Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining local item dependence effects in a large scale science assessment by a Rasch partial credit model

Context-dependent items are traditionally analyzed independently, creating a situation in which the potential local item dependence effects among these items may cause a biased estimation of examinees' abilities. This study investigated the local item dependence effects on testlets in the tryout version of a statewide science assessment by a Rdsch partial credit model. Cluster sampling combined with stratified sampling was used. Data were analyzed in five different configurations to study the relationships between context-dependent items at the individual item level and at the testlet level. It is shown that local dependence effects may be controlled and a better fit for testlet calibration can be obtained by employing the Rasch partial credit model for some, but not all testlets. (Contains 2 figures, 11 tables, and 35 references.) (Author/SLD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** EXAMINING LOCAL ITEM DEPENDENCE EFFECTS IN A LARGE-SCALE SCIENCE ASSESSMENT BY A RASCH PARTIAL CREDIT MODEL Jean W. Yan Michigan Department of Education Abstract: Context-dependent items are traditionally analyzed independently, in which the potential local item dependence effects among these items may cause a biased estimation of examinees' abilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the local item dependence effects on testlets in the tryout version of a statewide science assessment by a Rasch partial credit model. Cluster sampling combined with stratified sampling was used in the study. Data were analyzed in five different configurations to study the relationships between context-dependent items at the individual item level and at the testlet level. It is found that local dependence effects may be controlled and a better fit for testlet calibration can be obtained by employing the Rasch partial credit model for some, but not all testlets. Context-dependent items are traditionally analyzed independently, in which the potential local item dependence effects among these items may cause a biased estimation of examinees' abilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the local item dependence effects on testlets in the tryout version of a statewide science assessment by a Rasch partial credit model. Cluster sampling combined with stratified sampling was used in the study. Data were analyzed in five different configurations to study the relationships between context-dependent items at the individual item level and at the testlet level. It is found that local dependence effects may be controlled and a better fit for testlet calibration can be obtained by employing the Rasch partial credit model for some, but not all testlets.
k-SVRG: Variance Reduction for Large Scale Optimization

Variance reduced stochastic gradient (SGD) methods converge significantly faster than the vanilla SGD counterpart. However, these methods are not very practical on large scale problems, as they either i) require frequent passes over the full data to recompute gradients---without making any progress during this time (like for SVRG), or ii)~they require additional memory that can surpass the size of the input problem (like for SAGA). In this work, we propose $k$-SVRG that addresses these issues by making best use of the \emph{available} memory and minimizes the stalling phases without progress. We prove linear convergence of $k$-SVRG on strongly convex problems and convergence to stationary points on non-convex problems. Numerical experiments show the effectiveness of our method.
SPEET: Visual Data Analysis of Engineering Students Performance From Academic Data

This paper presents the steps conducted to design and develop an IT Tool for Visual Data Analysis within the SPEET (Student Profile for Enhancing Engineering Tutoring) ERASMUS+ project. The proposed goals are to provide insight into student behaviours, to identify patterns and relevant factors of academic success, to facilitate the discovery and understanding of profiles of engineering students, and to analyse the differences across European institutions. For that purpose, the concepts and methods used for the visual analysis of educational data are reviewed and a tool is proposed, which implements approaches based on visual interaction.
Asymmetric Monetary Policy in Australia

We find evidence for asymmetric behaviour in Australian monetary policy. During 1984-1990, the Reserve Bank of Australia acted with considerable discretion yielding poor performance of an interest rate rule. However it behaved asymmetrically to inflation and the output gap in downturns and upturns. On embracing inflation targeting from 1991, it enhanced its credibility by anchoring inflation expectations. Not only did its actions become more predictable in 1991-2002, it responded asymmetrically only to output, switching to act more acutely in downturns. While its asymmetric behaviour could result from asymmetric preferences or non-linear aggregate supply, our results support the former explanation.
The Effect of Cash, Vouchers, and Food Transfers on Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Northern Ecuador

Using a randomized experiment in Ecuador, this study provides evidence on whether cash, vouchers, and food transfers targeted to women and intended to reduce poverty and food insecurity also affected intimate partner violence. Results indicate that transfers reduce controlling behaviors and physical and/or sexual violence by 6 to 7 percentage points. Impacts do not vary by transfer modality, which provides evidence that transfers not only have the potential to decrease violence in the short-term, but also that cash is just as effective as in-kind transfers.
Valorisation of glycerol into biofuel additives over heterogeneous catalysts

Transesterification of glycerol with methyl acetate was carried out over resins, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (CH) with sulfonic acid groups at 70o C. The products of glycerol transesterification are monoacetin, diacetin and triacetin. It was observed that the catalytic activity increases with the amount of sulfonic acid groups on materials. The CH material showed the highest catalytic activity of all catalysts. In order to study the catalytic stability of CH-SO3H, three consecutive batch runs with the same catalyst were carried out. The CH-SO3H catalyst can be recycled and reused with negligible loss in the activity, after third use.
Mapping model behaviour using Self-Organizing Maps

Abstract. Hydrological model evaluation and identification essentially involves extracting and processing information from model time series. However, the type of information extracted by statistical measures has only very limited meaning because it does not relate to the hydrological context of the data. To overcome this inadequacy we exploit the diagnostic evaluation concept of Signature Indices, in which model performance is measured using theoretically relevant characteristics of system behaviour. In our study, a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) is used to process the Signatures extracted from Monte-Carlo simulations generated by the distributed conceptual watershed model NASIM. The SOM creates a hydrologically interpretable mapping of overall model behaviour, which immediately reveals deficits and trade-offs in the ability of the model to represent the different functional behaviours of the watershed. Further, it facilitates interpretation of the hydrological functions of the model parameters and provides preliminary information regarding their sensitivities. Most notably, we use this mapping to identify the set of model realizations (among the Monte-Carlo data) that most closely approximate the observed discharge time series in terms of the hydrologically relevant characteristics, and to confine the parameter space accordingly. Our results suggest that Signature Index based SOMs could potentially serve as tools for decision makers inasmuch as model realizations with specific Signature properties can be selected according to the purpose of the model application. Moreover, given that the approach helps to represent and analyze multi-dimensional distributions, it could be used to form the basis of an optimization framework that uses SOMs to characterize the model performance response surface. As such it provides a powerful and useful way to conduct model identification and model uncertainty analyses.
Image Segmentation : A Survey Neelesh

Image segmentation has always been an important topic in the field of image processing and it has a wide application on various fields like object detection, classification, edge detection, medicals fields, face detections etc. Main goal in image segmentation is to find the set of pixel or otherwise known as Super pixels in terms of different characteristics of pixels. In this paper, we are going to discuss some of the image segmentation techniques using various methods like Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) Clustering, Discrete Wavelet Transformation (DWT), Back Propagation algorithm based Neural Network and Image Histogram Analysis. Some papers also based on some hybrid approaches to enhance accuracy than that of traditional methods. In the end, we will compare all the methods to find a novel approach for image segmentation.
Pesticide effects on honeybee detoxification genes View project Habitat Modeling of Invasive Species View project

Sixteen honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies were placed in four different agricultural landscapes to study the effects of agricultural landscape and exposure to pesticides on honey bee health. Colonies were located in three different agricultural areas with varying levels of agricultural intensity (AG areas) and one nonagricultural area (NAG area). Colonies were monitored for their performance and productivity for one year by measuring colony weight changes, brood production, and colony thermoregulation. Palynological and chemical analyses were conducted on the trapped pollen collected from each colony and location. Our results indicate that the landscape’s composition significantly affected honey bee colony performance and development. Colony weight and brood production were significantly greater in AG areas compared to the NAG area. Better colony thermoregulation in AG areas’ colonies was also observed. The quantities of pesticides measured in the trapped pollen were relatively low compared to their acute toxicity. Unexplained queen and colony losses were recorded in the AG areas, while colony losses because of starvation were observed in the NAG area. Our results indicate that landscape with high urban activity enhances honey bee brood production, with no significant effects on colony weight gain. Our study indicates that agricultural crops provide a valuable resource for honey bee colonies, but there is a trade-off with an increased risk of exposure to pesticides.
An Evaluation of Diazacon as a Potential Contraceptive in Non-Native Rose-Ringed Parakeets

Abstract Rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri) have become widely established outside their native range through accidental or deliberate release. Potential economic impacts on agriculture, conservation concerns, and mixed public opinion regarding the species have highlighted the need to develop effective but humane management options. Fertility control might provide such a solution if a safe and environmentally benign contraceptive was available. The chemical 20,25-diazacholesterol dihydrochloride (diazacon) has previously been used to reduce reproductive output in avian species through reduction of blood cholesterol and cholesterol-dependent reproductive hormones. We orally dosed captive rose-ringed parakeets with a solution of either 9 mg/kg or 18 mg/kg of diazacon for up to 10 days and found that a dose of 18 mg/kg for 10 days temporarily reduced blood cholesterol levels with no adverse side effects. We evaluated this dose level in a captive population in semi-natural conditions during the 2008 breeding season and found a significant decrease in fertility. We concluded that diazacon has potential for fertility control in this species if a suitable formulation and delivery system is developed for free-living populations.
EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING OF FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: FAMILY FUNCTIONING AND ATTACHMENT STYLES

EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING OF FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: FAMILY FUNCTIONING AND ATTACHMENT STYLES Amado, Suzi Department of Psychology Supervisor: Associate Prof. Tülin Gençöz July, 2005, 82 pages The present study aimed to reveal the effect of family functioning, attachment styles in romantic relationships, and city of origin on the emotional well-being of first year university students. 286 first-year university students from the Department of Basic English at Middle East Technical University participated in the study. They completed a demographic information sheet, the McMaster Family Assessment Device, the short-form Version of Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Hopelessness Scale. ANOVAs were run to find out if there are significant differences in the emotional well-being of participants with different cities of origin and gender. To assess if there are significant differences in the emotional wellbeing between participants with different attachment styles and cities of origin, ANCOVAs (Gender as the covariate factor) were conducted. Finally, regressions were run to find out the relationship between demographic variables, attachment styles, family functioning, and emotional well-being of first-year university students. The participants who moved to Ankara when they started university were found to report more depressive symptoms than the participants who had been living in Ankara. Further significant differences were observed in the depression and hopelessness levels of participants with different attachment styles. In general, those participants having fearful attachment styles tended to hve more depressive symptoms and hopelessness as compared to those having secure and preoccupied attachment styles. Regression analyses revealed that absence of secure attachment
Spatial and Temporal Variation of Chemical Composition and Mass Closure of Ambient PM 10 in Tianjin , China

A one-year monitoring program from September 2009 to August 2010 for PM10 was conducted at 8 monitoring sites in Tianjin, a coastal city in northern China. 24-hour PM10 samples were collected every 6 days at each site. PM10 samples were analyzed for elements, water soluble inorganic ions and carbonaceous species. This paper focused on the spatial and temporal variation of chemical composition and chemical mass closure of ambient PM10. Six categories were used to reconstruct PM10 mass: crustal materials, trace elements, organic matter, elemental carbon, sea salt, and secondary inorganic aerosol. Crustal materials were the dominant fraction of PM10 with annual average percentages varying from 31.6% to 33.8% of the total PM10 mass. Secondary inorganic aerosol (non-sea salt sulfate, nitrate and ammonium) and organic matter were also major contributors to PM10, with annual mass fractions of 23.3% and 18.8%, respectively. In particular, non-sea salt-sulfate was the most predominant inorganic ion accounting for 47.9% of the category of secondary inorganic aerosol. Elemental carbon was a small category, accounting for 3.3%. Sea salt and trace elements contributed marginally to the PM10 mass. The concentrations and mass fractions of crustal materials were generally highest in spring and lowest in summer while those of organic matter and secondary inorganic aerosol were generally highest in winter. Organic matter (P < 0.05) and elemental carbon (P < 0.001) concentrations showed significant spatial variations, and the concentrations were high at Beichen (BC) due to its proximity to the industrial zones and freeways. The concentrations of Ba, Zn, Pb, Sn, Sb were generally higher at BC and Hongqiao (HQ) than at other sites, suggesting higher influence of traffic emissions.
Anomaly Detection under Poisoning Attacks

Anomaly detection has been widely applied in domains such as credit card fraud detection and intrusion detection. Whenever anomaly detection techniques are applied to security domains, we should assume that an adversary will attempt to evade the protective measures. Hence, to improve the efficacy of anomaly detection techniques, it is imperative to evaluate these techniques against adversaries. We propose a framework to assess the vulnerability of anomaly detection techniques against adversaries with the ability to poison the training dataset. We demonstrate that we can predict the expected number of attack samples an attacker needs to disguise the actual data point from a DBSCAN-based anomaly detection method. We validate our framework on the KDDCup’99 and Yahoo (S5) Anomaly Detection datasets.
Creativity, education or what? On the measurement of regional human capital

This paper substantiates the debate following Richard Florida's suggestion to measure regional human capital by creative occupations rather than education. Consistent with Florida's notion of creativity, it suggests a microfoundation that relates creativity to workers' cognitive and noncognitive skills. It shows that this microfoundation is similar to that of human capital in recent labor economics, which has facilitated important new insights. It also shows that Florida's measure is too crude to make a difference. Nonethe-less, it is time to rethink regional human capital. Occupations may help project workers' cognitive and noncognitive skills from the micro to the regional level.
Adaptation and Testing of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Military Spouses

The psychological impact of current military operations on service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan is well established. A number of recent studies have also demonstrated high rates of mental health difficulties, especially depression and anxiety, in spouses of deployed service members. This paper describes the adaptation of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), an evidence-based treatment for depression, to target depression in military spouses. The principles of IPT are outlined, and the ways in which the structure and content of the treatment lend themselves to the military context are described. Finally, a study currently underway to adapt and evaluate the treatment is presented and aspects of the treatment are illustrated.
In-ground optical fibre Bragg grating pressure switch for security applications

In this study, a fibre Bragg grating (FBG) was embedded beneath three common flooring materials acting as a pressure switch for in-ground intrusion detection. This is achieved using an intensiometric detection system, where a laser diode and FBG were optically mismatched so that there was a static dc offset from the transmitted and reflected optical power signals. As pressure was applied, in the form of a footstep, a strain induced wavelength shift occurred that could then be detected by converting the wavelength shift into an intensity change. The change in intensity caused a significant change in the DC offset which behaved as on optical switch. This switch could easily be configured to trigger an alarm if required. The intention is to use the FBG sensor as an in-ground intrusion detection pressure switch to detect an intruder walking within range of the sensor. This type of intrusion detection system can be applied to both external (in soil, etc) and internal (within the foundations or flooring of the home) security systems. The results show that a person's footstep can clearly be detected through solid wood flooring, laminate flooring, and ceramic floor tiles.
AN OPEN MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE WITH ACTIVE VALVES FOR ACCURATE TRAPPING OF DNA BY SILICON NANOTWEEZERS

This paper demonstrates the real-time monitoring of λ-DNA molecule trapping by silicon nanotweezers in an open microfluidic chamber. An active microfluidic device has been developed aiming to allow the insertion of MEMS tweezers and to control the biological solution inlets for an accurate sensing of bioreactions through the tweezer mechanical frequency response.
Neurocomputational Modeling of Human Physical Scene Understanding

Human scene understanding involves not just localizing objects, but also inferring latent attributes that affect how the scene might unfold, such as the masses of objects within the scene. These attributes can sometimes only be inferred from the dynamics of a scene, but people can ﬂexibly integrate this information to update their inferences. Here we propose a neurally plausible Efﬁcient Physical Inference model that can generate and update inferences from videos. This model makes inferences over the inputs to a generative model of physics and graphics, using an LSTM based recognition network to efﬁciently approximate rational probabilistic conditioning. We ﬁnd that this model not only rapidly and accurately recovers latent object information, but also that its inferences evolve with more information in a way similar to human judgments. The model provides a testable hypothesis about the population-level activity in brain regions underlying physical reasoning.
Condensation on superhydrophobic copper oxide nanostructures

Condensation is an important process in both emerging and traditional power generation and water desalination technologies. Superhydrophobic nanostructures promise enhanced condensation heat transfer by reducing the characteristic size of departing droplets via a surface-tension-driven mechanism [1]. In this work, we investigated a scalable synthesis technique to produce oxide nanostructures on copper surfaces capable of sustaining superhydrophobic condensation and characterized the growth and departure behavior of condensed droplets. Nanostructured copper oxide (CuO) films were formed via chemical oxidation in an alkaline solution. A dense array of sharp CuO nanostructures with characteristic heights and widths of ∼1 μm and ∼300 nm, respectively, were formed. A gold film was deposited on the surface and functionalized with a self-assembled monolayer to make the surfaces hydrophobic. Condensation on these surfaces was then characterized using optical microscopy (OM) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) to quantify the distribution of nucleation sites and elucidate the growth behavior of individual droplets with a characteristic size of ∼1 to 10 μm at low supersaturations. Comparison of the observed behavior to a recently developed model for condensation on superhydrophobic surfaces [2, 3] suggests a restricted regime of heat transfer enhancement compared to a corresponding smooth hydrophobic surface due to the large apparent contact angles demonstrated by the CuO surface.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Evaluation of hypermethylation and expression pattern of glutamate and dopamine receptors genes in patients with schizophrenia

© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. 2018 Mental Health and Neurology Conference