Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Counting Protests in News Articles: A Dataset and Semi-Automated Data Collection Pipeline

Between January 2017 and January 2021, thousands of local news sources in the United States reported on over 42,000 protests about topics such as civil rights, immigration, guns, and the environment. Given the vast number of local journalists that report on protests daily, extracting these events as structured data to understand temporal and geographic trends can empower civic decision-making. However, the task of extracting events from news articles presents well known challenges to the NLP community in the fields of domain detection, slot filling, and coreference resolution. To help improve the resources available for extracting structured data from news stories, our contribution is three-fold. We 1) release a manually labeled dataset of news article URLs, dates, locations, crowd size estimates, and 494 discrete descriptive tags corresponding to 42,347 reported protest events in the United States between January 2017 and January 2021; 2) describe the semi-automated data collection pipeline used to discover, sort, and review the 144,568 English articles that comprise the dataset; and 3) benchmark a long-short term memory (LSTM) low dimensional classifier that demonstrates the utility of processing news articles based on syntactic structures, such as paragraphs and sentences, to count the number of reported protest events.
Information Content in Neuronal Calcium Spike Trains: Entropy Rate Estimation based on Empirical Probabilities

Quantification of information content and its temporal variation in intracellular calcium spike trains in neurons helps one understand functions such as memory, learning, and cognition. Such quantification could also reveal pathological signaling perturbation that potentially leads to devastating neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases. Accordingly, estimation of entropy rate, an information-theoretic measure of information content, assumes primary significance. However, such estimation in the present context is challenging because, while entropy rate is traditionally defined asymptotically for long blocks under the assumption of stationarity, neurons are known to encode information in short intervals and the associated spike trains often exhibit nonstationarity. Against this backdrop, we propose an entropy rate estimator based on empirical probabilities that operates within windows, short enough to ensure approximate stationarity. Specifically, our estimator, parameterized by the length of encoding contexts, attempts to model the underlying memory structures in neuronal spike trains. In an example Markov process, we compared the performance of the proposed method with that of versions of the Lempel-Ziv algorithm as well as with that of a certain stationary distribution method and found the former to exhibit higher accuracy levels and faster convergence. Also, in experimentally recorded calcium responses of four hippocampal neurons, the proposed method showed faster convergence. Significantly, our technique detected structural heterogeneity in the underlying process memory in the responses of the aforementioned neurons. We believe that the proposed method facilitates large-scale studies of such heterogeneity, which could in turn identify signatures of various diseases in terms of entropy rate estimates.
Open-Source Concealed EEG Data Collection for Brain-Computer-Interfaces - Real-World Neural Observation Through OpenBCI Amplifiers with Around-the-Ear cEEGrid Electrodes

Observing brain activity in real-world settings offers exciting possibilities like the support of physical health, mental well-being, and thought-controlled interaction modalities. The development of such applications is, however, strongly impeded by poor accessibility to research-grade neural data and by a lack of easy-to-use and comfortable sensors. This work presents the cost-effective adaptation of concealed around-the-ear EEG electrodes (cEEGrids) to the open-source OpenBCI EEG signal acquisition platform to provide a promising new toolkit. An integrated system design is described, that combines publicly available electronics components with newly designed 3D-printed parts to form an easily replicable, versatile, single-unit around-the-ear EEG recording system for prolonged use and easy application development. To demonstrate the system's feasibility, observations of experimentally induced changes in visual stimulation and mental workload are presented. Lastly, as there have been no applications of the cEEGrids to HCI contexts, a novel application area for the system is investigated, namely the observation of flow experiences through observation of temporal Alpha power changes. Support for a link between temporal Alpha power and flow is found, which indicates an efficient engagement of verbal-analytic reasoning with intensified flow experiences, and specifically intensified task absorption.
Multi-Vehicle Velocity Estimation Using IEEE 802.11ad Waveform

Wireless communication systems are to use millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectra, which can enable extra radar functionalities. In this paper, we propose a multi-target velocity estimation technique using IEEE 802.11ad waveform in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) scenario. We form a wide beam to consider multiple target vehicles. The Doppler shift of each vehicle is estimated from least square estimation (LSE) using the round-trip delay obtained from the auto-correlation property of Golay complementary sequences in IEEE 802.11ad waveform, and the phase wrapping is compensated by the Doppler shift estimates of proper two frames. Finally, the velocities of target vehicles are obtained from the estimated Doppler shifts. Simulation results show the proposed velocity estimation technique can achieve significantly high accuracy even for short coherent processing interval (CPI).
BG Tri: an example of a low-inclination RW Sex-type nova-like

We analyse a wealth of optical spectroscopic and photometric observations of the bright (+ = 11.9) cataclysmic variable BG Tri. TheGaiaDR2 parallax gives a distance 3 = 334(8) pc to the source, making the object one of the intrinsically brightest nova-like variables seen under a low orbital inclination angle. Time-resolved spectroscopic observations revealed the orbital period of %orb = 3. h8028(24). Its spectroscopic characteristics resemble RW Sex and similar nova-like variables. We disentangled the HU emission line into two components, and show that one component forms on the irradiated face of the secondary star. We suggest that the other one originates at a disc outflow area adjacent to the L3 point.
Fine-tuning Handwriting Recognition systems with Temporal Dropout

This paper introduces a novel method to fine-tune handwriting recognition systems based on Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN). Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks are good at modeling long sequences but they tend to overfit over time. To improve the system's ability to model sequences, we propose to drop information at random positions in the sequence. We call our approach Temporal Dropout (TD). We apply TD at the image level as well to internal network representation. We show that TD improves the results on two different datasets. Our method outperforms previous state-of-the-art on Rodrigo dataset.
POSITIVITY-PRESERVING DG SCHEMES FOR POISSON–NERNST–PLANCK EQUATIONS ON RECTANGULAR MESHES

In this paper, we design and analyze third order positivity-preserving discontinuous Galerkin (DG) schemes for solving the time-dependent system of Poisson–Nernst– Planck (PNP) system, which has found much use in diverse applications. For the arbitrary high order DG method introduced in [H. Liu and Z. Wang, J. Comput. Phys., 328, 2017], solution positivity is only numerically enforced. In this paper we design a novel DG method, which with Euler forward time discretization is shown to preserve positivity of cell averages at all time steps. Positivity of numerical solutions is then restored by a scaling limiter in reference to positive cell averages. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the third order accuracy and illustrate the positivity-preserving property in both one and two dimensions.
Parallel Movement-suppressing Striatal Output Pathways

The classic basal ganglia circuit model asserts a complete segregation of the two striatal output pathways. Empirical data argue that, in addition to indirect-pathway striatal projection neurons (iSPNs), direct-pathway striatal projection neurons (dSPNs) innervate the external globus pallidus (GPe). However, the functions of the latter were not known. In this study, we interrogated the organization principles of striatopallidal projections and how they are involved in full-body movement in mice (both males and females). In contrast to the canonical motor-promoting role of dSPNs in the dorsomedial striatum (DMSdSPNs), optogenetic stimulation of dSPNs in the dorsolateral striatum (DLSdSPNs) suppressed locomotion. Circuit analyses revealed that dSPNs selectively target Npas1+ neurons in the GPe. In a chronic 6-hydroxydopamine lesion model of Parkinson’s disease, the dSPN-Npas1+ projection was dramatically strengthened. As DLSdSPN-Npas1+ projection suppresses movement, the enhancement of this projection represents a circuit mechanism for the hypokinetic symptoms of Parkinson’s disease that has not been previously considered. Significance statement In the classic basal ganglia model, the striatum is described as a divergent structure—it controls motor and adaptive functions through two segregated, opponent output streams. However, the experimental results that show the projection from direct-pathway neurons to the external pallidum have been largely ignored. Here, we showed that this striatopallidal sub-pathway targets a select subset of neurons in the external pallidum and is motor-suppressing. We found that this sub-pathway undergoes plastic changes in a Parkinson’s disease model. In particular, our results suggest that the increase in strength of this sub-pathway contributes to the slowness or reduced movements observed in Parkinson’s disease.
A Knowledge-based System to Estimate the Level of Efficiency of Green Buildings

Sustainability has become an important initiative and has been discussed not only by green buildings but also by public buildings that are residential, office, commercial, as well as a hospital. Construction can withstand the design, construction, execution, maintenance, and removal of buildings in ways that conserve natural resources and reduce pollution. Ranking systems provide an efficient framework for assessing the environmental performance of a building and measure the tolerability of a building by applying a set of criteria organized in different classifications. A good green building rating system (GBRS) should cover key indicators that reflect building characteristics and keep their performance in balance. This paper presents a knowledge-based expert system as a tool to assess the performance level of a green building based on the evaluation factors of green building rating systems. Analytic hierarchical processing (AHP) and fuzzy logic have been adopted to develop a knowledge-based expert system. Data for this study were collected from experts in this field through Likert-based questionnaires in pairs. Using AHP, the most important parameters of ranking systems are selected according to their weights, to participate in the fuzzy inference system (FIS) of the fuzzy logic model. Fuzzy rules (knowledge) have been discovered from data collected for the FIS, to assess the level of performance of green buildings from the environmental, social, and economic aspects shown as SE2. The output of this study is a performance appraisal tool that analyzes the effect of factors on the development of a sustainable building.
Breaking of Water-in-Crude-Oil Emulsions. 3. Influence of Salinity and Water−Oil Ratio on Demulsifier Action

The stability of water-in-diluted-crude-oil emulsions is found to depend upon the water-phase salinity and the water−oil ratio for different asphaltene and demulsifier concentrations. It is reported that the most stable emulsions are formed when one of the phase volumes largely exceeds the other and that the minimum stability is found at the formulation for which the emulsion inversion takes place. For asphaltene concentrations over 500 ppm, this occurs at a volumetric fraction between 0.3 and 0.7 and, in this range, the higher the water-phase content, the lower the required demulsifier concentration. It is also determined that there is an optimum value of the demulsifier concentration that promotes the fastest separation. At a fixed asphaltene concentration, an increase in salinity generally leads to a lower demulsifier requirement. Finally, at higher asphaltene concentrations, simultaneous increases in salinity and demulsifier concentration are required to attain an optimal rate of emulsion breaking.
Investigations on direct and indirect effect of nitrate on temperature and precipitation in China using a regional climate chemistry modeling system

[1] The tropospheric atmosphere chemistry model (TACM), including a condensed gaseous chemical mechanism and an inorganic aerosol thermodynamic equilibrium submodel, was coupled with the regional climate model (RegCM3) to build a Regional Climate Chemistry Modeling System (RegCCMS), which was applied to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of anthropogenic nitrate aerosol, radiative forcing, and also its climatic effect over China. Modeling results show that the annual average surface concentration and column burden of nitrate are 2.19 μg/m3 and 5.05 mg/m2, respectively. The countrywide annual average direct radiative forcing, first indirect radiative forcing, and total radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere induced by nitrate are −0.88 W/m2, −2.47 W/m2, and −2.52 W/m2, respectively. Numerical experiments indicate that surface air temperature decreases and precipitation reduces when nitrate aerosol is included in the coupled modeling system. Changes in annual surface air temperature due to direct effect, first indirect effect, second indirect effect, and combined effect are −0.04°C, −0.11°C, −0.68°C and −0.78°C, respectively. The corresponding precipitation reduction is −0.05 mm/d, −0.10 mm/d, −0.42 mm/d, and −0.52 mm/d. Variations of surface temperature and precipitation due to the combined effect are less than the sum of individual direct, first indirect, and second indirect effect, showing a strong nonlinearity between radiative forcing and climate change. The indirect effect of nitrate is stronger than its direct effect. These preliminary results suggest that nitrate aerosol has unignorable effect on regional climate in China compared to sulfate and carbonaceous aerosols.
The moderating effect of gender on the relationship between organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior in Pakistani university teachers.

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the relationship of organizational commitment with organizational citizenship behaviors of university teachers. The current study also examined the moderation of gender on the association of organizational citizenship behavior with organizational commitment Though earlier investigations have observed demographic variables as precursors of organizational citizenship behavior, very few studies have observed the moderation of gender on the association among organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. This study will fill the gap in the literature by delivering more insight. From a sample of (N = 250) university teachers including male (n = 126) and female (n = 124) teachers from the universities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock, and Wah Cantt data were gathered. The revised form of organizational citizenship behavior scale was utilized to measure organizational citizenship behavior. The organizational commitment questionnaire was utilized to measure organizational commitment among teachers. The results indicated that organizational commitment positively and significantly predicted organizational citizenship behavior. The moderation analysis revealed that at a high level of organizational commitment, female teachers showed a high level of organizational citizenship behavior than male teachers. Regarding gender differences, female teachers scored significantly higher on both organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior than male teachers.
Structure and dynamics of ice Ih films upon HCl adsorption between 190 and 270 K. I. Neutron diffraction and quasielastic neutron scattering experiments

Neutron diffraction and quasielastic neutron experiments are performed to investigate the effect of HCl adsorption on the structure and dynamics of an ultra-thin ice Ih film (5 H2O bilayers thick) deposited on a crystalline MgO(001) substrate. Three HCl coverages have been studied 0.3, 0.6, and 1 monolayer (ML) in the temperature range 190–270 K. At 0.3 and 0.6 HCl monolayer, no mobility is measured at T⩽220 K. A translational mobility, which is a signature of a liquid phase, is observed at T=250 K. This phase occurs 15 K below the surface melting temperature of the bare ice film. The fraction of mobile molecules represents 30% (0.3 ML HCl) and 45% (0.6 ML HCl) of the film. At 1 HCl monolayer and T=220 K, HCl–dihydrate coexists with ice Ih, whereas at T=250 K the ice film becomes amorphous and only 9% of the film is mobile. The results are discussed within the context of atmospheric chemistry.
Emotional manipulation in social and emotional learning and pastoral support: the ‘dark side’ of emotional intelligence and its consequences for schools

ABSTRACT The facilitation of children’s emotional intelligence (EI) through social and emotional learning (SEL) and wider pastoral support schemes is common practice in schools. Although the benefits of enhanced EI have been widely reported, little is known about its ‘dark side’: emotional manipulation, or how this may manifest in school settings. Focus group and individual interview data gathered from staff members working across case study schools located in a town in the North West of England inform the points raised in this paper. The article explores the extent to which emotional manipulation takes place in the strategies and forms of support utilised by schools to enhance children’s social, emotional and behavioural skills. The ramifications of emotionally manipulative behaviours are discussed and recommendations for future directives are made.
Surface modeling and analysis of high-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting

Abstract High-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting has been proven to be effective in prolonging tool life, as well as reducing cutting force and cutting temperature at certain cutting speeds, which is higher than both the critical cutting speed of traditional ultrasonic vibration cutting and the range of conventional high-speed cutting in recent research. However, the surface topography results from the periodic sinuous tool vibration trajectory, and its influence on machined surface roughness, remains unclear. Therefore, in this article, the modeling and analysis of the surface topography and roughness are developed first. Then, simulations conducted through MATLAB calculations, SOLIDWORKS modeling, and cutting experiments are conducted to investigate the influences of the feed rate and the phase shift between the adjacent tool trajectories on the surface roughness. The results indicate that optimal surface roughness can be obtained under the conditions of a small feed rate (0.005 mm/r) and a phase shift of 180°. In this condition, the surface finish can reach Ra < 0.4 μm and realize finishing machining. In addition, compared with conventional cutting, high-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting can achieve the same quality at a cutting speed two times that of conventional cutting. Consequently, a better surface quality can be obtained through high-speed ultrasonic vibration cutting, due to the decrease of surface roughness compared with that of conventional cutting.
Interactions of 6-aminopurine (adenine) in water and aqueous urea solutions

Density (ρ), ultrasonic velocity (U), viscosity (η), and absorbance (A) of adenine in water, 1 M, 3 M, and 6 M aqueous urea solutions have been measured in the presence (and absence) of different concentrations of salts, i.e., NaCl, KCl, and CaCl2. From these measured values, the apparent molar volume (ϕv), experimental slope (Sv), apparent molar compressibility (ϕK), viscosity coefficients A and B of JonesDole equation, specific acoustic impedance (Z), hydration number (Sn), internal pressure (Pi), molar absorptivity (e), hypochromicity (h), and oscillator strength (f) have been calculated at 298.15 K. The increasing and (or) decreasing trends of all these parameters indicate a strong interaction of urea in moderate concentration (1 M and 3 M) with adenine especially at the hydrophilic/polar and ionic sites, particularly by hydrogen bonding. However, the interaction at hydrophobic sites are relatively weaker. Higher concentrations of urea (6 M) have more denaturation effect. The ππ interactions (stacki.
Review of international research on school leadership for social justice, equity and diversity

ABSTRACT The issue of social justice (SJ) leadership has become one of the central topics in educational leadership and management research in recent years. Despite increasing attention to the topic among policymakers and researchers during the last two decades, no comprehensive review of SJ leadership research has been conducted. By using bibliographic data from the Scopus database and employing various bibliometric analysis tools, this paper presents a systematic review of SJ leadership research, tracing its development and characteristics within a broad perspective. Results identify the key scholars, sources, and documents in the field of SJ leadership, as well as the most used concepts and their interconnections. A serious imbalance in the SJ leadership literature is also identified, with few studies from non-Western societies. Possible avenues for future research and review studies are suggested.