Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Qualitative Case Study: Adults as Contributing Factors to Artistic and Aesthetic Development in Early Childhood

This qualitative case study investigated the question, “What insights can be gained by examining the role of parents and preschool teachers as contributing factors to artistic and aesthetic development in early childhood? ” To build a foundation for this study, my review of literature gave a detailed account of past research that substantiates the benefits of the arts in early childhood development, the role of adults as vital to the enhancement of artistic and aesthetic development in early childhood, and the influence that home and preschool environments have on the artistic and aesthetic development of young children. The participants of this study were the teacher and the parents of preschoolers at a rural New York preschool. Over an eight week period data was collected and analyzed using a constructivist lens centered on Vygotsky’s theories of the more knowledgeable other and the zone of proximal development. Data collection methods included interviews, a questionnaire, and on-site observations. My analysis of data revealed that many adults were apathetic regarding artistic and aesthetic development in early childhood, as well as under-informed of the benefits of the arts in early childhood development. Some adults’ perspectives towards early arts education could be attributed to present changes in technology and culture, along with multiple other explanations that deterred adults from stimulating artistic and aesthetic development. Finally, my research revealed that an increase in knowledge and awareness resulted in increased adult interest to facilitate an early arts education. The overarching theme which correlated all of my findings was the need for education and advocacy on behalf of the arts in early childhood. Further study could examine the actions and perspectives of other preschools or daycare centers in regards to early childhood artistic and aesthetic development.
How distributional preferences shape incentives on (experimental) markets for credence goods

Credence goods markets suffer from inefficiencies caused by superior information of sellers about the surplus-maximizing quality. While standard theory predicts that equal mark-up prices solve the credence goods problem if customers can verify the quality received, experimental evidence indicates the opposite. We identify a lack of robustness of institutional design with respect to heterogeneity in distributional preferences as a possible cause and design new experiments that allow for parsimonious identification of sellers’ distributional types. Our results indicate that less than a fourth of the subjects behave according to standard theory’s assumption, the rest behaving either in line with non-standard selfish or in accordance with non-trivial other-regarding preferences. We discuss consequences of our findings for institutional design and agent selection.
Extreme Impact Contamination Events Sampling for Real-Sized Water Distribution Systems

AbstractContamination warning systems are being designed to protect water distribution systems against deliberate contamination intrusions. To design a contamination warning system, contamination intrusion events need to be selected. Because contamination intrusions are random, even for a medium-size network the theoretical number of possible injection events is huge, and thus the number of contamination events which can be considered in the design process is limited. To effectively cope with the threat of contamination events there is a need to identify those critical instances. A straightforward approach of enumerating all possible contamination intrusions from which critical events can be selected is limited to small systems. As critical events are rare the probability of revealing them using common Monte Carlo randomized simulations is very small or requires an extensive impractical computational amount of trials. In this study a methodology utilizing importance sampling and cross entropy based on a r.
Influence of seasonal monsoons on net community production and CO 2 in subtropical Hong Kong coastal waters

Abstract. Data from seven cruises in three different environments including the Pearl River estuary, sewage discharge outfall, and eastern coastal/shelf waters were used to examine the seasonal variations in net community production (NCP) and the biologically active gases O2 and CO2. In the winter dry season, when monsoon-induced downwelling was dominant, NCP was negative (−84 ± 50 mmol C m−2 d−1) in all three regions. The negative NCP corresponded to O2 influxes of 100 ± 50 mmol O2 m−2 d−1 and CO2 effluxes of 24 ± 10 mmol C m−2 d−1. In the summer wet season, when upwelling brought the deep oceanic waters to the coast due to the southwest monsoonal winds, there was a 2 to 15-fold increase in integrated primary production (IPP) compared to winter. The increase in IPP was likely due to the favorable conditions such as stratification and the nutrient inputs from upwelled waters and the Pearl River estuary. NCP in the mixed layer reached up to 110 ± 48 mmol C m−2 d−1 in the wet season. However, accompanying the high positive NCP, we observed an O2 influx of 100 ± 60 mmol O2 m−2 d−1 and CO2 efflux of 21 ± 15 mmol C m−2 d−1. The contradictory observation of positive NCP and CO2 release and O2 uptake in the mixed layer could be explained by the influence of the southwest monsoon-induced upwelling along with the influence of the Pearl River, as the upwelling brought cold, low dissolved oxygen (DO, 160 ± 30 μM) and high dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC, 1960 ± 100 μatm) water to the surface in the wet season. Hence, the subtropical Hong Kong coastal waters are generally a CO2 source due to the monsoonal influence during both the dry-heterotrophic and wet-autotrophic seasons.
The impact of distributional assumptions on mixed logit model performance

The estimation of mixed logit models is one of the most popular empirical approaches to the accommodation of preference heterogeneity in choice data. In the mixed logit model the purpose of estimation is to identify the parameters of the distribution from which tastes are drawn. The researcher is required, ex ante , to specify the functional form of this distribution. The choice of functional form for preference distributions within the mixed logit model is one of the two foci of this paper. More specifically, we contend that insufficient attention is typically paid to this choice of functional form in analyses based on the mixed logit model. This is problematic given that the functional form chosen can have a major impact on resulting WTP estimates and associated inferences. Of particular interest is the use of bounded preference distributions. The reticence to address alternative functional forms for preference distributions may in part be because competing mixed logit models are non-nested and hence not easily amenable to testing. In this paper we highlight one advantage of using Bayesian methods to estimate the mixed logit model since, as we set out, it is possible to derive a single measure of performance across non-nested models: the Marginal Likelihood (ML). These two issues: the impacts of alternative assumptions regarding distributional forms, and the use of the ML as an overall measure of model performance, are brought together in the empirical application. Data are analysed from a CE concerning food attributes in which one of the attributes is the use of GM technology in the food’s production. The expectation is that preferences for such food may well be misrepresented by the (typically assumed) normal distribution, since people are likely to dislike, or be indifferent to, the attribute. They are unlikely to positively prefer GM food. This suggests the use of a bounded distribution, however the most common bounded distributions used (triangular, lognormal) are unable to capture indifference – they have a zero probability mass at indifference. In the paper we report analysis of the CE data using a range of bounded and unbounded distributions of preferences. We also use rarely used bounded distributions (censored normal and S B distributions) to address the possibility of probability mass points near indifference. We use the Bayesian Marginal Likelihood, extended here to reflect the multiple option character of the CE data, to analyse model performance. We find that models using the censored normal and S B functional forms outperform models using typically assumed functional forms. We find that the rankings of model performance using the ML are markedly different from those based on the simulated log likelihood which has been used as a “rule of thumb” for model comparison in early Bayesian implementations of the mixed logit model (Train and Sonnier 2005; Train and Weeks 2005). Finally we highlight the differences in inference regarding market shares between the preferred ‘bounded’ model and typical ‘unbounded’ models.
Evaluation of obturation by image analyses and macrogol and propylene glycol penetration

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate obturations using radiographs and micro-computed tomography (MCT) and to determine if macrogol and propylene glycol could penetrate obturations until the apex. Method: 30 extracted single-canal incisors were obturated with gutta-percha plus root canal sealer. Obturation was evaluated with radiographs and MCT using a scoring system (1-4) where a lower score means a better obturation. Dye mixed with macrogol and propylene glycol was applied to see whether it could penetrate through the obturation to the apex. Results: MCT images often demonstrated voids not shown in the radiographs. 26 out of 30 samples had higher MCT scores (mean= 3.1; SD= ± 0.8) than radiographic scores (mean: 1.8; SD: ± 0.8). The dye-macrogol-propylene glycol mixture penetrated the obturation and exited through the apical foramen in all samples. Conclusion: Obturation defects that were not shown by radiographs were often revealed by MCT. The dye-macrogol-propylene glycol mixture may have passed through those defects to the apex.
Determination of the Rankings of the Teams Competed in the 2009 - 2010 BEKO Basketball League with Principal Components Analysis

Being parallel with the technological advancements, statistical analysis methods have a wide area of usage in many fields of science. Being started to be used particularly in the recent years also in the sciences of sports, statistical analysis methods have been proved to be an important factor in obtaining more positive results in evaluating either team or individual performances. There are many factors that affect performance and success in all areas of sports. Sometimes examining all these factors together may prove to be a problem. Factor analysis is one of the multivariate statistical methods that transform great numbers of interrelated variables into a few factors. In this present paper, an alternative ranking among the teams that competed in the BEKO basketball league 2009-2010 season has been derived by means of utilizing the teams' match performances with the factor analysis approach. At the end of the study number of the factors determining the ranking has been reduced to two and an alternative ranking based on the 1st factor with the biggest variance explanation rate has been established. According to this new ranking, the team Fenerbahce Ulker, which was in the 2nd rank in the original ranking, has taken the first place.
An Intelligent Assessment Mechanism for Online Short Text

In this work, an intelligent online short text assessment mechanism that detects whether the learners address the expected discussion issues is proposed. The concept maps related to the learning topics are first outlined by the instructor. After each learner issues a short text post on the online discussion platform, a feature selection approach is adopted to derive the input parameters of a Support Vector Machines (SVMs) classifier. The classifier then determines if the learners’ posts are related to the concept maps previously outlined by the instructor. Notably, a feedback rule construction mechanism is used to issue feedback messages to learners in cases where the online short text assessment mechanism detects that the learners have strayed astray from the expected learning topics in their posts. The experimental results revealed that the proposed approach achieved very good classification results and verified its effectiveness.
A chain-interactive innovation model for the learning economy: Prelude for a proposal

The implementation of innovation has a central role in the dynamic knowledge economy of the twenty-first century. The ability to assemble new expertise and commercialise new business propositions constitutes one of the central characteristics in today’s globalising, learning-intensive, fast changing economic life. This paper sets out to articulate a stylised understanding of the modern innovation process on the basis of the currently available understanding in the innovation studies tradition. The conceptual model seeks to capture the essential features of organisations engaged in developing dynamic factors of competitiveness.
1-D fluid model of atmospheric-pressure rf He+O2 cold plasmas: Parametric study and critical evaluation

In this paper atmospheric-pressure rf He+O2 cold plasmas are studied by means of a 1-D fluid model. 17 species and 60 key reactions selected from a study of 250+ reactions are incorporated in the model. O2+, O3-, and O are the dominant positive ion, negative ion, and reactive oxygen species, respectively. Ground state O is mainly generated by electron induced reactions and quenching of atomic and molecular oxygen metastables, while three-body reactions leading to the formation of O2 and O3 are the main mechanisms responsible for O destruction. The fraction of input power dissipated by ions is ∼20%. For the conditions considered in the study ∼6% of the input power is coupled to ions in the bulk and this amount will increase with increasing electronegativity. Radial and electrode losses of neutral species are in most cases negligible when compared to gas phase processes as these losses are diffusion limited due to the large collisionality of the plasma. The electrode loss rate of neutral species is found to.
Endophytic Mycodiversity of Sacred Tree – Couroupita guianensis Aubl.

In the present study, a total of 142 fungal strains were isolated from 180 samples of the leaf, stem and bark tissues of sacred tree Couroupita guianensis from an unusual semi-arid tropical region. The tissues of the samples were grown in potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and the endophytic mycoflora were identified based on the morphological characteristics. Among all the strains, 130 were fertile, which belong to 11 species and 12 sterile morpho species. The relative frequency of isolated individual endophytic fungal group consists of hyphomycetes (41.5%), coelomycetes (32.4%), ascomycetes (13.4%), zygomycetes (4.2%) and sterile fungi (8.5%). Among the fungal isolates, Scytalidium acidophilum and Mycosphaerella sp. were recorded as the most dominant fungal isolates in the leaf tissues, Cladosporium cladosporioides and Colletotrichum falcatum were observed as the dominant endophytic fungal isolates in the stem tissues and Botryodiplodia theobromae was found to be predominant species in bark tissues of C. guianensis. The species of Colletotrichum were found only in stem tissues. Therefore, the endophytic mycodiversity were high and abundant and they were distinctly associated with host plant. All statistical analyses confirmed that leaf tissues contained more endophytes than the stem and bark while Colletotrichum exhibited organ specificity. The present study revealed that the sacred tree C. guianensis is one of the ecological niches for sheltering endophytic mycoflora eventhough in harsh climatic conditions.
Tropical Pacific Ocean Mixed Layer Heat Budget: The Pacific Cold Tongue

Abstract Data from satellite-tracked drifting buoys and VOS/XBT profiles for the years 1979–95 were used to evaluate the seasonal cycle of how major oceanic processes redistribute heat in the cold tongue region of the tropical Pacific. The most active processes for the annual cycle are local heat storage and heat export by entrainment of upwelling and by mean meridional advection. Heat export by zonal advection, however, is not negligible, and meridional eddy heat fluxes associated with tropical instability waves effect a negative feedback that offsets a considerable fraction of that produced by the mean meridional advection. All of these processes mimic the essentially one cycle per year of the surface wind stress, as do those of the depths of both the bottom of the surface mixed layer and the thermocline. Because it is associated with poleward Ekman transports, upwelling, and baroclinic adjustment near the equator, the zonal wind stress component appears to be the more important. The meridional wind str.
Structural and Electronic Properties of GaN ( 0001 ) / α-Al 2 O 3 ( 0001 ) Interface

Structural and electronic properties of the interface between α-Al2O3 (0001) and GaN (0001) surfaces are investigated through ab initio calculations within the density functional theory. Two different structural models have been investigated interface N(Ga)terminated. The interface N-terminated GaN surface seems to exhibit the lowest formation energy. The studied interface models are metallic, with the levels at energy spatially confined in the interface region. Our calculations show strong hybridization between atoms in the interface region.
Continuous evaluation of the performance of cloud infrastructure for scientific applications

Cloud computing recently developed into a viable alternative to on-premises systems for executing high-performance computing (HPC) applications. With the emergence of new vendors and hardware options, there is now a growing need to continuously evaluate the performance of the infrastructure with respect to the most commonly-used simulation workflows. We present an online ecosystem and the corresponding tools aimed at providing a collaborative and repeatable way to assess the performance of the underlying hardware for multiple real-world application-specific benchmark cases. The ecosystem allows for the benchmark results to be stored and shared online in a centrally accessible database in order to facilitate their comparison, traceability, and curation. We include the current up-to-date example results for multiple cloud vendors and explain how to contribute new results and benchmark cases.
INFLUENCE OF THE MORTAR ON THE COMPRESSIVE BEHAVIOR OF CONCRETE MASONRY PRISMS

Finding an embedding mortar that is suitable as an infill material to be used in the vertical hollow cells of concrete block masonry is a central issue on the development of solution for reinforced masonry to be used in Portugal. An experimental study of mortars with different mixes was performed to find an equilibrium point, i.e., an intermediate mix with appropriate plasticity and sufficient workability. In this scope it is important to clarify the influence of different types of mortar, with different mechanical properties, on the compressive behaviour of concrete masonry. Thus the assessment of the suitability of the mortar as infill material is also evaluated by means of a set of uniaxial compressive tests conducted on masonry prisms with and without mortar infill. The major significance of the present work is the achievement of a proper mortar that can be used as embedding and as infill material, which involves economical advantages and can simplify considerably the constructive process of reinforced masonry.
SFB 649 Discussion Paper 2012-018 Managerial Overconfidence and Corporate Risk Management

We show that managerial overconfidence, which h as been foun d to i nfluence a num ber of corporate financial decisions, also affects corporate risk management. We find tha t managers i ncrease their speculative activities using derivatives following s peculative gains, while they do not reduce their speculative activities following speculative losses. This asymmetric response follows from selective selfattribution: successes tend to be attr ibuted to one’s own skill, while failu res tend to be attributed to ba d luck. Thus, our results show that managerial behavioral biases can also impact corporate risk management.
A mathematical model for linear elastic systems with structural damping

Abstract : From empirical studies it is known that the natural modes of vibration of elastic systems have damping rates which are roughly proportional to the frequency of vibration. A number of ad hoc models exhibiting behavior of this type have been proposed in the engineering literature but they are not true dynamical systems nor are they very useful for numerical computations. In this paper we present a model of the form with B, A positive, unbounded, self-adjoint operators on a Hilbert space X, exhibiting the damping behavior just described, which is known as structural damping. Finite dimensional analogs suitable for computation of approximate solutions are also noted. (Author)
(Un)Expected Monetary Policy Shocks and Term Premia

The term structure of interest rates is crucial for the transmission of monetary policy to financial markets and the macroeconomy. Disentangling the impact of monetary policy on the components of interest rates, expected short rates and term premia, is essential to understanding this channel. To accomplish this, we provide a quantitative structural model with endogenous, time-varying term premia that are consistent with empirical findings. News about future policy, in contrast to unexpected policy shocks, has quantitatively significant effects on term premia along the entire term structure. This provides a plausible explanation for partly contradictory estimates in the empirical literature.
PIXEL-BY-PIXEL ESTIMATION OF SCENE MOTION IN VIDEO

Abstract. The paper considers the effectiveness of motion estimation in video using pixel-by-pixel recurrent algorithms. The algorithms use stochastic gradient decent to find inter-frame shifts of all pixels of a frame. These vectors form shift vectors’ field. As estimated parameters of the vectors the paper studies their projections and polar parameters. It considers two methods for estimating shift vectors’ field. The first method uses stochastic gradient descent algorithm to sequentially process all nodes of the image row-by-row. It processes each row bidirectionally i.e. from the left to the right and from the right to the left. Subsequent joint processing of the results allows compensating inertia of the recursive estimation. The second method uses correlation between rows to increase processing efficiency. It processes rows one after the other with the change in direction after each row and uses obtained values to form resulting estimate. The paper studies two criteria of its formation: gradient estimation minimum and correlation coefficient maximum. The paper gives examples of experimental results of pixel-by-pixel estimation for a video with a moving object and estimation of a moving object trajectory using shift vectors’ field.