Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender, Race, and the New (Merit‐Based) Employment Relationship

Recent research has focused attention on the ways institutions and work practices have transformed the employment relationship. While there has been growing interest in how key employer practices have changed the organization of work, the gender and racial implications of such practices remain less well understood. Using unique longitudinal personnel data from one large organization, this study takes a comprehensive sequential approach to identify at which stages of a widespread contemporary practice - the use of merit‐based reward programs to evaluate and reward workers - gender and racial disparities may exist. The analyses show that there are significant gender and racial differences at the performance evaluation, salary, and career setting stages, even after implementing these merit‐based work practices. I conclude by discussing the implications for how and where current organizational practices and work arrangements may affect the careers of women and racial minorities in the contemporary workplace.
Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall

Many historical processes are dynamic. Populations grow and decline. Empires expand and collapse. Religions spread and wither. Natural scientists have made great strides in understanding dynamical processes in the physical and biological worlds using a synthetic approach that combines mathematical modeling with statistical analyses. Taking up the problem of territorial dynamics--why some polities at certain times expand and at other times contract--this book shows that a similar research program can advance our understanding of dynamical processes in history. Peter Turchin develops hypotheses from a wide range of social, political, economic, and demographic factors: geopolitics, factors affecting collective solidarity, dynamics of ethnic assimilation/religious conversion, and the interaction between population dynamics and sociopolitical stability. He then translates these into a spectrum of mathematical models, investigates the dynamics predicted by the models, and contrasts model predictions with empirical patterns. Turchin's highly instructive empirical tests demonstrate that certain models predict empirical patterns with a very high degree of accuracy. For instance, one model accounts for the recurrent waves of state breakdown in medieval and early modern Europe. And historical data confirm that ethno-nationalist solidarity produces an aggressively expansive state under certain conditions (such as in locations where imperial frontiers coincide with religious divides). The strength of Turchin's results suggests that the synthetic approach he advocates can significantly improve our understanding of historical dynamics.
A Generalization Approach for 3D Viewing Deformations of Single-Center Projections

This paper presents a novel image-based approach to efficiently generate real-time non-planar projections of arbitrary 3D scenes such as panorama and fish-eye views. The real-time creation of such projections has a multitude of applications, e.g., in geovirtual environments and in augmented reality. Our rendering technique is based on dynamically created cube map textures in combination with shader programs that calculate the specific projections. We discuss two different approaches to create such cubemaps and introduce possible optimizations. Our technique can be applied within a single rendering pass, is easy to implement, and exploits the capability of modern programmable graphics hardware completely. Further, we present an approach to customize and combine different planar as well as non-planar projections. We have integrated our technique into an existing real-time rendering framework and demonstrate its performance on large scale datasets such as virtual 3D city and terrain models.
Culture, Literacy, & Learning: Taking Bloom in the Midst of the Whirlwind

How can educators improve the literacy skills of students in a historically underachieving urban high school? In this timely book, the author draws on her experience as a participant observer to provide a unique, insider's view to both designing and implementing a culturally responsive approach to improve learning and teaching in a specific subject area. The Cultural Modeling Project, which she presents here, drew on competencies students already had in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) discourse and hip hop culture to tackle complex problems in the study of literature. Using vivid descriptions from real classrooms, she describes how AAVE supported student learning and reasoning; how students in turn responded to the reform initiative and how teachers adapted the cultural framework to the English/language arts curriculum. While the focus is on literacy and African American students, the book examines the functions of culture in facilitating learning and offers principles for leveraging cultural knowledge in support of subject matter specific to academic learning. This much awaited book offers important lessons for researchers, school district leaders, and local practitioners regarding the complex ways that cultural knowledge is constructed and plays out in classroom life, in the life of a school, and in the life of a whole-school reform initiative.
Preferential Involvement by Nucleus Accumbens Shell in Mediating Probabilistic Learning and Reversal Shifts

Different subregions of nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been implicated in reward seeking, promoting flexible approach responses, suppressing nonrewarded actions, and facilitating shifts between different discrimination strategies. Interestingly, the NAc does not appear to mediate shifting between stimulus–reward associations (i.e., reversal learning) when reinforcement is predictable. How these nuclei may facilitate flexible response strategies when reward delivery is uncertain remains unclear. We investigated the effects of inactivation of the NAc shell and core on probabilistic reversal learning using an operant task wherein a “correct” response delivered reward on 80% of trials, and an “incorrect” response was reinforced on 20% of trials. Reinforcement contingencies were reversed repeatedly within a session. In well-trained rats, shell inactivation reduced the number of reversals completed and selectively reduced win–stay behavior. This impairment was apparent during the first discrimination, indicating a more general deficit in the use of probabilistic reward feedback to guide action selection. Shell inactivation also impaired reversal performance on a similar task where correct/incorrect choices always/never delivered reward. However, this impairment only emerged after both levers had been associated with reward. Inactivation of NAc core did not impair reversal performance but increased latencies to approach the response levers. These results suggest the NAc shell and core facilitate reward seeking in a distinct yet complementary manner when the relationship between specific actions and reward is uncertain or ambiguous and cognitive flexibility is required. The core promotes approach toward reward-associated stimuli, whereas the shell refines response selection to those specific actions more likely to yield reward.
Substance P enhances the activation of AMPK and cellular lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells in response to high levels of glucose

The rescue of glucose tolerance and insulin-sensitivity in peripheral tissues, including adipose tissue, is essential in therapeutic strategies for diabetes. The present study demonstrated that substance P (SP) increases the accumulation of lipids in 3T3-L1 cells during their differentiation into adipocytes in response to a high concentration of glucose. SP reciprocally regulated the activities of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and Akt: SP enhanced the activation of AMPK, although the activity of Akt was downregulated. Notably, SP induced an increase in the expression level of glucose transporter 4 in the 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Therefore, it is possible that SP leads to an increase in glucose uptake and the accumulation of lipids in adipocytes, and may contribute towards the rescue of insulin-sensitivity in diabetes.
The joint diabetic-renal clinic in clinical practice: 10 years of data from a District General Hospital.

BACKGROUND Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of end-stage renal failure. Untreated, it causes continuous decline in glomerular function, worsening hypertension and a marked increase in cardiovascular risk. Joint diabetic-renal clinics were established to address these factors and prepare patients for renal replacement therapy. AIM To determine whether our joint diabetic-renal clinic influenced progression of renal disease, and whether we were able to achieve targets from clinical trials and guidelines in routine practice. DESIGN Retrospective review. METHODS We collected data using clinical notes and electronic records for 130 patients attending the clinic over 10 years. RESULTS Our patients had 62% type 2 and 38% type 1 diabetes. Mean duration of diabetes was 24 years for type 1 and 11 years for type 2 diabetes. At referral, 56% had evidence of vascular disease and 45%, proliferative retinopathy. Baseline median creatinine was 124 micromol/l. Significant improvements were made in systolic BP, diastolic BP and cholesterol (p < 0.001), compared to measurements at presentation. We analysed progression of renal disease by linear regression on 45 patients who had follow-up data for 3 years. Rate of decline of GFR was significantly reduced from 1.09 ml/min/month in the first year to 0.39 ml/min/month in the third year, (p < 0.004). DISCUSSION Our findings suggest that the rate of deterioration of renal function can be reduced by aggressive management of risk factors. Joint diabetic-renal clinics appear to be useful in achieving targets in routine clinical practice.
New & improved models for SAT-based bi-decomposition

Boolean function bi-decomposition is pervasive in logic synthesis. Bi-decomposition entails the decomposition of a Boolean function into two other simpler functions connected by a simple two-input gate. Existing solutions are based either on Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs) or Boolean Satisfiability (SAT). Furthermore, the partition of the input set of variables is either assumed, or an automatic derivation is required. Most recent work on bi-decomposition proposed the use of Minimally Unsatisfiable Subformulas (MUSes) or Quantified Boolean Formulas (QBF) for computing, respectively, variable partitions of either approximate or optimum quality. This paper develops new group-oriented MUS-based models for addressing both the performance and the quality of bi-decompositions. The paper shows that approximate MUS search can be guided by the quality of well-known metrics. In addition, the paper improves on recent high-performance approximate models and versatile exact models, to address the practical requirements of bi-decomposition in logic synthesis. Experimental results obtained on representative benchmarks demonstrate significant improvement in performance as well as in the quality of decompositions.
The Role of Leadership

✭ a t the end of the twentieth century, the United states was the world's sole superpower. References to american empire or hegemony exaggerate the extent to which america could control the rest of the world, and i prefer the term " primacy " to describe the way in which, by the end of the century, the United states became the only country with global military, economic, and cultural reach. Contrary to theory and modern history, american power went unbalanced. as one expert observed , " it is highly unusual for a country with only 5 percent of the world's population to be able to organize favorable political , economic and security orders in almost every corner of the globe and to sustain them for decades. " 1 it was not always thus. in the early days of the republic, George washington noted america's " detached and distant situation " and asked " why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? " it proved to be an interesting question that americans have wrestled with throughout their history, and most recently over the course of the twentieth century. how did american primacy come about? social scientists tend to answer with structural theories that are attractive because they appear to provide broad general explanations. everything seems inevitable. we humans are No part of this book may be distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical means without prior written permission of the publisher.
Political Activism and Workplace Industrial Relations in a UK 'Failing' School

The paper draws on a qualitative case study of workplace industrial relations in an inner–city secondary school identified as ‘failing’ and subsequently closed. It considers the way unionized teachers and their representatives interpret, influence and resist the impact of centralized managerial and educational change. The local implementation of such change leads to an engagement with the debates on union renewal. In particular, the paper explores the dynamic interrelationship between political and trade union activism and the tension between workplace relations and formal union organization.
Gastrointestinal helminth parasites of the fish Synodontis clarias (Siluriformes: Mochokidae) from Lekki lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria.

A total of 362 specimens of the fish Synodontis clarias were randomly selected and subjected to parasitological examination for helminth parasites. They were collected over a period of one year from Lekki lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria. The prevalence of gastrointestinal infection was 38.7%. The helminth worms found include two cestodes, Proteocephalus spp. , Wenyonia acuminata, and a nematode species, Raphidascaroides. Male specimens (196) presented a higher rate of infection (37.8%) than female specimens (166) which showed a rate of 23.5%. The overall worm burden was high (678) and it was independent of fish sex and fish size.
The Confidence Effects of Fiscal Consolidations

We explore how fiscal consolidations affect private sector confidence, a possible channel for the fiscal transmission that has received particular attention recently as a result of governments embarking on austerity trajectories in the aftermath of the crisis. Panel regressions based on the action-based datasets of De Vries et al. (2011) and Alesina et al. (2014) show that consolidations, and in particular their unanticipated components affect confidence negatively. The effects are stronger for revenue-based measures and when institutional arrangements, such as fiscal rules, are weak. To obtain a more accurate picture of how consolidations affect confidence, we construct a monthly dataset of consolidation announcements based on the aforementioned datasets, so that we can study the confidence effects in real time using an event study. Consumer confidence falls around announcements of consolidation measures, an effect driven by revenue-based measures. Moreover, the effects are most relevant for European countries with weak institutional arrangements, as measured by the tightness of fiscal rules or budgetary transparency. The effects on producer confidence are generally similar, but weaker than for consumer confidence. Long-term interest rates, as a measure of confidence in the sovereign, tend to fall around spending-based consolidation announcements that take place in slump periods. Overall, if confidence is a concern and consolidation is unavoidable, spending-based measures seem preferable. Slump periods are not necessarily bad moments for such measures, while strengthening institutional arrangements may help in mitigating adverse confidence effects.
A behavioral economic analysis of bounded rationality in farm financing decisions: First empirical evidence

Purpose - Often farmers do not switch to a new bank even if it offers better interest rates than the house bank. This can be attributed partly to transaction costs, and partly to bounded rationality. The purpose of this paper is to better understand farm borrowers by analyzing the role of incomplete information and limited cognitive abilities in their finance decisions. Design/methodology/approach - The data for the analysis were retrieved from a written survey conducted among German farmers who were “experimentally” confronted with a funding problem and who had to make a choice between two loan offers: one from the housebank, and one from a competing bank. Using contingent valuation, each farmer's willingness to pay (WTP) for continuing business with his house bank was assessed. Findings - Approximately 90 per cent of the farmers misjudged the absolute losses caused by higher interest rates. In the frame “accepted interest rate surcharge” the WTP for staying with the house bank was, on average, ten times higher than in the frame “accepted surcharge in Euro”. The misjudgment was found to differ depending on education, the duration of the business relationship, etc. The findings indicate that bounded rationality is a relevant determinant of the “reluctance to switch”. Originality/value - Complementing research on the decision making of lenders, this paper studies the demand side of the agricultural credit market. Two research questions are examined which, to the authors' knowledge, have not previously been investigated through empirical surveys: first, to what extent do farmers make bounded-rational financing decisions? Second, which factors explain bounded rationality?
Synchronous channel sounder using horn antenna and indoor measurements on 28 GHz

The millimeter wave band will be a key component in the next generation wireless communication system (5G), and a proper channel model is needed for developing the future 5G cellular technologies. This paper introduces a 28 GHz channel sounder based on automatically rotating horn antennas with time synchronization ability between the transmitter (TX) and the receiver (RX). We have developed a sounding method for synchronized measurement using the proposed channel sounder system which records time-stamping to measure the relative propagation time from the transmitter to receiver. The proposed approach allows us to generate an omni-like channel measurements by synthesizing all directional measurements, which have been verified by comparison with the measurements of omni-directional antennas. Subsequently, the omni-directional propagation measurement results are provided in an in-building environment similar to a small shopping mall. From the measurements, the clustering analysis has been done including its power distribution. This paper provides the first channel sounder and initial results to obtain the synthesized omni-directional results in millimeter wave 28 GHz band.
Implementing the KPMG Value Explorer: Critical success factors for applying IC measurement tools

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of an empirical study into the critical success factors for implementing an intellectual capital valuation method, the KPMG Value Explorer.Design/methodology/approach – For this study the design approach was used as research methodology.Findings – The research shows the strengths and weaknesses of the method and identifies four general critical success factors for the implementation of intellectual capital valuation and measurement tools.Research limitations/implications – The research was based on six case studies. Application of the method with other companies may provide further grounding of the conclusions.Practical implications – The research shows that practitioners who want to implement an intellectual capital valuation or measurement method must: perform a proper diagnosis of the problem at hand; have knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the method they want to use; understand the application domain of the method – the class of.
Modeling Preference Change through Brand Satiation

In this study, we develop structural models of preference change due to consumer state dependence through satiation by purchase experience. A dynamic factor model with switching structure is proposed to explain consumer preference changes. Two types of dynamic factor models are separately applied to baseline and satiation parameters in a direct utility model that accommodates multiple discreteness data. The first dynamic factor model has a switching structure for consumer preference, and decomposes brand baselines into time-invariant factor loadings for the coordinates of brand positions and time-varying factor scores for consumer preference directions. The second dynamic factor model applied to satiation parameters extracts the consumer level of satiation in a product category, and this is used as a causal variable in a switching equation to show when and how preferences change over time according to the level of brand satiation. The brand positions and temporal changes of heterogeneous preferences are jointly depicted in a dynamic joint space map. The empirical analysis of a panel dataset shows that our proposed dynamic model, implying that consumers change their preferences when previous brand satiation exceeds the admissible level and preference directions are determined by the previous level of satiation, performs better than alternative specifications, such as a static model with no preference change and a dynamic model without structures which imply that preference changes whenever a consumer purchases a product.
Author name disambiguation: What difference does it make in author-based citation analysis?

In this article, we explore how strongly author name disambiguation (AND) affects the results of an author-based citation analysis study, and identify conditions under which the traditional simplified approach of using surnames and first initials may suffice in practice. We compare author citation ranking and cocitation mapping results in the stem cell research field from 2004 to 2009 using two AND approaches: the traditional simplified approach of using author surname and first initial and a sophisticated algorithmic approach. We find that the traditional approach leads to extremely distorted rankings and substantially distorted mappings of authors in this field when based on first- or all-author citation counting, whereas last-author-based citation ranking and cocitation mapping both appear relatively immune to the author name ambiguity problem. This is largely because Romanized names of Chinese and Korean authors, who are very active in this field, are extremely ambiguous, but few of these researchers consistently publish as last authors in bylines. We conclude that a more earnest effort is required to deal with the author name ambiguity problem in both citation analysis and information retrieval, especially given the current trend toward globalization. In the stem cell research field, in which laboratory heads are traditionally listed as last authors in bylines, last-author-based citation ranking and cocitation mapping using the traditional approach to author name disambiguation may serve as a simple workaround, but likely at the price of largely filtering out Chinese and Korean contributions to the field as well as important contributions by young researchers. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Qualitative studies in education

Preludes to secrecy handling the transition of young people from a special school classroom practices and class pedagogies "brief encounters" researching education policy making in elite settings teachers' understandings of subject a cause for research defining the role of the school cross curricular co-ordinator untrained teachers' experiences in further education and their motives for training normal deviance within a psychiatric adolescent unit definitions and distinctions South Asian students in a multi-ethnic comprehensive school Boundaries - identity and schooling lessons about menstruation.