide the required rapid transition. A step-by-step design procedure of the proposed modified elliptic LPF MN is presented. Experimental results show that a high-efficiency CCF-1 PA is realized from 1.35 to 2.5 GHz (fractional bandwidth = 60%) with measured drain efficiency of 68%-82% and output power of 41.1-42.5 dBm. When stimulated by a 20-MHz LTE signal with an average output power of approximately 34.5 dBm, the proposed PA, combined with digital pre-distortion, achieved adjacent channel leakage ratios (ACLRs) below -45 dBc, with average efficiency (AE) ranging from 37% to 45.8%. Similar performance is measured when the proposed PA is driven by a dual-band dual-mode modulated signal with a 100-MHz instantaneous bandwidth at a center frequency of 2.14 GHz.
Differential-drive in-pipe robot for moving inside urban gas pipelines

Pipelines for the urban gas-supply system require a robot possessing outstanding mobility and advanced control algorithms, since they are configured with various pipeline elements, such as straight pipelines, elbows, and branches. We present a comprehensive work for moving inside underground urban gas pipelines with a miniature differential-drive in-pipe robot, called the Multifunctional Robot for IN-pipe inSPECTion (MRINSPECT) IV. MRINSPECT IV has been developed for the inspection of urban gas pipelines with a nominal 4-in inside diameter. The mechanism for steering with differential-drive wheels, arranged three-dimensionally, allows it to easily adapt to most of the existing configurations of pipelines, as well as providing excellent mobility during navigation. After carrying out analysis for fittings in pipelines, mathematical descriptions of their geometries are presented, which make it possible to estimate the movement patterns of the robot while passing through the fittings. Also, we propose a method of controlling the robot by modulating speeds of driving wheels that is applicable without sophisticated sensory information. To confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method, experiments are performed, and supplementary considerations on the design of the in-pipe robot are discussed.
Income Inequality, Trade and Financial Openness

This paper examines the relationships between the Gini coefficient, trade-openness, foreign aid and foreign direct investment flows. Panel data estimates show that trade openness can be effective for changing income inequality, but its effectiveness depends on the stage of development. Simulation results show that the Gini and openness can be negatively or positively correlated — it depends on the capital intensity and on the degree of openness. Overall, the results suggest that trade and financial openness can be effective policies for reducing inequality in low income countries, if they significantly increase the marginal productivity of labour through capital intensive methods of production.
An algorithm for computing the gene tree probability under the multispecies coalescent and its application in the inference of population tree

Motivation: Gene tree represents the evolutionary history of gene lineages that originate from multiple related populations. Under the multispecies coalescent model, lineages may coalesce outside the species (population) boundary. Given a species tree (with branch lengths), the gene tree probability is the probability of observing a specific gene tree topology under the multispecies coalescent model. There are two existing algorithms for computing the exact gene tree probability. The first algorithm is due to Degnan and Salter, where they enumerate all the so-called coalescent histories for the given species tree and the gene tree topology. Their algorithm runs in exponential time in the number of gene lineages in general. The second algorithm is the STELLS algorithm (2012), which is usually faster but also runs in exponential time in almost all the cases. Results: In this article, we present a new algorithm, called CompactCH, for computing the exact gene tree probability. This new algorithm is based on the notion of compact coalescent histories: multiple coalescent histories are represented by a single compact coalescent history. The key advantage of our new algorithm is that it runs in polynomial time in the number of gene lineages if the number of populations is fixed to be a constant. The new algorithm is more efficient than the STELLS algorithm both in theory and in practice when the number of populations is small and there are multiple gene lineages from each population. As an application, we show that CompactCH can be applied in the inference of population tree (i.e. the population divergence history) from population haplotypes. Simulation results show that the CompactCH algorithm enables efficient and accurate inference of population trees with much more haplotypes than a previous approach. Availability: The CompactCH algorithm is implemented in the STELLS software package, which is available for download at http://www.engr.uconn.edu/ywu/STELLS.html. Contact: ywu@engr.uconn.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Automorphic properties of generating functions for generalized odd rank moments and odd Durfee symbols

Abstract We define two-parameter generalizations of Andrews' (k+1)-marked odd Durfee symbols and 2kth symmetrized odd rank moments, and study the automorphic properties of some of their generating functions. When k = 0 we obtain families of modular forms and mock modular forms. When k ≥ 1, we find quasimodular forms and quasimock modular forms.
The Effect of Vocational Education on Short- and Long-Term Outcomes of Students: Evidence from the Arab Education System in Israel

Abstract This study examines the effect of vocational education on short- and long-term outcomes of students who were in the Arab education system in Israel in the 1990s. In order to overcome possible bias arising from the selection of students into vocational education, the study exploits a reform implemented in the Arab education system that led to the opening of new vocational tracks in localities that either had no vocational studies beforehand or had such studies but only on a small scale (treatment localities). These localities are compared to similar localities in which no new tracks were opened (comparison localities). Difference-in-differences estimates show a 3–5 percentage point decrease in the probability of dropping out of high-school following the opening of the new tracks, which is about 20–35 (10–15) percent of the girls’ (boys’) mean dropout rate. There is also a 4–7 percentage point increase in the share of girls taking matriculation exams. However, the opening of the new tracks did not increase the matriculation eligibility rate of the students, with the rate even decreasing among boys according to several estimates. The opening of the vocational tracks had no significant long-term effect on the likelihood of the students acquiring a tertiary academic education, on being employed, or on their earnings in their adulthood. There was a significant increase in the number of women entering clerical professions, which is consistent with the popularity of the new clerical tracks. There was also a significant decrease in the share of girls marrying at a young age, probably due to the increase in the probability of their completing high school.
Clustering and Light Profiles of Galaxies in the Environment of 20 Ultra-Steep-Spectrum Radio Sources

We have analyzed galaxy properties in the neighborhood of 20 ultra–steep-spectrum (USS) radio sources taken from the Westerbork in the Southern Hemisphere (WISH) catalog of De Breuck and coworkers. Galaxies in these USS fields were identified in deep observations that were carried out in the K′ band using the OSIRIS imager at the CTIO 4 m telescope. We find a statistically significant signal of clustering around our sample of USS sources. The angular extension of the detected USS source–galaxy clustering is θc ∼ 20″, corresponding to a spatial scale of ∼120 h-1 kpc, assuming the sources are at z ∼ 1 in an Ωm = 0.3, ΩΛ = 0.7 model universe. These results are in agreement with those obtained by Best for radio galaxy–galaxy correlation, and Best and coworkers for radio-loud AGN–galaxy correlation. We have also analyzed the light distribution of the galaxies by fitting Sérsic's law profiles. Our results show no significant dependence of the galaxy shape parameters on the projected distance to the USS source.