Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of a computer-based intervention in Chilean children at risk of manifesting reading difficulties / Impacto de una intervención basada en ordenador en niños chilenos con riesgo de manifestar dificultades lectoras

Abstract Reading difficulties have reached a prevalence of 3–10% in school-age children. Those who present these difficulties avoid reading and benefit very little from school-based learning opportunities, resulting in maladjustments, dropping out of school and having to repeat grades. Presented here are the results of an intervention based on a computer game intended for explicit phonic training in first-grade school children at risk of possessing reading difficulties. Fifty-six children from a low socioeconomic status (SES) and 31 children from a high socioeconomic status, divided into two groups (control and experimental), participated in the study. After the intervention, participants from the low-SES experimental group had enhanced their skills regarding letter sound recognition, whereas the high-SES experimental group had improved their naming speed. The results are discussed in light of the impact of interventions based on computer games and of the importance of the development of sublexical skills in children at risk of manifesting reading difficulties in transparent orthographies.
Volume-Limited Dependent Galactic Model Parameters

Abstract We estimate 34 sets of Galactic model parameters for three intermediate-latitude fields with Galactic longitudes l = 60°, l = 90°, and l = 180°, and we discussed their dependence on the volume. Also, we confirm the variation of these parameters with absolute magnitude and Galactic longitude. The star samples in two fields are restricted with bright and unit absolute-magnitude intervals, 4 < M g ≤ 5, and 5 < M g ≤ 6, whereas for the third field (l = 60°) a larger absolute-magnitude interval is adopted, 4 < M g ≤ 10. The limiting apparent magnitudes of the star samples are g 0 = 15 and g 0 = 22.5 mag, which provide space densities within distances in the line of sight of ∼0.9 and 25 kpc. The Galactic model parameters for the thin disc are not volume dependent. However, the ones for the thick disc and halo do show spectacular trends in their variation with volume, except for the scalelength of the thick disc. The local space density of the thick disc increases, whereas the scaleheight of the same Galactic component decreases monotonically. However, both model parameters approach asymptotic values at large distances. The relative local space density of the halo estimated by fitting the density laws to the space densities evaluated for all volumes is constant, except for the small ones. However it is absolute-magnitude and Galactic longitude dependent. The axial ratio of the halo increases abruptly for the volumes where a thick disc is dominant, whereas it approaches an asymptotic value gradually for larger volumes, indicating a continuous transition from a disc-like structure to a spherical one at the outermost region of the Galaxy. The variation of the Galactic model parameters with absolute magnitude can be explained by their dependence on the stellar luminosity, whereas the variation with volume and Galactic longitude at short distances is a bias in analysis.
AUTONOMOUS SPACECRAFT DOCKING USING MULTI-COLOR TARGETS

Spacecraft docking requires precision alignment. Traditionally this has been done by astronauts using alignment sights, or offset retro-reflective targets. More recently, teleoperated systems using the same sort of targets have been used. Most experiments with completely autonomous docking systems also rely on similar targets. These systems require high-acuity vision systems, and are computationally expensive. They are also subject to errors and misalignments from the tracking system getting confused by reflective debris, or other spacecraft markings. This paper describes a new docking system currently undergoing testing. This system uses three offset color markers. The markers use bright colors which are ordinarily not seen in an orbital setting. The system tracks the colors at frame rates, and can maintain its lock during changes in lighting conditions. The geometrical and tracking calculations are sufficiently simple that they can all be run on a low-cost commercial microcontroller. Experiments docking a mobile robot, and full 6-DoF experiments planned for a neutral buoyancy tank, are described.
Five Dimensional 2-Branes from SLAG Wrapped M5-branes

We present black 2-brane solutions to five dimensional N = 2 supergravity theory that carry magnetic charge with respect to general hypermultiplet scalars. These solutions may be thought of as arising from M-branes by wrapping eleven dimensional supergravity over special Lagrangian calibrated cycles of a Calabi-Yau 3-fold.
TH3D: A Two-Handed Interaction Framework for Desktop Virtual Environment

This paper describes a two-handed interaction framework for desktop virtual environment, called TH3D. The design goal of this framework is to support the deviceindependent, task-centered, and fast development of twohanded applications on desktop computers. Existing research on two-handed interaction focuses mainly on specific interaction techniques and fails to achieve this goal. Our framework is characterized by its multi-layer design applied to two-handed interaction, including the normalization of raw input data, interaction primitive and task construction, and an efficient, built-in, two-handed interaction technique that integrates the benefits of both egocentric and exocentric interactions. With this framework, application developers can pay more attention to the analysis of interaction tasks and the design of an interaction technique without mainly considering a variety of devices and the mapping between interaction task and technique. The current implementation is tested with ordinary Spacemouse and 2D mouse, but the framework can easily be ported to other device combinations.
The Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Firms' Capital Allocation Choices, Information Quality and the Cost of Capital Firms' Capital Allocation Choices, Information Quality, and the Cost of Capital

This paper establishes a link between firms' capital investment decisions, the quality of the information they provide to a competitive market for their shares, and their cost of capital. We show that, if firms select projects to maximize share price, higher information quality reduces the cost of capital. The intuition is that better information improves the coordination between firms and investors with respect to capital investment decisions. Anticipating this effect, risk-averse investors demand a lower risk premium, i.e., they discount expected cash flows of firms with higher quality reporting at a lower rate of return. We show that this effect persists when investors price portfolios involving many assets. Idiosyncratic reporting components matter because they affect firms' investment decisions and these real effects do not``disappear'' when aggregating across firms. * We would like to thank Stan Baiman, Eugene Kandel, Christian Laux, and DJ Nanda for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of the paper.
How therapists experience the “core conditions” of therapeutic personality change: a qualitative pilot study

ABSTRACT While many studies have been conducted to test the efficacy and reliability of the Rogerian “Necessary and sufficient conditions” in different settings, the majority of such studies were done from the client or counselor-client perspective. Very few studies have tested the counselor’s subjective perception and experiencing of those conditions. The present pilot qualitative inquiry was conducted to obtain an image of how counselors experience three of these conditions that are often referred to as “core conditions”: empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. The study was performed on a sample of six novice client-centered counselors who had just graduated from a continuous education group in Client-Centered Therapy (CCT). Some of them had previous experience of counseling, some did not, but none of them had previous experience of Client-Centered Therapy. Qualitative methodology was used in the study, including an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Specifically – the semi-structured interview method was used in order to collect data, and the Meaning Condensation method was used to analyze the data. As a result, the qualitative descriptions of the counselors subjective perception and experiencing of the Rogerian conditions were obtained. They allowed us to draw some conclusions regarding the inner structure of the client-centered conditions themselves.
Metadata enriched visualization of keywords in context

This paper presents an interactive, synchronized and metadata enriched implementation of the Word Tree meta-phor, which is an interactive visualization technique to show Keywords-in-Context (KWIC). Embedded into a Web intelligence platform focusing on climate change coverage, it provides users with a tool to better understand the usage of terms in large document collections. One of the novelties is the implementation of filters for the Word Tree, which shifts the focus of attention directly onto significant phrases, instead of punctuation or fill-words inherent to natural language usage.
Study from implementing algorithms for face detection and recognition for embedded systems

These Face detection and recognition research has attracted great attention in recent years. Automatic face detection has great potential in a large array of application areas, including banking and security system access control, video surveillance, and multimedia information retrieval. In this paper, we discuss the opportunity and methodology for implementation of an embedded face detection system like web-camera or digital camera. Face detection is a widely studied topic in computer vision, and advances in algorithms, low cost processing, and CMOS imagers make it practical for embedded consumer applications. As with graphics, the best cost-performance ratio is achieved with dedicated hardware. The challenges of face detection in embedded environments include bandwidth constraints set by low cost memory, or processor speed and a need to find optimal solution because applications need reliability, and low cost for final solution.
RADIATIVELY INEFFICIENT ACCRETION IN NEARBY GALAXIES

We use new central stellar velocity dispersions and nuclear X-ray and Hα luminosities for the Palomar survey of nearby galaxies to investigate the distribution of nuclear bolometric luminosities and Eddington ratios for their central black holes (BHs). This information helps to constrain the nature of their accretion flows and the physical drivers that control the spectral diversity of nearby active galactic nuclei. The characteristic values of the bolometric luminosities and Eddington ratios, which span over 7–8 orders of magnitude, from Lbol ≲ 1037 to 3 × 1044 erg s−1 and Lbol/LEdd ≈10−9 to 10−1, vary systematically with nuclear spectral classification, increasing along the sequence absorption-line nuclei → transition objects → low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions → Seyferts. The Eddington ratio also increases from early-type to late-type galaxies. We show that the very modest accretion rates inferred from the nuclear luminosities can be readily supplied through local mass loss from evolved stars and Bondi accretion of hot gas, without appealing to additional fueling mechanisms such as angular momentum transport on larger scales. Indeed, we argue that the fuel reservoir generated by local processes should produce far more active nuclei than is actually observed. This generic luminosity-deficit problem suggests that the radiative efficiency in these systems is much less than the canonical value of 0.1 for traditional optically thick, geometrically thin accretion disks. The observed values of Lbol/LEdd, all substantially below unity, further support the hypothesis that massive BHs in most nearby galaxies reside in a low or quiescent state, sustained by accretion through a radiatively inefficient mode.
Robust distributed speech recognition using histogram equalization and correlation information

In this paper, we propose a noise compensation method for robust speech recognition in DSR (Distributed Speech Recognition) systems based on histogram equalization and correlation information. The objective of this method is to exploit the correlation between components of the feature vector and the temporal correlation between consecutive frames of each component. The recognition experiments, including results in the Aurora 2, Aurora 3-Spanish and Aurora 3-Italian databases, demonstrate that the use of this correlation information increases the recognition accuracy.
A discourse model for interaction design based on theories of human communication

Most current models of interaction design build on scenarios and task analysis. We think that interaction design should be more along the lines of communication between humans. With this motivation, our paper presents a new approach to modeling interaction design based on insights from theories of human communication. From such discourse models, we aim for automated generation of user interfaces.
Resilient Minds and Bodies: Size Discrimination, Body Image, and Mental Health Among Sexual Minority Women

Sexual minority women (SMW) have higher BMIs than heterosexual women. This pattern places SMW at risk for size discrimination, but few have examined how size discrimination relates to the mental health of SMW. Using the Michigan Smoking and Sexuality Study (n = 232), we evaluate the relationship between size discrimination and mental health among SMW. Then, guided by resilience theory, we test whether body image is a health promotive factor by assessing the extent to which it mitigates size discrimination’s relationship to negative mental health outcomes. We find evidence that body image may be an important compensatory asset available to SMW encountering size discrimination.
Crystallized intelligence or fluid intelligence factor?

Despite over two decades of research, the construct of emotional intelligence (EI) remains elusive as recent researchers debate whether it can be considered a new fo of this study is to assess the place of emotional intelligence within the existing major factors of intelligence, particularly fluid intelligence (gf) and crystallized intelligence (gc). Second, it investigated the convergent validity of emotional intelligence when correlated with general cognitive intelligence (g). The Shipley-2 IQ test and the WEIS performance-based EI test were administered to 422 respondents. The results from the confirmatory factor analyses utilizing structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that emotional intelligence does not adequately fit the intelligence taxonomy. Meanwhile, the relatively small EI/g correlation revealed that the WEIS is not a pure ability measure. Therefore, more research and the development of new EI measures are required to determine whether EI has an intelligence component. ©
Matching Artificial Reverb Settings to Unknown Room Recordings: A Recommendation System for Reverb Plugins

For creating artiﬁcial room impressions, numerous reverb plugins exist, and are often controllable by many parameters. To eﬃciently create a desired room impression, the sound engineer must be familiar with all the available reverb setting possibilities. Although plugins are usually equipped with many factory presets for exploring available reverb options, it is a time-consuming learning process to ﬁnd the ideal reverb settings to create the desired room impression, especially if various reverberation plugins are available. For creating a desired room impression based on a reference audio sample, we present a method to automatically determine the best matching reverb preset across diﬀerent reverb plugins. Our method uses a supervised machine-learning approach and can dramatically reduce the time spent on the reverb selection process
Dynamic FingerPrint based on human motion and posture

The feasibility of generating a Dynamic FingerPrint (DFP) for an individual is explored. DFP is a unique signature generated based on a combination of body part movements. The body movements are obtained using a sensor suit recording inertial signals that are subsequently modeled on a humanoid frame with 23 degrees of freedom (DOF). Measured signals include position, velocity, acceleration, orientation, angular velocity and angular acceleration. DTW (Dynamic Time Warping) is used to classify the individual's identity. The approach is described and the characteristics of the algorithms are presented. It is anticipated that these approaches will have applications in surveillance and security, medical science and animation modeling. Classification results show an accuracy rate of 100% for the 10 subjects studied during validation.
Linking Getting to School With Going to School

Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners have recently aligned efforts to reduce school absenteeism, particularly during kindergarten when excessive absences are highest out of all elementary grades. Little is known, however, about whether the way in which students get to school might influence if they go to school. To address this gap, this study was the first to address the role of school bus-taking on reducing school absences. Using a national large-scale dataset of children (the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011), the findings suggest that children who took the school bus to kindergarten had fewer absent days over the school year and were less likely to be chronically absent compared with children who commuted to school in any other way. Given that many districts are considering cutting or restricting bus services, this study brings to question whether doing so might limit the resources upon which families rely to ensure their children attend school each day. Implications are discussed.
Irregular rate-compatible LDPC codes for capacity-approaching hybrid-ARQ schemes

In this paper, we describe the construction method of a family of irregular rate-compatible low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes by a combination of puncturing and extending techniques. In particular, we introduce a suitable structure for the extended parity-check matrices which preserves the structure of LDPC codes during extensions. Based on this construction, a family of efficient rate-compatible linear-time encodable codes are generated from an optimized irregular mother code of rate 8/13 and information block length k=1024. The rates of the codes vary from 8/10 to 8/19 and employing them in a type-II hybrid ARQ scheme results in a throughput which is only 0.7 dB away from the Shannon limit. This improves over the existing schemes, based on turbo codes and LDPC codes, by up to 0.5 dB.
A time-efficient hybrid approach to link discovery

With the growth of the Linked Data Web, time-efficient Link Discovery frameworks have become indispensable for implementing the fourth Linked Data principle, i.e., the provision of links between data sources. Due to the sheer size of the Data Web, detecting links even when using trivial specifications based on a single property can be very timedemanding. Moreover, non-trivial Link Discovery tasks require complex link specifications and are consequently even more challenging to optimize with respect to runtime. In this paper, we present a novel hybrid approach to link discovery that combines two very fast algorithms. Both algorithms are combined by using original insights on the translation of complex link specifications to combinations of atomic specifications via a series of operations on sets and filters. We show in three experiments that our approach outperforms SILK by more than six orders of magnitude while abiding to the restriction of not losing any link.
High-Order Circular Derivative Pattern for Image Representation and Recognition

Micropattern based image representation and recognition, e.g. Local Binary Pattern (LBP), has been proved successful over the past few years due to its advantages of illumination tolerance and computational efficiency. However, LBP only encodes the first-order radial-directional derivatives of spatial images and is inadequate to completely describe the discriminative features for classification. This paper proposes a new Circular Derivative Pattern (CDP) which extracts high-order derivative information of images along circular directions. We argue that the high-order circular derivatives contain more detailed and more discriminative information than the first-order LBP in terms of recognition accuracy. Experimental evaluation through face recognition on the FERET database and insect classification on the NICTA Biosecurity Dataset demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Reactivity index based on orbital energies

This study shows that the chemical reactivities depend on the orbital energy gaps contributing to the reactions. In the process where a reaction only makes progress through charge transfer with the minimal structural transformation of the reactant, the orbital energy gap gradient (OEGG) between the electron‐donating and electron‐accepting orbitals is proven to be very low. Using this relation, a normalized reaction diagram is constructed by plotting the normalized orbital energy gap with respect to the normalized intrinsic reaction coordinate. Application of this reaction diagram to 43 fundamental reactions showed that the majority of the forward reactions provide small OEGGs in the initial stages, and therefore, the initial processes of the forward reactions are supposed to proceed only through charge transfer. Conversely, more than 60% of the backward reactions are found to give large OEGGs implying very slow reactions associated with considerable structural transformations. Focusing on the anti‐activation‐energy reactions, in which the forward reactions have higher barriers than those of the backward ones, most of these reactions are shown to give large OEGGs for the backward reactions. It is also found that the reactions providing large OEGGs in the forward directions inconsistent with the reaction rate constants are classified into SN2, symmetric, and methyl radical reactions. Interestingly, several large‐OEGG reactions are experimentally established to get around the optimum pathways. This indicates that the reactions can take significantly different pathways from the optimum ones provided no charge transfer proceeds spontaneously without the structural transformations of the reactants. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Growth Effects of Sport Franchises, Stadia and Arenas

This paper investigates the relationship between professional sports franchises and venues and real per capita personal income in 37 standard metropolitan statistical areas in the United States over the period 1969 to 1994. Our empirical framework accounts for the entry and departure of professional football, basketball, and baseball franchises; the construction of arenas and stadia; and other sports related factors over this time period. In contrast to other existing studies, we find evidence that some professional sports franchises reduce the level of per capita personal income in metropolitan areas and have no effect on the growth in per capita income, casting doubt on the ability of a new sports franchise or facility to spur economic growth. We also find evidence that results obtained from estimating reduced-form relationships, a common practice in the literature, are not robust to alternative reduced-form specifications. © 1999 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.