Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Assessors: The Actual Performance of Negotiated Rulemaking

Negotiated rulemaking is a process in which representatives of the interests that would be substantially affected by a rule ? including the agency responsible for issuing the rule ? negotiate in good faith to reach a consensus on a proposed rule. It has proven enormously successful in developing agreements in highly polarized situations. Agencies have therefore turned to it to help resolve particularly difficult, contentious issues that have eluded closure by means of traditional rulemaking procedures. Criticism has recently been leveled at negotiated rulemaking on the ground that it has failed to achieve its "instrumental goals" of saving time and reducing litigation. Professor Cary Coglianese sought to measure whether negotiated rulemaking in fact saved time and reduced litigation by analyzing negotiated rulemaking at EPA, and he found it wanting in both dimensions. He argues that there has been an insignificant savings of time for rules developed through reg neg, and he concluded that rules developed through it are actually challenged more frequently than rules developed by traditional means. Unfortunately, however, Coglianese's research is significantly flawed and hence misleading concerning the actual experience with negotiated rulemaking. First, he misapplies his own methodology by including a rule as a completed reg neg when it should not have been. Given the dynamics of the particular rule and Coglianese's methodology, its erroneous inclusion had a significant effect on the ultimate conclusion. Second, his methodology measures the wrong thing: it fails to account for what the agency was actually trying to accomplish, and hence his results are skewed since the agency achieved its objective long before Coglianese calculations indicated. Third, he does not differentiate a substantive judicial challenge to a rule that was issued substantially as the committee agreed from either those instances in which the agency itself significantly changed the rule after the committee reached consensus and those petitions for review that were filed while the petitioner and EPA worked out minor details. Properly understood negotiated rulemaking has been remarkably successful in fulfilling its promise. In particular, EPA's experience has been that reg neg has cut the time for rulemaking by a third, knocking a full year off the typical schedule. Moreover, no rule that implements a consensus reached by the committee in which the parties agree not to challenge it has ever been the subject of a substantive judicial review ? even though they tend to be far more controversial and complex than average rules. And, finally, as described by a serious empirical study, the participants and those otherwise affected by rules find a range of values in negotiated rulemakings as opposed to those developed traditionally.
EVOLUTION OF DARK-MATTER HALOES IN A VARIETY OF DARK-ENERGY COSMOLOGIES

High-resolution, numerical simulations of 17 cluster-sized dark-matter haloes in eight di fferent cosmologies with and without dynamical dark energy confirm the picture that core halo densities are imprinted early during their formation by the mean cosmological density. Quite independent of cosmology, halo concentrations have a log-normal distribution with a scatter of ∼ 0.2 about the mean. We propose a simple scaling relation for halo concentrations in dark-energy cosmologies.
Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology Formative Assessment Visual Feedback in Computer Graded Essays

In this paper we discuss a simple but comprehensive form of feedback to essay authors, based on a thesaurus and computer graphics, which enables the essay authors to see where essay content is inadequate in terms of the discussion of the essay topic. Concepts which are inadequately covered are displayed for the information of the author so that the essay can be improved. The feedback is automatically produced by the MarkIT Automated Essay Grading system, being developed by Curtin University researchers.
Social Networks and Corporate Payout Policies

We examine the relation between firm social network centrality and corporate payout policies. Managers of firms with greater network centrality may be over optimistic about their firms’ future performance and thus cut dividends to build financial slack for future investment; they may be more likely to repurchase shares as they deem them undervalued. Consistent with the conjectures, we find that firms with greater network centrality are less likely to pay dividends and pay lower dividends, but are more likely to repurchase shares and repurchase more shares, and they substitute share repurchase for dividends. The negative (positive) relation between network centrality and dividend payout (share repurchase) is stronger (weaker) for firms with greater growth opportunities. We also confirm that CEOs of firms with greater network centrality tend to be overconfident. Overall results suggest that social network centrality can significantly affect corporate payout policies by boosting managerial confidence level.
The DNA-binding properties of two heat shock factors, HSF1 and HSF3, are induced in the avian erythroblast cell line HD6

Avian cells express three heat shock transcription factor (HSF) genes corresponding to a novel factor, HSF3, and homologs of mouse and human HSF1 and HSF2. Analysis of the biochemical and cell biological properties of these HSFs reveals that HSF3 has properties in common with both HSF1 and HSF2 and yet has features which are distinct from both. HSF3 is constitutively expressed in the erythroblast cell line HD6, the lymphoblast cell line MSB, and embryo fibroblasts, and yet its DNA-binding activity is induced only upon exposure of HD6 cells to heat shock. Acquisition of HSF3 DNA-binding activity in HD6 cells is accompanied by oligomerization from a non-DNA-binding dimer to a DNA-binding trimer, whereas the effect of heat shock on HSF1 is oligomerization of an inert monomer to a DNA-binding trimer. Induction of HSF3 DNA-binding activity is delayed compared with that of HSF1. As occurs for HSF1, heat shock leads to the translocation of HSF3 to the nucleus. HSF exhibits the properties of a transcriptional activator, as judged from the stimulatory activity of transiently overexpressed HSF3 measured by using a heat shock element-containing reporter construct and as independently assayed by the activity of a chimeric GAL4-HSF3 protein on a GAL4 reporter construct. These results reveal that HSF3 is negatively regulated in avian cells and acquires DNA-binding activity in certain cells upon heat shock.
Improved Surface Reflectance from Remote Sensing Data with Sub-Pixel Topographic Information

Several methods currently exist to efficiently correct topographic effects on the radiance measured by satellites. Most of those methods use topographic information and satellite data at the same spatial resolution. In this study, the 30 m spatial resolution data of the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) are used to account for those topographic effects when retrieving land surface reflectance from satellite data at lower spatial resolution (e.g., 1 km). The methodology integrates the effects of sub-pixel topography on the estimation of the total irradiance received at the surface considering direct, diffuse and terrain irradiance. The corrected total irradiance is then used to compute the topographically corrected surface reflectance. The proposed method has been developed to be applied on various kilometric pixel size satellite data. In this study, it was tested and validated with synthetic Landsat data aggregated at 1 km. The results obtained after a sub-pixel topographic correction are compared with the ones obtained after a pixel level topographic correction and show that in rough terrain, the sub-pixel topography correction method provides better results even if it tends to slightly overestimate the retrieved land surface reflectance in some cases.
Simulations of Infrared Radiances over a Deep Convective Cloud System Observed during TC4: Potential for Enhancing Nocturnal Ice Cloud Retrievals

Retrievals of ice cloud properties using infrared measurements at 3.7, 6.7, 7.3, 8.5, 10.8, and 12.0 mm can provide consistent results regardless of solar illumination, but are limited to cloud optical thicknesses t 20, the 3.7–10.8 µm and 3.7–6.7 µm BTDs are the most sensitive to De. Satellite imagery appears to be consistent with these results suggesting that t and De could be retrieved for greater optical thicknesses than previously assumed. But, because of sensitivity of the BTDs to uncertainties in the atmospheric profiles of temperature, humidity, and ice water content, and sensor noise, exploiting the small BTD signals in retrieval algorithms will be very challenging.
A community detection technique for research collaboration networks based on frequent collaborators cores

Community structure is one of prominent features of complex real-world networks. In this paper we propose a novel technique for detecting communities in research collaboration networks. The main idea of the algorithm is that research communities can be efficiently recovered from sub-graphs encompassing frequent collaborators. Moreover, the algorithm can be used to cluster weighted undirected networks from other domains as well. An experimental evaluation of the algorithm was conducted on a co-authorship network representing collaborations between researchers employed at our Department. The results of the evaluation showed that the algorithm identifies strong and meaningful clusters corresponding to groups dealing with specific research topics. Moreover, we compared our method to seven other community detection techniques showing that it performs better or equally with respect to the quality of obtained community structures.
A Comparison of the Relationship Between Obesity and Earnings in the U.S. and Germany

This paper investigates and compares the relationship between obesity and earnings in the U.S. and Germany. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (U.S.) and the German Socio-Economic Panel, instrumental variables models are estimated that account for the endogeneity of body weight. We find that, in both countries, heavier women tend to earn less. For example, obesity is associated with almost 20 percent lower earnings for U.S. and German women. We test for causality using IV models; these models suggest that weight may lower labor earnings for U.S. women. However, our IV results yield no evidence of a causal impact of weight on earnings for women in Germany or for men in either country.
Effects of Nicotine on Sperm Characteristics and Fertility Profile in Adult Male Rats: A Possible Role of Cessation

Introduction Infertility is common among couples of child-bearing age and approximately half of known causes of primary infertility are attributable to male factor. It is still unclear whether the injurious effects of cigarette smoking on sperm characteristics and infertility are due to nicotine. Therefore, the present study investtigated the effects of orally administered of nicotine on sperm characteristics and libido in adult male albino rats. The study also sought nicotine effects on fertility rate, litter size and weight in female animals cohabited with nicotine treated male rats. Methods Forty male and twenty-five female rats were used for the study. The male rats were divided into five groups and were treated for a period of 30 days with nicotine 0.5 mg/kg (low dose) and 1.0 mg/kg (high dose) per body weight while the control rats received 0.2 ml/kg normal saline. The fourth and fifth groups were gavaged with 0.5 mg/kg and 1.0 mg/kg body weight of nicotine but were left untreated for another 30 days. These groups served as the recovery groups. At the end of each experimental period, sperm analysis, fertility study, litter weight and size were determined. Results Sperm motility and count significantly decreased (P < 0.05) while the percentage of abnormality significantly increased (P < 0.05) in both treatment groups. However, there was an insignificant decrease (P > 0.05) in the viability and semen volume of the treated groups. Fertility studies revealed that nicotine reduced libido in male rats, litter weight and number delivered by the untreated female during the experiments. Conclusion The present study showed that nicotine has a dose-dependent deleterious effect on the sperm characteristics and that fertility is ameliorated by nicotine cessation in male rats.
Clinical and Prognostic Implications of Roundabout 4 (Robo4) in Adult Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background Robo4 is involved in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell homeostasis and essential for tumor angiogenesis. Expression of Robo4 was recently found in solid tumors and leukemia stem cells. However, the clinical implications of Robo4 expression in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remain unclear. Methods We investigated the clinical and prognostic relevance of mRNA expression of Robo4 in bone marrow (BM) mononuclear cells from 218 adult patients with de novo AML. We also performed immunohistochemical staining to assess the Robo4 protein expression in the BM biopsy specimens from 30 selected AML patients in the cohort. Results Higher Robo4 expression was closely associated with lower white blood cell counts, expression of HLA-DR, CD13, CD34 and CD56 on leukemia cells, t(8;21) and ASXL1 mutation, but negatively correlated with t(15;17) and CEBPA mutation. Compared to patients with lower Robo4 expression, those with higher expression had significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). This result was confirmed in an independent validation cohort. Furthermore, multivariate analyses showed that higher Robo4 expression was an independent poor prognostic factor for DFS and OS in total cohort and patients with intermediate-risk cytogenetics, irrespective of age, WBC count, karyotype, and mutation status of NPM1/FLT3-ITD, and CEBPA. Conclusions BM Robo4 expression can serve as a new biomarker to predict clinical outcomes in AML patients and Robo4 may serve as a potential therapeutic target in patients with higher Robo4 expression.
On Low Noise Amplifier Design for Wireless Communication Systems

This paper describes designs in hybrid technology of low noise amplifiers (LNAs) based on S-parameters operating at different frequencies. The analysis concern different design structures and it is carried out using the advanced design simulator (ADS) software of Agilent Technologies Inc. In the first part, two design methods of 2 GHz LNA based on lumped and distributed elements have been compared. The best performance is obtained with lumped elements; the designed amplifier provides a noise figure of 0.35 dB and a gain of 16.77 dB. In the second part, a 10 GHz LNA has been designed based on microstrip matching network. It has been observed that the simulation results match with the desired requirements which demonstrate the robustness of the design procedure.
A nature-inspired metaheuristic Lion Optimization Algorithm for community detection

The investigation of the community structure has recently attracted considerable attention in social networks analysis field. Social Networks defined by the interactions between nodes, they are represented by a graph. The huge data of online social networks need to analyze and discover the hidden relations between nodes. In this research the objective represented the community detection as optimization problem and how to divide the network to communities of nodes. Lion Optimization Algorithm used as effective optimization method to detect the number of communities in social networks. The results show that the algorithm succeed to detect an optimization community structure based on the quality function that used.
CoMon+: A Cooperative Context Monitoring System for Multi-Device Personal Sensing Environments

Continuous mobile sensing applications are emerging. Despite their usefulness, their real-world adoption has been slow. Many users are turned away by the drastic battery drain caused by continuous sensing and processing. In this paper, we propose CoMon+, a novel cooperative context monitoring system, which addresses the energy problem through opportunistic cooperation among nearby users. For effective cooperation, we develop a benefit-aware negotiation method to maximize the energy benefit of context sharing. CoMon+ employs heuristics to detect cooperators who are likely to remain in the vicinity for a long period of time, and the negotiation method automatically devises a cooperation plan that provides mutual benefit to cooperators, while considering running applications, available devices, and user policies. Especially, CoMon+ improves the negotiation method proposed in our earlier work, CoMon [30], to exploit multiple processing plans enabled by various personal sensing devices; each plan can be alternatively used for cooperation, which in turn will maximize overall power saving. We implement a CoMon+ prototype and show that it provides significant benefit for mobile sensing applications, e.g., saving 27-71 percent of smartphone power consumption depending on cooperation cases. Also, our deployment study shows that CoMon+ saves an average 19.7 percent of battery under daily use of a prototype application compared to the case without CoMon+ running.
A computational investigation of feedforward and feedback processing in metacontrast backward masking

In human perception studies, visual backward masking has been used to understand the temporal dynamics of subliminal vs. conscious perception. When a brief target stimulus is followed by a masking stimulus after a short interval of <100 ms, performance on the target is impaired when the target and mask are in close spatial proximity. While the psychophysical properties of backward masking have been studied extensively, there is still debate on the underlying cortical dynamics. One prevailing theory suggests that the impairment of target performance due to the mask is the result of lateral inhibition between the target and mask in feedforward processing. Another prevailing theory suggests that this impairment is due to the interruption of feedback processing of the target by the mask. This computational study demonstrates that both aspects of these theories may be correct. Using a biophysical model of V1 and V2, visual processing was modeled as interacting neocortical attractors, which must propagate up the visual stream. If an activating target attractor in V1 is quiesced enough with lateral inhibition from a mask, or not reinforced by recurrent feedback, it is more likely to burn out before becoming fully active and progressing through V2 and beyond. Results are presented which simulate metacontrast backward masking with an increasing stimulus interval and with the presence and absence of feedback activity. This showed that recurrent feedback diminishes backward masking effects and can make conscious perception more likely. One model configuration presented a metacontrast noise mask in the same hypercolumns as the target, and produced type-A masking. A second model configuration presented a target line with two parallel adjacent masking lines, and produced type-B masking. Future work should examine how the model extends to more complex spatial mask configurations.
Semantic Stream Processing for IoT Devices in the Food Safety Domain

The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach is widely used to develop food safety procedures in restaurants and other food related businesses. IoT devices could be deployed in this context to automate monitoring of critical control points (such as the maximum storage temperature of raw meat). However, such sensor infrastructures will result in the generation of significant amounts of data as well as associated meta-data describing the context for these readings. In this paper, we demonstrate how streams of semantically annotated sensor data can be automatically transformed into concise records describing significant events required to check compliance of business operations against HACCP-based food safety rules.
CORPUS-BASED LEARNING OF OT CONSTRAINT RANKINGS FOR LARGE-SCALE LFG GRAMMARS

We discuss a two-stage disambiguation technique for linguistically precise broad-coverage grammars: the pre-filter of the first stage is triggered by linguistic configurations (“optimality marks”) specified by the grammar writer; the second stage is a log-linear probability model trained on corpus data. This set-up is used in the Parallel Grammar (ParGram) project, developing Lexical Functional Grammars for various languages. The present paper is the first study exploring how the pre-filter can be empirically tuned by learning a relative ranking of the optimality marks from corpus data, identifying problematic marks and relaxing the filter in various ways.
Directional Responding of C57BL/6J Mice in the Morris Water Maze Is Influenced by Visual and Vestibular Cues and Is Dependent on the Anterior Thalamic Nuclei

Recent findings indicate that rats navigate in spatial tasks such as the Morris water maze (MWM) using a local cue-based reference frame rather than a distal cue-based reference frame. Specifically, rats swim in a particular direction to a location relative to pool-based cues, rather than to an absolute location defined by room-based cues. Neural mechanisms supporting this bias in rodents for relative responding in spatial tasks are not yet understood. Anterior thalamic neurons discharge according to the current directional heading of the animal. The contribution of head direction (HD) cell activity to navigation has been difficult to elucidate. We found that male C57BL/6J mice trained for 4 or 7 d in the MWM exhibited an overwhelming preference for swimming in a direction relative to pool-based cues over absolute responding during a platform-less probe test. Rotation of extramaze cues caused a corresponding rotation of the direction mice swam during the probe test, suggesting that both pool- and room-based reference frames guide platform search. However, disorienting the mice before the probe test disturbed relative responding. Therefore, relative responding is guided by both internal and external cue sources. Selective inactivation of anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN) by microinfusion of muscimol or fluorophore-conjugated muscimol caused a near complete shift in preference from relative to absolute responding. Interestingly, inactivation of the dorsal CA1 region of the hippocampus did not affect relative responding. These data suggest that ATN, and HD cells therein, may guide relative responding in the MWM, a task considered by most to reflect hippocampal processing.
Connecting the Cloud: Transparent and Flexible Communication for a Cluster of Intel SCCs

The focus of this paper is the analysis of InterProcessor Communication for future many-core processors. We present a prototype that connects two Intel Single-chip Cloud Computer boards via PCI express in a transparent way, which creates a high flexibility concerning the target of a remote memory access. This enables message passing based applications using RCCE as well as MPI to run on a Cluster-of-Clusters consisting of 96 SCC cores. As a result, it is possible to analyze programming models for the SCC Many-Core Processors regarding scalability and hierarchy-aware communication in more detail. Along with this, we present first performance results and develop alternative communication and synchronization schemes for optimization.