Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Priming the Leadership Pipeline

This article presents quantitative results from the first three cohorts of a school leadership residency program in an urban district. The two-year leadership residencies were selective, multifaceted, and intensive, combining at least 370 hours of professional development with onthe-job training, in which aspiring school principals held either assistant-level administrative or teacher leadership roles. Using a difference-in-differences framework with school fixed-effects for all schools in the state, we present estimated effects of school staffing by leadership program residents and alumni on schools' academic achievement, behavior, graduation rates, and school culture as described by teachers. The effect of each leadership resident-by-year in an administrative role is estimated as an additional 14% of a standard deviation in math scale scores, 10% of a standard deviation in ELA scale scores, and 2.5 percentage points in four-year graduation rates. However, estimated effects on student attendance and suspensions move in the opposite of the desired directions, and there is little evidence of a relationship between leadership residency placements and teachers' reports of school culture. Robustness checks limited to the treatment city indicate some sensitivity to the definition of the counterfactual sample. Three years after program inception, due to the contracting nature of the district, one of 30 entering residents had moved into a position as a school principal. Consequently, these estimates shed new light on the effects of instructional leadership by educators in supporting roles.
Collaboration and collaborative information technologies: a review of the evidence

Collaborative information technologies have been claimed to enhance collaboration in organizations, under certain conditions. This claim was found problematic in several respects, also in the light of the results of 18 case studies of Lotus Notes use, taken from the literature. The cases may be split into three groups: (1) exploratory, conservative, or cautious use; (2) planned and expanding use; and (3) extensive and engaged use of Notes. In the first group, no changes in work arrangements due to Notes use could be found. In the second group, the planned Notes applications supported the established work arrangements, both collaborative and hierarchical. Only in the third group were there significant changes towards more collaboration. These changes were due to a conscious and continued effort to bring about new work arrangements and new kinds of Notes support.A number of issues emerged in the review that could help to understand the relationship of collaborative information technologies and changes in work and organization. The issues included the role of the specific capabilities of the technology; the difference between technology as a product and technology-in-use; the kind of care needed in bringing about desired changes; the emergent, drifting nature of the change process; the role of the technology as a constructive tool in improvising and enacting the changes; and the gradual translations of influences from work practices to organizational practices.
Reliable classification of childhood acute leukaemia from gene expression data using confidence machines

The Confidence Machine is a recently developed algorithmic framework for making reliable decisions in the face of uncertainty. Control of predictive accuracy is achieved by allowing hedged predictions, with the possible sacrifice of precision. We use the Support Vector Machine learning algorithm to derive a decision rule for the classification of childhood acute leukaemia subtypes from a small training set of gene expression data. We then implement a Confidence Machine for the decision rule and test on an independent data set to demonstrate its error calibration properties. We show that the Confidence Machine can be used to derive reliable predictions, with control of the risk of error whilst maintaining the level of accuracy given by the Support Vector Machine, yielding useful and precise predictions of leukaemia subtypes. Predictions are reliable even in the context of training from small sample size.
Cartografía analógica y digital para la delimitación regional y el análisis temático: aplicación a la cuenca del río Luján (Argentina)

espanolResumen: El paso inicial del proyecto “Analisis espacial y evaluacion de zonas de potenciales conflictos ambientales, productivos y patrimoniales ante la expansion urbana en la cuenca del rio Lujan (Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina)” consistio en realizar la actualizacion de la delimitacion del area de estudio. Para llevar a cabo esta tarea fue trazada una secuencia teorico-metodologica que implico el analisis de cartografia historica, confeccion de mapas mediante cartografia asistida por computador (CAC), definicion de limites mediante el procesamiento digital de imagenes satelitales (PDI) utilizando modelos digitales de elevacion y realizacion de la base de datos geografica a traves de Sistemas de Informacion Geografica (SIG) vinculados con los globos terraqueos virtuales. El presente trabajo presenta aspectos teorico-metodologicos que permiten ejemplificar la secuencia con detalle en la alta cuenca, tanto en aspectos cartograficos como en imagenes logradas en el trabajo de campo y uso de GPS. El total de la tarea presenta claros aspectos de la vinculacion entre procedimientos tradicionales y las actuales tecnologias de la informacion geografica (TIG) utilizadas en la construccion regional y la representacion tematica de los resultados. EnglishAbstract: The initial step of the research project “Spatial analysis and evaluation of areas of environmental, productive and patrimonial potential conflicts before the urban expansion in the Lujan river basin (Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina)” consisted in updating the delimitation of the study area. In order to carry out this task a theoretical-methodological sequence was drawn up, which involved the analysis of historical cartography, mapping using computer-aided cartography (CAC), definition of boundaries using digital image processing (DIP) through digital elevation models (DEM) and realization of the geographic database through Geographical Information Systems (GIS) linked to Virtual Earth and Digital Globes. The present work presents theoretical and methodological aspects that allow to exemplify the sequence with detail in the high basin area, as much in cartographic aspects as in images obtained in the field work with GPS. The total of the task presents clear aspects of the link between traditional procedures and the current Geographical Information Technologies (GIT) used in the regional construction and thematic representation of the results.
2016 Ieee International Conference on Big Data (big Data) Domain-specific User Preference Prediction Based on Multiple User Activities

—Inferring latent user preferences using both struc-tured and unstructured data is an important social computing task. In this paper, we propose a user preference representation based on user activities embedded in unstructured data to better encode the homophily theory. The representation of an individual user is learned using a embedding based method to integrate latent user preferences in social media. The method has the ability to integrate a variety of user activities based cues from user comments, user social network (i.e; follower/followee connections) and user interested topics which are indicated by the topics a user has participated in. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the prediction of each user's favorite team as a part of user preferences in a dataset collected from the Hu-pu basketball discussion forum. 1 Results clearly indicate that our proposed user representation outperforms other user representation baselines. Integrating user social network and user interested topics with user comments can improve the overall performance of user preference prediction.
Identifying infection sources in large tree networks

Estimating which nodes in a network are the infection sources, including the individuals who started a rumor in a social network, the computers that introduce a virus into a computer network, or the index cases of a contagious disease, plays a critical role in identifying the influential nodes in a network, and in some applications, limiting the damage caused by the infection through timely quarantine of the sources. We consider the problem of estimating the infection sources, based only on knowledge of the underlying network connections. We derive estimators based on approximations of the infection sequences counts. We show that if there are at most two infection sources in a geometric tree, our estimator identifies these sources with probability going to one as the number of infected nodes increases. When there are more than two infection sources, we present heuristics that have quadratic complexity. We show through simulations that our proposed estimators can correctly identify the infection sources to within a few hops with high probability.
Heterodimerization and Endocytosis of Arabidopsis Brassinosteroid Receptors BRI1 and AtSERK3 (BAK1)

In Arabidopsis thaliana brassinosteroid (BR), perception is mediated by two Leu-rich repeat receptor-like kinases, BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1 (BRI1) and BRI1-ASSOCIATED RECEPTOR KINASE1 (BAK1) (Arabidopsis SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-like KINASE3 [AtSERK3]). Genetic, biochemical, and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) interaction studies suggested that the BRI1-BAK1 receptor complex initiates BR signaling, but the role of the BAK1 receptor is still not clear. Using transient expression in protoplasts of BRI1 and AtSERK3 fused to cyan and yellow fluorescent green fluorescent protein variants allowed us to localize each receptor independently in vivo. We show that BRI1, but not AtSERK3, homodimerizes in the plasma membrane, whereas BRI1 and AtSERK3 preferentially heterodimerize in the endosomes. Coexpression of BRI1 and AtSERK3 results in a change of the steady state distribution of both receptors because of accelerated endocytosis. Endocytic vesicles contain either BRI1 or AtSERK3 alone or both. We propose that the AtSERK3 protein is involved in changing the equilibrium between plasma membrane–located BRI1 homodimers and endocytosed BRI1-AtSERK3 heterodimers.
Change of conduction velocity by regional myelination yields constant latency irrespective of distance between thalamus and cortex

The widely spanning sensory cortex receives inputs from the disproportionately smaller nucleus of the thalamus, which results in a wide variety of travelling distance among thalamic afferents. Yet, latency from the thalamus to a cortical cell is remarkably constant across the cortex (typically, ≈2 ms). Here, we found a mechanism that produces invariability of latency among thalamocortical afferents, irrespective of the variability of travelling distances. The conduction velocity (CV) was calculated from excitatory postsynaptic currents recorded from layer IV cells in mouse thalamocortical slices by stimulating the ventrobasal nucleus of the thalamus (VB) and white matter (WM). In adults, the obtained CV for VB to WM (CVVB-WM; 3.28 ± 0.11 m/s) was ≈10 times faster than that of WM to layer IV cells (CVWM-IV; 0.33 ± 0.05 m/s). The CVVB-WM was confirmed by recording antidromic single-unit responses from VB cells by stimulating WM. Exclusion of synaptic delay from CVWM-IV did not account for the 10-fold difference of CV. By histochemical staining, it was revealed that VB to WM was heavily myelinated, whereas in the cortex staining became substantially weaker. We also found that such morphological and physiological characteristics developed in parallel and were accomplished around postnatal week 4. Considering that VB to WM is longer and more variable in length among afferents than is the intracortical region, such an enormous difference of CV makes conduction time heavily dependent on the length of intracortical region, which is relatively constant. Our finding may well provide a general strategy of connecting multiple sites irrespective of distances in the brain.
Nanocommunication using QCA: A data path selector cum router for efficient channel utilization

Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata (QCA) is being considered by researchers as a possible alternative to Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology for implementing digital circuits. With the decrease of feature size in CMOS integrated circuits, problems like quantum effects arise. QCA is developed on the basis of these quantum phenomena that rise due to interaction of electrons within quantum dots. This paper implements nano-communication using QCA technology. Here the QCA layout of a data path selector cum router circuit is proposed. The function of this circuit is to transfer data between a number of sources and destinations using a single channel. Here data from four different sources are routed into four destinations using a single channel. Utilizing the same principle, a single path can be used for data transfer between a larger number of sources and destinations. Cross talk between physical channels can also be avoided. This circuit can be used for distributed computing. Here connection between the control memory and hardware control points or switches can be established by the proposed circuit while the required sequencing of the micro-operations can be done by the select inputs. The QCADesigner tool is used for designing and simulating the layout of the circuit.
Bayesian Learning in Financial Markets: Testing for the Relevance of Information Precision in Price Discovery

Abstract Bayesian learning claims that the strength of the price impact of unanticipated information depends on the relative precision of traders' prior and posterior beliefs. In this paper, we test for this implication of Bayesian models by analyzing intraday price responses of T-bond futures to U.S. employment announcements. By employing additional detailed information in addition to the widely used headline figures, we extract release-specific precision measures. We find that the price impact of more precise information is significantly stronger, even after controlling for an asymmetric price response to “good” and “bad” news. This result strengthens previous findings that differences in earnings response coefficients across companies are related to proxies for the credibility of the reported financial information.
Management Learning and the MBA : The Beast that Morphed into a Chameleon

To be completed on a separate page. No more than 300 words and emailed with full paper to Andrew Sturdy and to nicky@waikato.ac. nz and cn270@cam.ac. uk. Critique of the MBA is as widespread as the number of Business Schools and Management Departments offering the degree. Mintzberg (2004) summarises many of the extant arguments against the MBA, regarding it as overly managerialist, a poor example of Masters’ level scholarship and as more instrumental to individual careers and a provider of significant revenue streams for Business Schools, than it is a vehicle for scholarship and learning. Mintzberg suggests that corporate MBAs are a solution to this problem since they allow reflexive and situated learning. This paper is an in-depth study of three UK Business Schools each offering a corporate MBA. It investigates to what extent sponsored MBAs exhibit signs of facilitating learning through the inter-relationships between their sponsoring organisation, the Business School and amongst the MBA students themselves. To what extent was there evidence of a common language and shared perspectives, for example, engendering the formation of communities of practice (or their equivalent) which initiate and develop organisational learning? The results indicate, first, that Business Schools differ in their characteristics and their inter-relationships with sponsoring organisations. The paper identifies three types of business school, university-based, non-university-based and a hybrid. The data further suggest that the MBA should be studied in context. Far from being a unitary degree, the MBA seems highly fragmented and equifinal. A general critique of MBAs (such as that outlined by Mintzberg) would therefore seem misplaced since it treats the MBA as generic. Our data reveal the opposite. What characterises and colours the MBA depends on context. From a sample of 1200 respondents, the data reveal a distinct lack of learning in sponsoring organisations as a result of their managers undertaking MBAs. Individual learning was jealously guarded by candidates undertaking an MBA, with many instances of refusing to share any knowledge at all. The individualisation and highly Darwinistic nature of MBA study were strongly supported by
Simple Semi-Supervised Training of Part-Of-Speech Taggers

Most attempts to train part-of-speech taggers on a mixture of labeled and unlabeled data have failed. In this work stacked learning is used to reduce tagging to a classification task. This simplifies semi-supervised training considerably. Our prefered semi-supervised method combines tri-training (Li and Zhou, 2005) and disagreement-based co-training. On the Wall Street Journal, we obtain an error reduction of 4.2% with SVMTool (Gimenez and Marquez, 2004).
Inhibition of N-Terminal Lysines Acetylation and Transcription Factor Assembly by Epirubicin Induced Deranged Cell Homeostasis

Epirubicin (EPI), an anthracycline antitumour antibiotic, is a known intercalating and DNA damaging agent. Here, we study the molecular interaction of EPI with histones and other cellular targets. EPI binding with histone core protein was predicted with spectroscopic and computational techniques. The molecular distance r, between donor (histone H3) and acceptor (EPI) was estimated using Förster’s theory of non-radiation energy transfer and the detailed binding phenomenon is expounded. Interestingly, the concentration dependent reduction in the acetylated states of histone H3 K9/K14 was observed suggesting more repressed chromatin state on EPI treatment. Its binding site near N-terminal lysines is further characterized by thermodynamic determinants and molecular docking studies. Specific DNA binding and inhibition of transcription factor (Tf)-DNA complex formation implicates EPI induced transcriptional inhibition. EPI also showed significant cell cycle arrest in drug treated cells. Chromatin fragmentation and loss of membrane integrity in EPI treated cells is suggestive of their commitment to cell death. This study provides an analysis of nucleosome dynamics during EPI treatment and provides a novel insight into its action.
Classification and Layout Analysis of Paper Fragments ∗

Document image analysis such as text classification and layout analysis allow for the automated extraction of document properties. In general these methodologies are pre-processing steps for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) systems. In contrast, the proposed method aims at clustering document snippets so that an automated clustering of documents can be performed. First, localized words are classified according to printed text, manuscript, and noise. The third class permits the correction of falsely segmented background elements. Having classified the text elements, a clustering is carried out which groups words into text lines and paragraphs. A back propagation of the class weights assigned to each word in the first step enables correcting wrong class labels. Finally, additional features such as the detection of underlined text or the paragraph layout (e.g. left aligned, centered) are extracted. The proposed method shows promising results on a dataset consisting of document fragments with varying shapes, content writing and layout.
A practical method for the detection of freezing of gait in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Purpose Freezing of gait (FOG), increasing the fall risk and limiting the quality of life, is common at the advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease, typically in old ages. A simple and unobtrusive FOG detection system with a small calculation load would make a fast presentation of on-demand cueing possible. The purpose of this study was to find a practical FOG detection system. Patients and methods A sole-mounted sensor system was developed for an unobtrusive measurement of acceleration during gait. Twenty patients with Parkinson’s disease participated in this study. A simple and fast time-domain method for the FOG detection was suggested and compared with the conventional frequency-domain method. The parameters used in the FOG detection were optimized for each patient. Results The calculation load was 1,154 times less in the time-domain method than the conventional method, and the FOG detection performance was comparable between the two domains (P=0.79) and depended on the window length (P<0.01) and dimension of sensor information (P=0.03). Conclusion A minimally constraining sole-mounted sensor system was developed, and the suggested time-domain method showed comparable FOG detection performance to that of the conventional frequency-domain method. Three-dimensional sensor information and 3–4-second window length were desirable. The suggested system is expected to have more practical clinical applications.
Ultra-High-Energy Neutrino Scattering onto Relic Light Neutrinos in the Galactic Halo as a Possible Source of the Highest Energy Extragalactic Cosmic Rays

Diffuse relic neutrinos with light mass are transparent to ultra-high-energy (UHE) neutrinos at thousands of EeV, which are born through the photoproduction of pions by UHE protons on relic 2.73 K blackbody radiation (BBR), and originate in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at cosmic distances. However, these UHE ν's may interact with others (mainly the heaviest: νμr, ντr, and respective antineutrinos) that are clustered into hot dark matter (HDM) galactic halos. UHE photons or protons, secondaries of ν-νr scattering, might be the final observed signatures of such high-energy chain reactions, and may be responsible for the highest energy extragalactic cosmic-ray (CR) events. Here we consider the conversion efficiency, ramifications, and energetics of these chain reactions for the 1991 October CR event at 320 EeV observed by the Fly's Eye detector in Utah. These quantities seem to be compatible with the distance, direction, and power (observed at MeV gamma energies) of the Seyfert galaxy MCG 8-11-11. The ν-νr interaction probability is favored by at least 3 orders of magnitude over a direct ν scattering onto Earth's atmosphere. Therefore, it may better explain the extragalactic origin of the puzzling 320 EeV event, while offering indirect evidence of a hot dark Galactic halo of light neutrinos (i.e., mν~tens of eV), probably of τ flavor.