Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How do schools affect inequalities in political participation: compensation of social disadvantage or provision of differential access?

Abstract Both direct and indirect influences have been assumed to impact the transmission of political orientations within families. A lower socioeconomic status is related to lower intended political participation of adolescents. Within this context, schools play a crucial role in political socialisation, as citizenship education is assumed to either equalise or maintain these social disparities. We analyse a sub-dataset of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 which includes 14-year-old students in four European countries: Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Netherlands. Multi-level regression analyses reveal that formal citizenship education compensates the relationship between students’ socioeconomic status and intended electoral participation in Denmark, Germany (NRW) and the Netherlands, but not in Belgium (FL). Further, the composition of school classes is related to the perception of an open classroom climate in each of the four countries and to participation in civic activities at school in three countries.
Whistle Blowing, Forced CEO Turnover and Misconduct: The Role of Socially Minded Employees and Directors

Corporate charitable programs help attract and retain socially aware employees and directors. As these employees and directors are likely to be conscious of the social harm caused by corporate misconduct, they are less likely to tolerate wrongdoing. Consistent with this notion, we document that employees at philanthropic firms are more likely to whistle blow when they observe wrongdoing. Moreover, directors at giving firms are more likely to force out a CEO after misconduct is revealed. The higher likelihood of whistle blowing along with greater penalties upon discovery should lower the propensity to engage in misconduct. In line with this, we find that corporate philanthropy is associated with less misconduct. To address the endogeneity of corporate giving, we instrument it by peer giving, with qualitatively similar results. The results are robust to differing approaches for defining misconduct and employer attractiveness, and also in different subsamples of the data. Our findings highlight the role of non-financial imperatives of employees and directors in mitigating misconduct.
Family Perspectives on Social-Cognitive Impairment in Verbal Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Social-cognitive challenges in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often assessed using caregiver report or performance-based instruments. This study compared caregiver report and performance-based measures of social cognition to examine convergence. A total of 128 verbal individuals with ASD were administered performance-based tests of social cognition assessing theory of mind, and one family member completed a measure of social cognition. Caregiver reports of social cognition were weakly and not significantly correlated with performance-based test scores. Caregiver- and performance-based measures converged for children compared with adults and for participants with lower intellectual ability. More research is needed to develop social-cognitive measures that incorporate caregiver perspectives and are robust across individuals with ASD of all ages and levels of intellectual functioning.
Exploiting Hardware Abstraction for Parallel Programming Framework: Platform and Multitasking

With the help of the parallelism provided by the fine-grained architecture, hardware accelerators on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) can significantly improve the performance of many applications. However, designers are required to have excellent hardware programming skills and unique optimization techniques to explore the potential of FPGA resources fully. Intermediate frameworks above hardware circuits are proposed to improve either performance or productivity by leveraging parallel programming models beyond the multi-core era. In this work, we propose the PolyPC (Polymorphic Parallel Computing) framework, which targets enhancing productivity without losing performance. It helps designers develop parallelized applications and implement them on FPGAs. The PolyPC framework implements a custom hardware platform, on which programs written in an OpenCL-like programming model can launch. Additionally, the PolyPC framework extends vendor-provided tools to provide a complete development environment including intermediate software framework, and automatic system builders. Designers’ programs can be either synthesized as hardware processing elements (PEs) or compiled to executable files running on software PEs. Benefiting from nontrivial features of re-loadable PEs, and independent group-level schedulers, the multitasking is enabled for both software and hardware PEs to improve the efficiency of utilizing hardware resources. The PolyPC framework is evaluated regarding performance, area efficiency, and multitasking. The results show a maximum 66× speedup over a dual-core ARM processor and 1043× speedup over a high-performance MicroBlaze with 125× of area efficiency. It delivers a significant improvement in response time to high-priority tasks with the priority-aware scheduling. Overheads of multitasking are evaluated to analyze trade-offs. With the help of the design flow, the OpenCL application programs are converted into executables through the front-end source-to-source transformation and back-end synthesis/compilation to run on PEs, and the framework is generated from users’ specifications. c ©2017 by Hongyuan Ding All Rights Reserved
Android Application Testing Guide

Adroid Application Testing Guide is a highly detailed book which gives step-by-step examples for a great variety of real-world cases, providing professional guidelines and recommendations that will be extremely valuable for optimizing your development time and resources. In the chapters you will find an introduction to specific testing techniques, and tools for specific situations. If you are an Android developer looking to test your applications or optimize your application development process, then this book is for you. No previous experience in application testing is required.
Approximate computing: An integrated cross-layer framework

Venkataramani, Swagath PhD, Purdue University, December 2016. Approximate Computing: An Integrated Cross-layer Framework. Major Professor: Anand Raghunathan. We have witnessed a fundamental shift in the nature of workloads executed by computing platforms across the spectrum, from mobile and deeply-embedded devices to servers and data centers. Increasingly, computing platforms need to analyze, organize and search through large amounts of real-world data, intelligently interact with the physical world, be context-aware, and present more natural human interfaces. These tasks do not involve the computation of a golden answer or unique numerical result. Instead, they need to produce outputs that are good-enough or of sufficient quality. Such workloads possess intrinsic application resilience, or the ability to produce outputs of acceptable quality even when a large fraction of their computations are performed in an imprecise or approximate manner. Intrinsic application resilience offers an entirely new dimension along which computing platforms can be optimized. However, the design of computing platforms still continues to be guided by the dogma that every computation must be executed with the same strict notion of correctness. With the demand for computing performance growing unabated on the one hand, while traditional benefits due to technology scaling diminish on the other, it is important to leverage this new source of efficiency. A new design approach, called approximate computing (AxC), leverages the flexibility provided by intrinsic application resilience to realize hardware or software implementations that are more efficient in energy or performance. Approximate computing techniques forsake exact (numerical or Boolean) equivalence in the execution of some of the application’s computations, while ensuring that the output quality is
Characterizing Novelty as a Motivator in Online Citizen Science

Citizen science projects rely on the voluntary contribution of nonscientists to take part in scientific research projects. Projects taking place exclusively over the Internet face significant challenges, chief among them is the attracting and keeping the critical mass of volunteers needed to conduct the work outlined by the science team. The extent to which platforms can design experiences that positively influence volunteers’ motivation can help address the contribution challenges. Consequently, project organizers need to develop strategies to attract new participants and keep existing ones. One strategy to encourage participation is implementing features, which re-enforce motives known to change people’s attitudes towards contributing positively. The literature in psychology noted that novelty is an attribute of objects and environments that occasion curiosity in humans leading to exploratory behaviors, e.g., prolonged engagement with the object or environment. This dissertation described the design, implementation, and evaluation of an experiment conducted in three online citizen science projects. Volunteers received novelty cues when they classified data objects that no other volunteer had previously seen. The hypothesis was that exposure to novelty cues while classifying data positively influences motivational attitudes leading to increased engagement in the classification task and increased retention. The experiments resulted in mixed results. In some projects novelty cues were universally salient, and in other projects, novelty cues had no significant impact on volunteers’ contribution behaviors. The results, while mixed, are promising since differences in the observed behaviors arise because of individual personality differences and the unique attributes found in each project setting. This research contributes to empirically grounded studies on motivation in citizen science with analyses that produce new insights and questions into the functioning of novelty and its impact on volunteers’ behaviors.
Pengaruh Kualitas Pelayanan, Kepuasan Pelanggan, dan Kepercayaan Merek Terhadap Loyalitas Pelanggan Pada Pengguna Aplikasi Mobile Shopee

E-commerce di Indonesia mengalami perkembangan yang pesat saat ini. Loyalitas pelanggan dalam bisnis online menjadi variabel yang dapat mempertahankan keberlangsungan hidup bisnis online khususnya pada e-commerce. Berbagai literatur ilmiah memperlihatkan beberapa faktor yang menjadi penentu loyalitas pelanggan diantaranya adalah kualitas pelayanan, kepuasan pelanggan dan kepercayaan merek.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji pengaruh kualitas pelayanan, kepuasan, kepercayaan merek terhadap loyalitas pelanggan. Metode pengambilan sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah purposive sampling. Survei dilakukan dengan cara menyebarkan kuesioner secara langsung pada pelanggan Aplikasi mobile Shopee di Banten. Jumlah sampel 200 pelanggan. Penelitian ini menggunakan teknik analisis regresi dengan bantuan software SPSS versi 23.Hasil penelitian ini membuktikan bahwa kualitas pelayanan berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap kepuasan pelanggan. Kepuasan pelanggan berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap kepercayaan merek. Kepercayaan merek berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap Loyalitas Pelanggan. Dengan demikian, agar dapat bertahan atau bahkan memenangkan persaingan dalam pasar online, setiap aplikasi mobile e-commerce harus dapat menjamin kualitas pelayanan, kepuasan dan kepercayaan pelanggan untuk dapat mempertahankan atau bahkan meningkatkan loyalitas pelanggan mereka. Kata kunci: Kualitas Pelayanan, Kepuasan pelanggan, Kepercayaan merek, Loyalitas Pelanggan, Aplikasi mobile E-commerce
Bayesian Optimization in Machine Learning

Bayesian optimization has risen over the last few years as a very attractive approach to find the optimum of noisy, expensive to evaluate, and possibly black-box functions. One of the fields where these functions are common is in machine-learning, where one typically has to fit a particular model by minimizing a specified form of loss. In this Master s thesis we first focus on reviewing the most recent literature on Gaussian Processes as well as Bayesian optimiza- tion methods, then we benchmark said methods against several real case machine-learning scenarios and lastly we provide open source software that will allow researchers to apply these strategies in other problems.
Communicating policy information in a partisan environment: the importance of causal policy narratives in political persuasion

ABSTRACT Public opinion is frequently formed in an environment of both partisan signals and other types of policy information. How do people form opinions in such an environment? Much of the literature suggests that most people simply align their opinions with those of their party. We examine a condition under which people may rely instead on a more normatively defensible criterion: policy information. We argue that what people want in terms of policy instruments are effective tools for achieving their desired end-state. When information clearly communicates that a policy will lead to a desirable outcome, we hypothesize that it will be persuasive even in a context where party leaders provide countervailing signals. In two experimental studies, we find support for this hypothesis, and we find some evidence that such information also reduces reliance on partisan cues. We show that causal narratives are central to the opinion formation process and that communicating this information can improve the quality of public opinion.
Conceptualizing Perceived Infollution Processing and Management and Its Consequence on Employee Well-Being

As the nation has driven towards knowledge economy country, information has become an asset to be utilized as competitive resources in most organizations. Information technology has revolutionized the information creation, production and dissemination. Employees analyse and conclude based on information gathered from various sources. Although the abundance of information can be beneficial in numerous levels but the problem of managing the information becomes more difficult due to information pollution. The presence and spreads of useless and undesirable information, which is newly termed as “infollution”. Information pollution can lead to detrimental effects on human activities in a long run. Either it is a cyber-bully, rumours gone too far, information flooding or just wrong information, infollution pops up almost everywhere that affects the employee cognition, behaviour, and well-being. The issue related to the information pollution that should be settled in order to make sound decision making within the organization. Yet, there are scarce numbers of research in the field of behavioural studies that have addressed the cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and social effects of the information pollution. Thus, in this study, the conceptual model to better understand perceived infollution management and its effect on employee well-being is proposed. © 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy. org.UK
Perpetual requirements engineering

This dissertation attempts to make a contribution within the fields of distributed systems, security, and formal verification. We provide a way to formally assess the impact of a given change in three different contexts. We have developed a logic based on Lewis’s Counterfactual Logic. First we show how our approach is applied to a standard sequential programming setting. Then, we show how a modified version of the logic can be used in the context of reactive systems and sensor networks. Last but not least we show how this logic can be used in the context of security systems. Traditionally, change impact analysis has been viewed as an area in traditional software engineering. Software artifacts (source code, usually) are modified in response to a change in user requirements. Aside from making sure that the changes are inherently correct (testing and verification), programmers (software engineers) need to make sure that the introduced changes are coherent with those parts of the systems that were not affected by the artifact modification. The latter is generally achieved by establishing a dependency relation between software artifacts. In rough lines, the process of change management consists of projecting the transitive closure of the this dependency relation based on the set of artifacts that have actually changed and assessing how the related artifacts changed. The latter description of the traditional change management process generally occurs after the affected artifacts are changed. Undesired secondary effects are usually found during the testing phase after the changes have been incorporated. In cases when there is certain level of criticality, there is always a division between production and development environments. Change management (either automatic, tool driven, or completely manually done) can introduce extraneous defects into any of the changed software life-cycle artifacts. The testing phase tries to eradicate a relatively large portion of the undesired defects introduced by change. However, traditional testing
Diversity in teachers’ approaches to movement integration: A qualitative study of lower secondary school teachers’ perceptions of a state school reform involving daily physical activity

In the context of implementing a physical activity policy as part of a national school reform in Denmark, the purpose of this study was to explore lower secondary teachers’ interpretations and perceptions of the physical activity policy with a focus on movement integration. In total, 14 teachers from four different schools were selected to take part in this qualitative study, which involved semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, go-along observations and informal interviews. A thematic analysis framework was employed to identify and describe patterns of meaning within data. The findings showed substantial diversity among teachers’ interpretations and perceptions of movement integration, and consequently a lack of definitional clarity regarding movement integration and a possible misalignment between policy and practice. Teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of movement integration were influenced by other and more prioritised policies and discourses regarding academic achievement, as well as by intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional factors. The findings also suggested a lack of support and collaboration within the school and provided insights into the strengths and weaknesses associated with the autonomy afforded in the Danish school reform.
Holistic metrology qualification extension and its application to characterize overlay targets with asymmetric effects

Ever increasing need for tighter on-product overlay (OPO), as well as enhanced accuracy in overlay metrology and methodology, is driving semiconductor industry’s technologists to innovate new approaches to OPO measurements. In case of High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) fabs, it is often critical to strive for both accuracy and robustness. Robustness, in particular, can be challenging in metrology since overlay targets can be impacted by proximity of other structures next to the overlay target (asymmetric effects), as well as symmetric stack changes such as photoresist height variations. Both symmetric and asymmetric contributors have impact on robustness. Furthermore, tweaking or optimizing wafer processing parameters for maximum yield may have an adverse effect on physical target integrity. As a result, measuring and monitoring physical changes or process abnormalities/artefacts in terms of new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is crucial for the end goal of minimizing true in-die overlay of the integrated circuits (ICs). IC manufacturing fabs often relied on CD-SEM in the past to capture true in-die overlay. Due to destructive and intrusive nature of CD-SEMs on certain materials, it’s desirable to characterize asymmetry effects for overlay targets via inline KPIs utilizing YieldStar (YS) metrology tools. These KPIs can also be integrated as part of (μDBO) target evaluation and selection for final recipe flow. In this publication, the Holistic Metrology Qualification (HMQ) flow was extended to account for process induced (asymmetric) effects such as Grating Imbalance (GI) and Bottom Grating Asymmetry (BGA). Local GI typically contributes to the intrafield OPO whereas BGA typically impacts the interfield OPO, predominantly at the wafer edge. Stack height variations highly impact overlay metrology accuracy, in particular in case of multi-layer LithoEtch Litho-Etch (LELE) overlay control scheme. Introducing a GI impact on overlay (in nm) KPI check quantifies the grating imbalance impact on overlay, whereas optimizing for accuracy using self-reference captures the bottom grating asymmetry effect. Measuring BGA after each process step before exposure of the top grating helps to identify which specific step introduces the asymmetry in the bottom grating. By evaluating this set of KPI's to a BEOL LELE overlay scheme, we can enhance robustness of recipe selection and target selection. Furthermore, these KPIs can be utilized to highlight process and equipment abnormalities. In this work, we also quantified OPO results with a self-contained methodology called Triangle Method. This method can be utilized for LELE layers with a common target and reference. This allows validating general μDBO accuracy, hence reducing the need for CD-SEM verification.
Student Experiences Engaging in Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations: A Case Study for Social Work Education

ABSTRACT This article provides a case study of student experiences working as part of an interdisciplinary research team. A team of graduate-level students from social work, civil engineering, and computer science collaborated on the design of a mobile device application that captures data regarding how transportation disadvantage affects the lived experiences of community-dwelling older adults and single parents experiencing homelessness with dependent children. An online survey (N=5) was used to assess student experiences on the team. Findings from this case study have important implications for engaging students in interdisciplinary applied research, including challenging them to expand their knowledge base beyond the traditional confines of their disciplines, encouraging critical and creative thinking skills, and harnessing technology for the greater social good.