Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Polish business “flat” tax and its effect on reported incomes: a Pareto improving tax reform?

Introducing a flat-rate income tax is a popular reform proposal. The 2004 tax reform in Poland implemented an optional broad-base low-rate “flat” tax for business incomes. Taxpayers selecting the flat tax treatment had to give up most tax preferences (thereby generating variation in incentives to adopt) but benefited from the lower tax rates. For the highest income taxpayers, the marginal tax rate fell from 40% to 19%. Relying on a large panel of individual tax return data, I demonstrate massive increases in reported incomes that result in small tax revenue consequences despite large reductions in tax rates. Conservative estimates indicate that a suitably designed flat tax option would increase revenue. The responses are most likely operating through reduction in tax avoidance or participation in the gray economy and imply that when the avoidance margin is responsive, a reform involving base-broadening combined with marginal tax rate reductions that allows taxpayers to self-select can be Pareto improving. The paper also highlights empirical issues involved in estimating responsiveness of taxable income and suggests that violations of exclusion restrictions due to heterogeneous earnings dynamics may be responsible for the “sensitivity” of results claimed elsewhere in the literature.
Developing a school social work model for predicting academic risk: School factors and academic achievement

vii Chapter One: Introduction . 1 Purpose of Study . 7 Dissertation Questions . 8 Chapter Two: Literature Review . 9 The Ecological Perspective . 9 Ecological Model and Risk . 11 Ecological Model and School Social Work . 12 The Need for a More Comprehensive Model . 13 Cumulative Risk. 15 Empirical Support for the Cumulative Risk Model . 17 Additive Model . 19 Empirical Support for the Additive Model . 20 Risk and Protective Factors . 21 Risk Factors . 23 Protective Factors. 23 Model Development and Testing . 25 Outcome Variable: Grade Point Average (GPA). 25 Domains . 26 School Related Factors . 27 Concept Mapping . 28 Concept Mapping Activity . 30 School Factors . 32 Academic Engagement . 33 Academic Expectations (Student) . 34 Academic Self-Efficacy . 35 Attendance . 35 Educational Support . 36 Grade Retention . 37 Homework. 38 Music Instruction . 38 School Behaviors . 39 ii School Belonging . 40 School Mobility . 41 School Relevance . 41 School Safety . 42 Supportive School Environment . 43 Teacher Support/Relationships . 43 Limitations of Previous Research . 45 Number of variables . 45 Self Report Grades . 46 Analysis Tools . 47 Sample Population . 47 Sample Size . 48 Summary . 48 Chapter Three: Methodology . 51 Participants . 51 Response Rates . 51 Research Design. 52 Controlled Factors . 52 Instrument . 53 Dependent Variable . 53 Academic Achievement . 53 Controlled Factors . 53 SES 53 Race 54 Gender 54 School related factors . 54 Academic Engagement . 54 Academic Expectations . 54 Academic Self-Efficacy . 55 Attendance . 55 Educational Support . 56 Grade Retention . 57 Homework. 57 Music Instruction . 57 School Behavior . 57 School Belonging . 58 School Mobility . 58 School Relevance . 58 School Safety . 59 Teacher Support/Relationship . 59 Instrument Pilot Testing . 60 Overview of Risk and Protective Scores . 61 Risk/Protective Factor Scores . 61 Cumulative Risk Model . 61 Additive Risk Model . 62
jmzReader: A Java parser library to process and visualize multiple text and XML-based mass spectrometry data formats

We here present the jmzReader library: a collection of Java application programming interfaces (APIs) to parse the most commonly used peak list and XML‐based mass spectrometry (MS) data formats: DTA, MS2, MGF, PKL, mzXML, mzData, and mzML (based on the already existing API jmzML). The library is optimized to be used in conjunction with mzIdentML, the recently released standard data format for reporting protein and peptide identifications, developed by the HUPO proteomics standards initiative (PSI). mzIdentML files do not contain spectra data but contain references to different kinds of external MS data files. As a key functionality, all parsers implement a common interface that supports the various methods used by mzIdentML to reference external spectra. Thus, when developing software for mzIdentML, programmers no longer have to support multiple MS data file formats but only this one interface. The library (which includes a viewer) is open source and, together with detailed documentation, can be downloaded from http://code.google. com/p/jmzreader/.
Discretisation of heterogeneous and anisotropic diffusion problems on general non-conforming meshes. SUSHI: a scheme using stabilisation and hybrid interfaces

A discretisation scheme for heterogeneous anisotropic diffusion problems on general meshes is developed and studied. The unknowns of this scheme are the values at the centre of the control volumes and at some internal interfaces which may for instance be chosen at the diffusion tensor discontinuities. The scheme is therefore completely cell centred if no edge unknown is kept. It is shown to be accurate on several numerical examples. Mathematical convergence of the approximate solution to the continuous solution is obtained for general (possibly discontinuous) tensors, general (possibly non-conforming) meshes, and with no regularity assumption on the solution. An error estimate is then drawn under sufficient regularity assumptions on the solution.
Information Systems for Cancer Research

The last decade has seen a massive growth in data for cancer research, with high-throughput technologies joining clinical trials as major drivers of informatics needs. These data provide opportunities for developing new cancer treatments, but also major challenges for informatics, and we summarize the systems needed and potential issues arising in addressing these challenges. Integrating these data into the research enterprise will require investments in (1) data capture and management, (2) data analysis, (3) data integration standards, (4) visualization tools, and (5) methods for integration with other enterprise systems.
6 Reconfigurable Processor for Energy-Scalable Computational Photography

Computational photography applications such as lightfield photography [1] enable capture and synthesis of images that could not be captured with a traditional camera. Non-linear filtering techniques like bilateral filtering [2] form a significant part of computational photography. These techniques have a wide range of applications, including High-Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging [3], LowLight Enhanced (LLE) imaging [4], tone management and video enhancement. The high computational complexity of such multimedia processing applications necessitates fast hardware implementations [5] to enable real-time processing. This paper describes a hardware implementation of a reconfigurable multiapplication processor for computational photography.
Molecular Basis of the Waxy Endosperm Starch Phenotype in Broomcorn Millet (Panicum miliaceum L.)

Waxy varieties of the tetraploid cereal broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) have endosperm starch granules lacking detectable amylose. This study investigated the basis of this phenotype using molecular and biochemical methods. Iodine staining of starch granules in 72 plants from 38 landrace accessions found 58 nonwaxy and 14 waxy phenotype plants. All waxy types were in plants from Chinese and Korean accessions, a distribution similar to that of the waxy phenotype in other cereals. Granule-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI) protein was present in the endosperm of both nonwaxy and waxy individuals, but waxy types had little or no granule-bound starch synthase activity compared with the wild types. Sequencing of the GBSSI (Waxy) gene showed that this gene is present in two different forms (L and S) in P. miliaceum, which probably represent homeologues derived from two distinct diploid ancestors. Protein products of both these forms are present in starch granules. We identified three polymorphisms in the exon sequence coding for mature GBSSI peptides. A 15-bp deletion has occurred in the S type GBSSI, resulting in the loss of five amino acids from glucosyl transferase domain 1 (GTD1). The second GBSSI type (L) shows two sequence polymorphisms. One is the insertion of an adenine residue that causes a reading frameshift, and the second causes a cysteine–tyrosine amino acid polymorphism. These mutations appear to have occurred in parallel from the ancestral allele, resulting in three GBSSI-L alleles in total. Five of the six possible genotype combinations of the S and L alleles were observed. The deletion in the GBSSI-S gene causes loss of protein activity, and there was 100% correspondence between this deletion and the waxy phenotype. The frameshift mutation in the L gene results in the loss of L-type protein from starch granules. The L isoform with the tyrosine residue is present in starch granules but is nonfunctional. This loss of function may result from the substitution of tyrosine for cysteine, although it could not be determined whether the cysteine isoform of L represents the functional type. This is the first characterization of mutations that occur in combination in a functionally polyploid species to give a fully waxy phenotype.
Disk array storage system reliability

Fault tolerance requirements for near term disk array storage systems are analyzed. The excellent reliability provided by RAID Level five data organization is seen to be insufficient for these systems. The authors consider various alternatives - improved MTBF and MTTR times as well as smaller reliability groups and increased numbers of check disks per group - to obtain the necessary improved reliability. Two data organization schemes based on maximum distance separable error correcting codes are introduced. Several figures of merit are calculated using a standard Markov failure and repair model for these organizations. Based on these results, the multiple check disk approach to improved reliability is an excellent option.
Testing for Variation in Technical Efficiency of Hospitals in Ireland

Funding in Irish hospitals is partially based on case mix, whereby resources are redistributed annually to hospitals with greater efficiency. Accurate measurement of efficiency is essential, so in this paper, we use Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis to measure technical efficiency of acute public hospitals in Ireland between 1995 and 2000. The results provide estimates of average technical efficiency in the hospital sector in Ireland for the first time, and highlight the variation in technical efficiency levels across hospitals. Internationally, the results contribute to the growing literature on the comparison of DEA and SFA methodologies.
Why College Undergraduates Choose to Major in Information Technology: A Multi-Theoretical Perspective

The proposed study plans to explore the impacts of computer self-efficacy, outcome expectations, personality, interest in computers, attitudes, subjective norm, behavioral control, social support, and perceived IT job availability on college students’ decisions to pursue information technology careers. The paper will develop a theoretical model based on social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior, as well as incorporating the elements of personality. The intent of this study is to extend the social cognitive theory (SCT) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) literatures by expanding their application to IT career choice issues and by including personality traits as additional factors. The latter addition also indicates a unique application of the five factor personality model, as it is rarely used in concert with self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and broad environmental factors such as job market demands. By combining multiple theories we hope to contribute to a deeper understanding of IT career choice and career choice issues in general.
Towards a Property Preserving Transformation from IEC 61131-3 to BIP

We report on a transformation from Sequential Function Charts of the IEC 61131-3 standard to BIP. Our presentation features a description of formal syntax and semantics representation of the involved languages and transformation rules. Furthermore, we present a formalism for describing invariants of IEC 61131-3 systems and establish a notion of invariant preservation between the two languages. For a subset of our transformation rules we sketch a proof showing invariant preservation during the transformation of IEC 61131-3 to BIP and vice versa.
Machine Translation with a Stochastic Grammatical Channel

We introduce a stochastic grammatical channel model for machine translation, that synthesizes several desirable characteristics of both statistical and grammatical machine translation. As with the pure statistical translation model described by Wu (1996) (in which a bracketing transduction grammar models the channel), alternative hypotheses compete probabilistically, exhaustive search of the translation hypothesis space can be performed in polynomial time, and robustness heuristics arise naturally from a language-independent inversion-transduction model. However, unlike pure statistical translation models, the generated output string is guaranteed to conform to a given target grammar. The model employs only (1) a translation lexicon, (2) a context-free grammar for the target language, and (3) a bigram language model. The fact that no explicit bilingual translation rules are used makes the model easily portable to a variety of source languages. Initial experiments show that it also achieves significant speed gains over our earlier model.
Effects of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills on Earning Outcomes: A Case of Khonkaen Province of Thailand

From the well-known Mincer equation explained years of schooling and potential training periods as main sources for earnings differential, this study further analyzes another explanation of earnings in terminology of non-cognitive skills. Difference in wages in different occupations and genders could be explained by non-cognitive traits. Signifi cant non-cognitive variables are 1. locus of control 2. self-esteem 3. big fi ve personalities and 4. confl ict management. After adding a non-cognitive skill called “Locus of Control” into the model and comparing without it, the coeffi cients declined when adding a non-cognitive skill. Unlike cognitive skills, adding non-cognitive measures to the model greatly reduces the explanation by cognitive skills (years of schooling), experience year, and training hour.
Robot semantic mapping through wearable sensor-based human activity recognition

Semantic information can help both humans and robots to understand their environments better. In order to obtain semantic information efficiently and link it to a metric map, we present a semantic mapping approach through human activity recognition in an indoor human-robot coexisting environment. An intelligent mobile robot platform can create a 2D metric map, while human activity can be recognized using motion data from wearable motion sensors mounted on a human subject. Combined with pre-learned models of activity-to-furniture type association and robot pose estimates, the robot can determine the distribution of the furniture types on the 2D metric map. Simulations and real world experiments demonstrate that the proposed method is able to create a reliable metric map with accurate semantic information.
Localization of hRad9, hHus1, hRad1, and hRad17 and Caffeine-sensitive DNA Replication at the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres-associated Promyelocytic Leukemia Body*

Telomere maintenance is essential for continued cell proliferation. Although most cells accomplish this by activating telomerase, a subset of immortalized tumors and cell lines do so in a telomerase-independent manner, a process called alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). DNA recombination has been shown to be involved in ALT, but the precise mechanisms remain unknown. A fraction of cells in a given ALT population contain a unique nuclear structure called APB (ALT-associated promyelocytic leukemia (PML) body), which is characterized by the presence of telomeric DNA in the PML body. Here we describe that hRad9, hHus1, and hRad1, which form a DNA clamp complex that is associated with DNA damage, as well as its clamp loader, hRad17, are constitutive components of APB. Phosphorylated histone H2AX (γ-H2AX), a molecular marker of double-strand breaks (DSBs), also colocalizes with some APBs. The results suggest that telomeric DNAs at APBs are recognized as DSBs. PML staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses of mitotic ALT cells revealed that telomeric DNAs present at APBs are of both extrachromosomal and native telomere origins. Furthermore, we demonstrated that DNA synthesis occurs at APBs and is significantly inhibited by caffeine, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-related kinases. Taken together, we suggest that telomeric DNAs at APBs are recognized and processed as DSBs, leading to telomeric DNA synthesis and thereby contributing to telomere maintenance in ALT cells.
Sensitivity of ecological soil-screening levels for metals to exposure model parameterization and toxicity reference values

Ecological soil‐screening levels (Eco‐SSLs) were developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for the purposes of setting conservative soil screening values that can be used to eliminate the need for further ecological assessment for specific analytes at a given site. Ecological soil‐screening levels for wildlife represent a simplified dietary exposure model solved in terms of soil concentrations to produce exposure equal to a no‐observed‐adverse‐effect toxicity reference value (TRV). Sensitivity analyses were performed for 6 avian and mammalian model species, and 16 metals/metalloids for which Eco‐SSLs have been developed. The relative influence of model parameters was expressed as the absolute value of the range of variation observed in the resulting soil concentration when exposure is equal to the TRV. Rank analysis of variance was used to identify parameters with greatest influence on model output. For both birds and mammals, soil ingestion displayed the broadest overall range (variability), although TRVs consistently had the greatest influence on calculated soil concentrations; bioavailability in food was consistently the least influential parameter, although an important site‐specific variable. Relative importance of parameters differed by trophic group. Soil ingestion ranked 2nd for carnivores and herbivores, but was 4th for invertivores. Different patterns were exhibited, depending on which parameter, trophic group, and analyte combination was considered. The approach for TRV selection was also examined in detail, with Cu as the representative analyte. The underlying assumption that generic body‐weight–normalized TRVs can be used to derive protective levels for any species is not supported by the data. Whereas the use of site‐, species‐, and analyte‐specific exposure parameters is recommended to reduce variation in exposure estimates (soil protection level), improvement of TRVs is more problematic. Environ Toxicol Chem 2014;33:2386–2398. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
Modern capitalist planning: the French model

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A Meta-analysis of the relation between chemokine receptor 5 delta32 polymorphism and multiple sclerosis susceptibility

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether the functional chemokine receptor 5 delta32 (CCR5-Δ32) polymorphism is associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility. Methods: Meta-analysis was conducted to determine the association between the CCR5-Δ32 polymorphism and overall incidence of MS as well frequency of relapsing-remitting (RR), primary progressive (PP), and secondary progressive (SP) MS subtypes. Results: In total, 3869 subjects from eight studies (MS 1666, controls 2203) were considered for meta-analysis. Meta-analysis showed no association between MS and the CCR5-Δ32 allele polymorphism (OR = 1.102, 95% CI = 0.830–1.462, p = 0.502) with a mean frequency of 11.3% in MS patients and 10.4% in controls. Stratification by ethnicity indicated no association between the CCR5-Δ32 allele and MS in Europeans (OR = 0.958, 95% CI = 0.811–1.132, p = 0.618). Meta-analysis by the disease subtype showed no association between RR-MS and the CCR5-Δ32 allele (OR = 1.234, 95% CI = 0.908–1.677, p = 0.178). In addition, no association was found between the CCR5-Δ32 polymorphism and PP or SP-MS. Conclusions: Meta-analysis of 3869 subjects indicates a lack of association between the CCR5-Δ32 polymorphism and MS risk in Europeans.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms for DNA typing in the domestic horse

Genetic markers are important resources for individual identification and parentage assessment. Although short tandem repeats (STRs) have been the traditional DNA marker, technological advances have led to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) becoming an attractive alternative. SNPs can be highly multiplexed and automatically scored, which allows for easier standardization and sharing among laboratories. Equine parentage is currently assessed using STRs. We obtained a publicly available SNP dataset of 729 horses representing 32 diverse breeds. A proposed set of 101 SNPs was analyzed for DNA typing suitability. The overall minor allele frequency of the panel was 0.376 (range 0.304-0.419), with per breed probability of identities ranging from 5.6 × 10-35 to 1.86 × 10-42 . When one parent was available, exclusion probabilities ranged from 0.9998 to 0.999996, although when both parents were available, all breeds had exclusion probabilities greater than 0.9999999. A set of 388 horses from 35 breeds was genotyped to evaluate marker performance on known families. The set included 107 parent-offspring pairs and 101 full trios. No horses shared identical genotypes across all markers, indicating that the selected set was sufficient for individual identification. All pairwise comparisons were classified using ISAG rules, with one or two excluding markers considered an accepted parent-offspring pair, two or three excluding markers considered doubtful and four or more excluding markers rejecting parentage. The panel had an overall accuracy of 99.9% for identifying true parent-offspring pairs. Our developed marker set is both present on current generation SNP chips and can be highly multiplexed in standalone panels and thus is a promising resource for SNP-based DNA typing.