Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pre-school contributions to future achievements

Abstract: This paper provides recent evidence about the benefits of attending preschool on future performance. A non-parametric matching procedure is used over two outcomes: math and verbal scores at a national mandatory test (Saber11) in Colombia. It is found that students who had the chance of attending preschool obtain higher scores in math (6.7%) and verbal (5.4%) than those who did not. A considerable fraction of these gaps comes from the upper quintiles of student's performance, suggesting that preschool matters when is done at high quality institutions. When we include the number of years at the preschool, the gap rises up to 12% in verbal and 17% in math.
Quantifying the Efficiency , Scalability , and Robustness of WinFS Replication

The WinFS storage platform supports updateanywhere, peer-to-peer data replication. Due to the wide range of possible system configurations, we st udy the performance of the novel data replication proto c l using simulation. Of interest are how many network messages are sent, the convergence time needed for a modified data object to be propagated to all sites, and how messages and convergence time are affected by failures in the network. The results for configurat ions of various real and synthetic network topologies sh ow an efficient network utilization since each site re ceives each modification at most once despite the peer-topeer architecture. In addition, convergence time is show n to be scalable as the number of sites increases. Final ly, the protocol’s robustness to link and site failures is quantified and shown to provide good performance in the face of lost messages and transient site unavailability.
Modelling of Photovoltaic Generators Based on a Linearized Equivalent Circuit

In this paper, a new method on modeling of PV generators, for association with electromagnetic software programs, is proposed. The application of a linearization process, on nonlinear and well-tested current-voltage equations using Taylor’s scheme, leads to uncoupling of the current and voltage quantities in each time step of a digital simulation. This uncoupling is represented by a linearized equivalent electrical circuit. Using the proposed equivalent photovoltaic generator circuit, the application of nodal analysis on equivalent resistive circuits derives a photovoltaic system model of linear algebraic equations. This remarkably simplifies photovoltaic systems modeling because one can develop a photovoltaic generator element in electromagnetic transient programs for power systems analysis.
Lateglacial and Holocene environmental history in the area of Samogitian Upland ( NW Lithuania )

Pollen, plant macroscopic fossil and carbonate analyses supplemented with 14C dating were applied for sediment sections of Lopaičiai Kettle and Pakastuva Lake. The new data obtained from two sediment cores were used to reconstruct vegetation cover and environmental changes during Lateglacial and Holocene in the Samogitian Upland (NW Lithuania). Different burial conditions of dead-ice blocks caused different times of lake sediment start in studied sites. The depositional and vegetation history is traced at the inception of preAllerød time in sediment section from the Lopaičiai core. However, sediment section from the Pakastuva core provides paleoenvironmental information starting only from the very beginning of Holocene. The study results shed more light on the environmental development during the Lateglacial and Holocene of the specific ice marginal area, which belongs to interlobate insular upland.
An assessment of the likely impact of strain-related phenotypic plasticity on hominin fossil species identification

It has been proposed that strain-related phenotypic plasticity may be a major confounding factor in attributing hominin fossils to species. The study reported here tested this hypothesis with craniometric data from the great apes and Colobus guereza. We divided the measurements into three groups: measurements of features subject to high masticatory strain, measurements of features subject to low-to-moderate masticatory strain, and measurements of features that do not remodel and therefore are not prone to strain-related phenotypic plasticity. Next, we used the coefficient of variation and ANOVA to investigate whether masticatory strain is a cause of variability. These analyses partially supported the hypothesis. The predicted differences between the high-strain measurements and the other measurements were found in the majority of the species. However, the coefficient of variation values for the low-to-moderate strain and non-phenotypically plastic measurements were indistinguishable. Thereafter, we used discriminant function analysis to compare the ability of the three groups of measurements to assign specimens to species. This analysis did not support the hypothesis. The high-strain measurements were less effective than the other measurements, but the low-to-moderate strain measurements were more effective than the non-phenotypically plastic measurements. In addition, better discrimination was achieved when all the measurements were employed than when just the non-phenotypically plastic measurements were utilised. We conclude from this that strain-related phenotypic plasticity is unlikely to impede hominin alpha taxonomic research.
SENG 402 Final Report-Social Media in Software Development

Using Drupal as a case study, we investigate the use of sentiment analysis on bulk sets of tweets in order to extract useful emotional trends relating to the development/release cycle. We offer extensive filtering of spam and other irrelevant data, automated categorization, and data visualization of various sentiment and categorical trends exhibited by our data set.
Empirical insights on synergies among HRM policies - An analysis of an ethics-oriented HRM system

In the last years, several HRM scholars have theoretically support the idea that the policies bundled in an HRM system present synergistic effects. Surprisingly, empirical studies about those synergistic effects are scarce, and their results unstable. As a result, some critical voices in the HR field are questioning the idea of synergies among HR policies, and calling for more research which does not take them for granted. Addressing this gap, this study tests the existence and nature of synergies in HRM systems targeted at improving the employees’ perception of benevolent and principled ethical climates. Results from a probabilistic sample of 6,000 employees from 6 European countries highlight that synergies occur both for benevolent and principled ethical climates, even if the specific components of the HRM system presenting synergistic effects are different in the two cases. Implications of the findings for HRM practice are presented and
Numerical investigation of ferrohydrodynamic ( FHD ) effect on forced convection of cross-corrugated triangular channels

Cross-corrugated triangular channels increase heat transfer in heat exchangers. The mixing effect increases the heat transfer coefficient at the surfaces. In this study, the fluid flow and heat transfer in a triangular corrugated channel are modeled under two constant heat fluxes and different Reynolds numbers. In order to validate, k-ω turbulence model is used. Also, the effect of magnetic field is investigated in different locations of the channel and the channel entrance area is shown as the optimal area for application of the magnetic field both in terms of heat transfer coefficient and friction coefficient. It is also observed that the Nusselt number always increases with Reynolds increase, but the friction coefficient only increases when the magnetic field is positioned at the entrance area of the channel with the Reynolds increase and decreases in other cases. The presented results can be helpful for improving the performance of plate heat exchangers.
IMAGING TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSVERSE BEAM-PROFILE/SIZE MONITORS*

A short review of imaging techniques for transverse beam size monitors is presented. Considerations on the choice of converter mechanism, whether scintillator or optical transition radiation (OTR) are discussed. Examples are presented based on low-energy tests at the Fermilab A0 photoinjector and are planned for the Advanced Superconducting Test Accelerator at Fermilab. Issues for imaging noninterceptively with optical diffraction radiation and for non-relativistic beams with OTR are also described.
Undisturbed swimming behaviour and nocturnal activity of coral reef fish larvae

Larval dispersal is shaped by the interaction between oceanographic processes and larval behaviour. To evaluate the potential impact of larval behaviour on this process, we quantified the undisturbed swimming speeds and nocturnal swimming activity of 5 reef fish species throughout their larval phase. We used video techniques to obtain undisturbed observations of swimming behaviour in captive bred larvae. The results conclusively demonstrate that larvae maintain relatively high swimming speeds throughout development. Speeds were consistent among 3 anemonefish species (Amphiprioninae; Amphiprion melanopus, A. percula and Premnas biaculeatus), which swam an average of 3.9 and a maximum of 8.4 body lengths (bl) s-1. However, differences may exist among taxa in the undisturbed swimming speeds of larvae. Highest speeds were recorded in the damselfish Pomacentrus amboinensis (Pomacentridae) and the slowest speeds in the cardinalfish Sphaeramia nematoptera (Apogonidae). The results support short-duration experimental and in situ evidence of high sustained swimming speeds. However, it is striking that larvae routinely swim at such speeds without external stimuli. The proportion of time larvae spent swimming at night increased rapidly towards the end of the larval phase in all 5 species examined. In addition, the undisturbed swimming speeds of larvae were significantly greater at night than during the day. Patterns of nocturnal activity appear to relate to the active nocturnal settlement behaviour of larvae. The pattern of swimming, and speeds achieved, suggest that an active behavioural mechanism for self-recruitment is well within the capabilities of the reef fish larvae examined.
Spatial Distribution of Surface Soil Moisture in a Small Forested Catchment

Predicting the spatial distribution of soil moisture is an important hydrological question. We measured the spatial distribution of surface soil moisture (upper 6 cm) using an Amplitude Domain Reflectometry sensor at the plot scale (2 × 2 m) and small catchment scale (0.84 ha) in a temperate forest. The spatial variation of soil water content was higher during dry conditions than that during wet conditions. Results indicated 3.1 samples at the plot scale were sufficient to estimate mean soil water content when the precision was 0.1. Soil water content increased with increasing topographic index (TI) and soil-topographic index (STI) at the small catchment scale. The correlation between soil water content and TI was higher than that between soil water content and STI. This suggests that topography is more important for estimating surface soil moisture than soil depth as formation of surface soil moisture occurs at ≤6 cm.
Social Policy or Structure? Income Transfers, Socio-demographic Factors and Poverty in the Nordic Countries and in France

The paper compares poverty in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and France. We answer whether it is justifiable to talk about a unified Nordic model in terms of poverty and poverty alleviation. We have (1) descriptive/analytical and (2) methodological goals. (1) We pool the four Nordic countries into a single data set and compare France with this "Scandinavia". The results give strong evidence to the existence of the homogenous Scandinavian model in terms of incidence of poverty, poverty profiles, and the effectiveness of social policy. (2) The methodological objective is to change the world and simulate what would happen if France had the Scandinavian social structure - but its own social policy - and vice versa. Our re-weighting simulations show that the "Scandinavization" of France would almost eradicate poverty in France. The "Francofication" of Scandinavia would cause dramatic results in Scandinavia: the number of persons totally dependent on social transfers would increase, the effectiveness of transfer systems would decrease, and the poverty rate would rise near to the actual French figures. In sum, the huge differences in the French and Scandinavian poverty rates are not mainly explained by income transfer programs but differences in the family structure and in labor market behavior. But it is important to remember that these patterns are greatly affected by the institutional set-ups of the welfare states.
Validation of educational material for diabetes self-management education: Judgemental and criterion validity

Objective: To describe the validation process of an educational material for diabetes self-management education among patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Methodological study, developed in three phases: construction of the educational material, validation of the educational material by judges, and by patients with T2DM (criterion validity). The validation process was conducted by 7 judges and 30 patients with T2DM. Criterion validity was assessed against gold standard by field expert. A 70% or more total disagreement of any of the items by the experts was decided to remove from the educational material. Criterion validity was measured by sensitivity, specificity, as well as the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The expected primary outcome was the HbA1c level to be decreased by 0.5% or more after the implementation of intervention guide among patients with T2DM. Results: The changes suggested by judges were accepted and included in the final version of the educational material. All experts (100%) agreed that illustrations and texts in the education material motivate the patient with T2DM to understand the important of lifestyle modifications. The sensitivity of the developed intervention guide was 81.5% (95% CI=61.9-93.7%) with a specificity of 100.0% (95% CI=15.8-100.0%) and the area under ROC curve of 0.907. Intervention had a statistically significant reduction (p<0.05) in HbA1c [8.60% (IQR 2.60) vs. 7.40% (IQR 2.10)] and FBS level [159.00 mg/dl (IQR 77.50) vs. 134.00 mg/dl (IQR 40.50)] at the end of 3 months. Further, the mean BMI at baseline was higher compared to 3 months of intervention [24.88 Kg/m2 (SD ± 3.06) vs. 24.19 Kg/m2 (SD ± 2.79)] which was statistically significant (p=0.000). Conclusion: The educational material was validated in terms of judgment and criterion validity. It would be used by nurse health educators for diabetes self-management education.
ENHANCING SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT OF GRADE 2 STUDENTS THROUGH POWERPOINT INTEGRATION

The use of PowerPoint in improving the assessment scores of students in Science and other courses has been the subject of many debates in recent years. Despite this tool’s popularity, limited experiments have been conducted on its viability as a tool in Science instruction, especially in the field of early childhood education. To address this gap, this research was conducted to explore the use of PowerPoint in improving the Science assessment scores of Grade 2 students. Three class sections in the grade 2 level participated in this comparative study. During Science classes, all sections received the same topics using the following approaches: 1) the traditional method of lecture and chalkboard instruction, and 2) the traditional method with PowerPoint integration. The same sets of quizzes were administered for seven weeks after every topic was delivered. Using ANOVA and T-test to compare the quiz results during the pre-intervention and intervention phases, analyses showed that the mean scores were statistically different only for one-third of the participants. Further investigation through key informant interview revealed that students’ appreciate the use of PowerPoint because of the images shown in the presentations as well as the verbal support of the teacher. All in all, the data gathered did not provide conclusive evidence that PowerPoint has improved assessment scores; however, it was able to show that this tool may help in the learning, remembering, understanding, and critical thinking of the students. The results seemed to suggest that PowerPoint should supplement only the teachers’ instruction, hence, should not be used alone to influence learning and increase the academic performance of young children. More importantly, it should not be used to replace more concrete learning experiences in the early elementary years. Field of Research: Technology, Multimedia, PowerPoint Presentations, Science Achievement
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY NEAR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS IN NORTHERN TAIWAN

The levels and composition of environmental radioactivity at the outlets of nuclear power plants and nearby coastal environs in northern Taiwan have been investigated by gamma spectrometric analysis of seawater, algae, fish and sediment samples collected systematically in the past four years. The results show that anthropogenic radionuclides contribute very little to the total radioactivities in all types of samples. Samples from the outlet of the Second Nuclear Power Plant are more enriched in artificial nuclides, with average algae samples containing ~4 Bq/kg of 137 Cs + 54 Mn + 60 Co (or 3.6% of the total activity) and average sediment samples containing ~6 Bq/kg of 137 Cs + 54 Mn + 60 Co (or 1% of the total activity). Compared with AEC-mandated investigation levels of
Rigidity at infinity for lattices in rank-one Lie groups

Let [Formula: see text] be a non-uniform lattice in [Formula: see text] without torsion and with [Formula: see text]. By following the approach developed in [S. Francaviglia and B. Klaff, Maximal volume representations are Fuchsian, Geom. Dedicata 117 (2006) 111–124], we introduce the notion of volume for a representation [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text]. We use this notion to generalize the Mostow–Prasad rigidity theorem. More precisely, we show that given a sequence of representations [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text], then there must exist a sequence of elements [Formula: see text] such that the representations [Formula: see text] converge to a reducible representation [Formula: see text] which preserves a totally geodesic copy of [Formula: see text] and whose [Formula: see text]-component is conjugated to the standard lattice embedding [Formula: see text]. Additionally, we show that the same definitions and results can be adapted when [Formula: see text] is a non-uniform lattice in [Formula: see text] without torsion and for representations [Formula: see text], still maintaining the hypothesis [Formula: see text].
INTERGENERIC HYBRID BETWEEN CULTIVATED SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus L.) AND Tithonia rotundifolia (Mill.) Blake / HÍBRIDO INTERGENÉRICO ENTRE EL GIRASOL CULTIVADO (Helianthus annuus L.) Y LA ESPECIE Tithonia rotundifolia (Mill.) Blake / HYBRIDE INTER GÉNÉRIQUE ENTRE LE TOURNESOL CULTIVÉ (Helianthus 

SUMMARY In this paper we describe an intergeneric hybrid between H. annuus (HA 89) and T. rotundifolia obtained by normal pollination of a male-sterile cultivated sunflower. The hybrid had a combination of morphological traits from both parents; it was unbranched and exhibited male-sterility. The plant did not produce viable achenes when pollinated with HA 89. DNA fingerprinting through the AFLP methodology exhibited 240 polymorphisms and confirmed the hybrid nature of the experimental plant. The genetic distance analysis discounted the phenomenon of partial hybridization. RESUMEN Describimos un híbrido integenérico entre H. annuus (HA 89) y T. rotundifolia obtenido a través de polinización normal de un girasol cultivado androestéril. El híbrido presentó una combinación de caracteres de ambos progenitores, sin ramificación y con androesterilidad. La planta no produjo aquenios viables cuando se polinizó con HA 89. La huella de ADN a través de la metodología AFLP exhibió 240 polimorfismos y confirmó la naturaleza híbrida de la planta experimental. El análisis de distancia genética descartó el fenómeno de hibridación parcial. RÉSUMÉ Nous décrivons une plante hybride intergénérique faite par la combinaison de H. annuus (HA 89) et T. rotundifolia qui a été obtenu au moyen de pollinisation normale d’un tournesol cultivée male-sterile. Cette plante a peu combiner les caractères morphologiques des parents mâle et femelle; elle n’a pas été ramifié et a manifesté stérilité mâle. Elle n’a pu produit des akènes vivantes quand elle été fécondée par le pollen de HA 89. Le dactylographie d'ADN par AFLPs a montré 240 polymorphismes et a confirmé la nature hybride de la plante expérimentale. L’analyse de la distance génétique a rejetée le phénomène de la hybridation partielle.
Modeling the effects of litter stoichiometry and soil mineral N availability on soil organic matter formation using CENTURY-CUE (v1.0)

Abstract. Microbial decomposition of plant litter is a crucial process for the land carbon (C) cycle, as it directly controls the partitioning of litter C between CO2 released to the atmosphere versus the formation of new soil organic matter (SOM). Land surface models used to study the C cycle rarely considered flexibility in the decomposer C use efficiency (CUEd) defined by the fraction of decomposed litter C that is retained as SOM (as opposed to be respired). In this study, we adapted a conceptual formulation of CUEd based on assumption that litter decomposers optimally adjust their CUEd as a function of litter substrate C to nitrogen (N) stoichiometry to maximize their growth rates. This formulation was incorporated into the widely used CENTURY soil biogeochemical model and evaluated based on data from laboratory litter incubation experiments. Results indicated that the CENTURY model with new CUEd formulation was able to reproduce differences in respiration rate of litter with contrasting C : N ratios and under different levels of mineral N availability, whereas the default model with fixed CUEd could not. Using the model with flexible CUEd, we also illustrated that litter quality affected the long-term SOM formation. Litter with a small C : N ratio tended to form a larger SOM pool than litter with larger C : N ratios, as it could be more efficiently incorporated into SOM by microorganisms. This study provided a simple but effective formulation to quantify the effect of varying litter quality (N content) on SOM formation across temporal scales. Optimality theory appears to be suitable to predict complex processes of litter decomposition into soil C and to quantify how plant residues and manure can be harnessed to improve soil C sequestration for climate mitigation.
Tourism, Health and Income in Malaysia

This study employed the ARDL bounds test and Granger causality test to investigate long- and the short-run relationships among economic development, tourism sector development, and health care sector development in Malaysia. Annual time series data from 1981–2011 also were employed in this study. Based on our tests, there is a long-run relationship from economic development to health care sector development and from tourism development to health care sector development.