Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Justification of Constant Mix Investment Strategies

The aim of this paper is to justify the use of constant mix investment strategies as an approximation for periodically rebalanced investment strategies. In Dhaene et al. (2005), general optimization problems are solved in a lognormal framework by deriving convex order bounds based on comonotonicity. The multi-period optimal portfolio selection problems discussed in Dhaene et al. (2005) are solved working in the class of constant mix strategies. As this class requires the investment portfolio to be rebalanced on a continuous basis, it can not be applied in practice. However, constant mix strategies have clear computational advantages compared to the more realistic class of periodically rebalanced strategies. Therefore it is important to investigate the appropriateness of these constant mix strategies, which is the main goal of this paper. Our numerical results confirm that, within our lognormal framework, continuous rebalancing can be seen as a limiting case of periodic rebalancing. Moreover, we see that results obtained by periodically rebalancing the available assets are very close to those obtained through continuously rebalancing them, which justifies the use of constant mix strategies. JEL code: G11, Subject Category: IM10
The Clustering Properties of Lyman Break Galaxies at Redshift z ~ 3

We present a new measure of the angular two-point correlation function of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z ~ 3, obtained from the variance of galaxy counts in two-dimensional cells. By avoiding binning of the angular separations, this method is significantly less affected by shot noise than traditional measures and allows for a more accurate determination of the correlation function. We used a sample of about 1000 galaxies with ℛ ≤ 25.5 extracted from the survey by Steidel and collaborators and found the following results. At scales in the range 30′′ ≲ θ ≲ 100′′, the angular correlation function w(θ) can be accurately described as a power law with slope β = 0.50 (1 σ random)-0.10 (systematic), shallower than the measure presented by Giavalisco and collaborators. However, the spatial correlation length, derived by Limber deprojection, is in very good agreement with the previous measures, confirming the strong spatial clustering of these sources. We discuss in detail the effects of both random and systematic errors, in particular of the so-called integral constraint bias, to which we set a lower limit using numerical simulations. This suggests that the current samples do not yet provide a "fair representation" of the large-scale distribution of LBGs at z ~ 3. An intriguing result of our analysis is that at angular separations smaller than θ ≲ 30′′ the correlation function seems to depart from the power law fitted at larger scales and become smaller. This feature is detected at the ~90% confidence level and, if real, can provide information on the number density and spatial distribution of LBGs within their host halos as well as the size and the mass of the halos.
A Case Study of 1:1 Technology Policies in Four Texas High Schools and Their Relationship to Practice

With increasing emphasis on technology in schools, the importance of technology policies is great. This study investigated policies for four 1:1 secondary schools in Texas (schools with a ratio of one computing device per student), particularly with respect to the relationship of those policies to practice. The purpose of the study was to determine the current status of the National Education Technology Standards (NETS) essential conditions as reflected in policy and the relationship of those conditions to practice as measured through levels of technology usage and teaching innovation. Schools were selected through purposive, criterion sampling. Open-ended interviews were conducted with twelve participants (principals, technology directors, and superintendents). Policies were rated by campus principals and the researcher using a rubric based on the NETS essential conditions. Finally, surveys of proficiency and readiness measures were collected from 156 teachers using the School Technology and Readiness (STaR) instrument and the Levels of Teaching Innovation (LoTI) instrument. Interviews were transcribed and coded using structural and frequency coding. Policies were analyzed using magnitude coding and policy ratings. A qualitative analysis determined patterns between policy and practice. Quantitative data collected from surveys were measured against policy ratings and magnitude coding using bivariate correlation methods in SPSS. Quantitative analysis revealed two statistically significant relationships between policy and reported levels of practice in the classroom. Qualitative elements of the study from interviews and policy ratings revealed six findings that may explain a lack of correlation between policy and practice: a lack of ability for leadership to identify 1:1 program policy; lack among school leaders of perceived relationship between policy and practice; a belief among leaders that they are communicating policy to stakeholders even though they demonstrated difficulty in articulating policy; an inability to identify specific research-based theoretical foundations in policy; a lack of meaningful measurement of practices; and a lack of leadership at the same school to interpret policy similarly. A seventh finding revealed potential patterns between conditions that are addressed extensively in policy and evidence of those conditions in practice. Qualitative findings, in particular, contribute insights into disconnections between policy and practice in 1:1 settings.
LPBP: low-power basis profile of the Java 2 Micro Edition

The Java platform provides a fully fledged programming environment for graphics applications using the Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT). We present a power-aware basis profile of the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) for embedded applications. The low-power basis profile (LPBP) is responsive to backlight luminance scaling in such a way that dynamic adjustment of the backlight luminance is accompanied by adaptive image compensation. The proposed scheme performs aggressive backlight dimming while maintaining the readability of screen contents based on image compensation techniques such as brightness compensation, image enhancement and context processing. Experiments show that on average the LPBP can easily achieve approximately 30% backlight system power reduction.
The Dissemination of Educational Innovations: New Insights into the Coaching Model.

Ways in which program innovators, policy developers, and educational researchers think about and engage in disseminating innovations to schools can prove a major barrier to reform. A process for effective dissemination using the coaching model in the accelerated schools program is described here. Accelerated schools draw on three principles: unity of purpose, empowerment coupled with responsibility, and building on strengths. To help spread this philosophy, educators from the schools and from the central office are trained as primary disseminators. The rapid growth of accelerated schools is mainly due to these trained coaches who either work at the district level or who are responsible for the implementation of the accelerated schools model at their own school. An examination of an evolving coaching model at the University of New Orleans Accelerated Schools Center, a comparison of the effectiveness of district coaches versus inhouse coaches, and an overview of the coaching model at the National Center for Accelerated Schools shows that the coaching model must be adapted for certain conditions. The National Center requires a large pool of highly qualified applicants to work full-time at offsite schools, which would not be feasible in smaller school districts. (RJM) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** THE DISSEMINATION OF EDUCATIONAL INNOVATIONS: NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE COACHING MODEL
Leveraging Social Network Analysis with Topic Models and the Semantic Web

Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Web Mining (WM) techniques are being applied to study the structures of social networks in order to manage their dynamics and predict their evolution. This paper describes how we used Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities (SIOC) ontology to represent the (latent) semantic relationships between the members of a large community forum (about 2,500), Plexilandia. We extended SIOC, taking advantage of topic-based text mining and developed data mining algorithms that used our SIOC extensions to provide a better understanding of the social dynamics of the members of the Plexilandia community. This new understanding helped us to detect and discover the key members of Plexilandia successfuly.
The Cultures of the Cities

Apparatus is provided, of the auger type, for the disposition at the bottom of a silo, for sweeping across the floor of a silo while rotating on its own axis, and for conveying silage from the bottom of the silo to a generally central opening. Particularly novel means is provided for cutting and discharging of silage that is disposed up against the silo wall. The silage is delivered to a generally central opening in the silo, and a particularly novel discharge chute or duct with a bottom seal therefor provides a method for discharging silage into a tunnel disposed beneath the silo, on a selective basis.
Toward joint approximate inference of visual quantities on cellular processor arrays

The interacting visual maps (IVM) algorithm introduced in [1] is able to perform the joint approximate inference of several visual quantities such as optic-flow, gray-level intensities and ego-motion, using a sparse input coming from a neuromorphic dynamic vision sensor (DVS). We show that features of the model such as the intrinsic parallelism and distributed nature of its computation make it a natural candidate to benefit from the cellular processor array (CPA) hardware architecture. We have now implemented the IVM algorithm on a general-purpose CPA simulator, and here we present results of our simulations and demonstrate that the IVM algorithm indeed naturally fits the CPA architecture. Our work indicates that extended versions of the IVM algorithm could benefit greatly from a dedicated hardware implementation, eventually yielding a high speed, low power visual odometry chip.
Consistent Kaluza-Klein sphere reductions

We study the circumstances under which a Kaluza-Klein reduction on an n-sphere, with a massless truncation that includes all the Yang-Mills fields of $\mathrm{SO}(n+1),$ can be consistent at the full non-linear level. We take as the starting point a theory comprising a p-form field strength and (possibly) a dilaton, coupled to gravity in the higher dimension D. We show that aside from the previously studied cases with $(D,p)=(11,4)$ and (10,5) (associated with the ${S}^{4}$ and ${S}^{7}$ reductions of $D=11$ supergravity, and the ${S}^{5}$ reduction of type IIB supergravity), the only other possibilities that allow consistent reductions are for $p=2,$ reduced on ${S}^{2},$ and for $p=3,$ reduced on ${S}^{3}$ or ${S}^{D\ensuremath{-}3}. $ We construct the fully non-linear Kaluza-Klein Ans\"atze in all these cases. In particular, we obtain $D=3,$ $N=8,$ $\mathrm{SO}(8)$ and $D=7,$ $N=2,$ $\mathrm{SO}(4)$ gauged supergravities from ${S}^{7}$ and ${S}^{3}$ reductions of $N=1$ supergravity in $D=10. $
Leading and Teaching with Technology: School Principals’ Perspective

Technology has changed the way people live, from use of the Internet to the way they communicate with text messages and e-mails. This change is also evident in education system. This study traced how principals' leadership roles have changed in the school setting because digital natives and society in general have become technologically savvy. The findings for this study were generated from interviews and observations of high school principals. This qualitative research study revealed that administrators are apprehensive about social media in the classroom and that they need to become more familiar with this to better implement technology effectively in the classroom. To ease their apprehension, principals need to change their ways of thinking about social media's use. st digital educational environment.
Delays and cost increases in the construction of private residential projects in Kuwait

Time‐delays and cost‐increases associated with the construction of private residential projects in the State of Kuwait are determined. A person‐interview survey of 450 randomly selected private residential project owners and developers in 27 representative districts in metropolitan Kuwait formed the database for the study. The socio‐economic traits of the owners/developers, and the pre‐construction family planning, the design, and the construction phases of the sample projects are presented. Estimates of time‐delays and cost‐increases are made, and their causes identified. The three main causes of time‐delays included changing orders, owners' financial constraints and owners' lack of experience in the construction business. Regarding cost overruns, the three main causes were identified as contractor‐related problems, material‐related problems and, again, owners' financial constraints. A number of recommendations end the paper. The minimization of time delays and cost overruns in private residential projects would require: the availability of adequate funds, allocation of sufficient time and money at the design phase, and selection of a competent consultant and a reliable contractor to carry out the work.
Timing and Duration of Traffic-related Air Pollution Exposure and the Risk for Childhood Wheeze and Asthma.

RATIONALE The timing and duration of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) exposure may be important for childhood wheezing and asthma development. OBJECTIVES We examined the relationship between TRAP exposure and longitudinal wheezing phenotypes and asthma at age 7 years. METHODS Children completed clinical examinations annually from age 1 year through age 4 years and age 7 years. Parental-reported wheezing was assessed at each age, and longitudinal wheezing phenotypes (early-transient, late-onset, persistent) and asthma were defined at age 7 years. Participants' time-weighted exposure to TRAP, from birth through age 7 years, was estimated using a land-use regression model. The relationship between TRAP exposure and wheezing phenotypes and asthma was examined. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS High TRAP exposure at birth was significantly associated with both transient and persistent wheezing phenotypes (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-2.57 and aOR = 2.31; 95% CI, 1.28-4.15, respectively); exposure from birth to age 1 year and age 1 to 2 years was also associated with persistent wheeze. Only children with high average TRAP exposure from birth through age 7 years were at significantly increased risk for asthma (aOR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.01-2.88). CONCLUSIONS Early-life exposure to TRAP is associated with increased risk for persistent wheezing, but only long-term exposure to high levels of TRAP throughout childhood was associated with asthma development.
A 3D approach to equilibrium, stability and transport studies in RFX-mod improved regimes

The full three-dimensional (3D) approach is now becoming an important issue for all magnetic confinement configurations. It is a necessary condition for the stellarator but also the tokamak and the reversed field pinch (RFP) now cannot be completely described in an axisymmetric framework. For the RFP the observation of self-sustained helical configurations with improved plasma performances require a better description in order to assess a new view on this configuration. In this new framework plasma configuration studies for RFX-mod have been considered both with tools developed for the RFP as well as considering codes originally developed for the stellarator and adapted to the RFP. These helical states are reached through a transition to a very low/reversed shear configuration leading to internal electron transport barriers. These states are interrupted by MHD reconnection events and the large Te gradients at the barriers indicate that both current and pressure driven modes are to be considered. Furthermore the typically flat Te profiles in the helical core have raised the issue of the role of electrostatic and electromagnetic turbulence in these reduced chaos regions, so that a stability analysis in the correct 3D geometry is required to address an optimization of the plasma setup. In this view the VMEC code proved to be an effective way to obtain helical equilibria to be studied in terms of stability and transport with a suite of well tested codes. In this work, the equilibrium reconstruction technique as well as the experimental evidence of 3D effects and their first interpretation in terms of stability and transport are presented using both RFP and stellarator tools.
A BDD-based algorithm for computation of exact fault detection probabilities

Signal and fault detection probabilities are widely used in the area of testing. Due to the computational complexity, in most cases only approximated values are computed. A system called PLATO which allows the computation of the exact values for many combinational circuits is described. The implemented algorithms use the recently developed BDD packages as data structure. Besides the description of the algorithms, attention is given to general problems arising with the use of BDDs as data structure. Some new heuristics are presented to deal with these problems.
Genome-wide Association Study (GWAS) and Its Application for Improving the Genomic Estimated Breeding Values (GEBV) of the Berkshire Pork Quality Traits

The missing heritability has been a major problem in the analysis of best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP). We introduced the traditional genome-wide association study (GWAS) into the BLUP to improve the heritability estimation. We analyzed eight pork quality traits of the Berkshire breeds using GWAS and BLUP. GWAS detects the putative quantitative trait loci regions given traits. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained using GWAS results with p value <0.01. BLUP analyzed with significant SNPs was much more accurate than that with total genotyped SNPs in terms of narrow-sense heritability. It implies that genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) of pork quality traits can be calculated by BLUP via GWAS. The GWAS model was the linear regression using PLINK and BLUP model was the G-BLUP and SNP-GBLUP. The SNP-GBLUP uses SNP-SNP relationship matrix. The BLUP analysis using preprocessing of GWAS can be one of the possible alternatives of solving the missing heritability problem and it can provide alternative BLUP method which can find more accurate GEBVs.
On Counting Integral Points in a Convex Rational Polytope

Given a convex rational polytope ? ( b) := { x ? R n+ |Ax = b}, we consider the functionb ? f( b), which counts the nonnegative integral points of ? ( b). A closed form expression of its Z-transformz? F( z) is easily obtained so thatf( b) can be computed as the inverse Z-transform of F. We then provide two variants of an inversion algorithm. As a by-product, one of the algorithms provides the Ehrhart polynomial of a convex integer polytope ? We also provide an alternative that avoids the complex integration of F( z) and whose main computational effort is to solve a linear system. This latter approach is particularly attractive for relatively small values ofm, wherem is the number of nontrivial constraints (or rows ofA).
Alzheimer's Disease: Screening Biomarkers Using Frequency Doubling Technology Visual Field

This study was to investigate the feasibility of frequency doubling technology (FDT) visual field testing in Alzheimer's disease (AD) in order to identify early biomarkers of AD in patients already diagnosed with AD and compare the findings to participants not having Alzheimer's disease. This biomarker would be useful in a battery of tests for the early identification of those with AD. It was not the intent to correlate the visual system biomarker with severity of disease, but to determine if the biomarker was present in pass or fail screening criteria. The study showed with very strong significance that the FDT can identify biomarkers of those with AD compared to an age-matched population that does not have AD. FDT is a simple test to take and administer and has been used to screen for eye and retinal diseases such as glaucoma, retinal macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. The results obtained in the FDT readout are analyzed and compared to the age normative database within the system. The FDT ability to screen for AD biomarker in the visual system was significant in those with AD compared to the controls, and the deficits were not related to any ocular pathology.
Political factors and oral health inequalities: a cross-national analysis

Background: Macro-level factors (related to the economic and political context) have been considered as determinants of health inequalities. In particular, the role of political factors (such as welfare state regimes) has recently received increasing attention. However, very little is known in that respect for oral health inequalities. Aim: To examine the relationship between oral health inequalities and political factors (welfare state regimes) in Europe and the US. Methods: The project involved three stages. First, oral health inequalities were compared across 21 European countries grouped into different welfare state regimes (Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian, Southern, and Eastern). Second, a multilevel approach was employed to assess the influence of welfare regimes on the variation in oral health between European countries. Third, inequalities were compared between two countries classified in the same welfare regime, but with different health care systems: England and the US. In stages one and three, relative and absolute socioeconomic inequalities were examined using the relative and slope indices of inequality (RII and SII, respectively). Results: The Scandinavian welfare regime showed consistently lower prevalence rates of edentulousness, no functional dentition and oral impacts than the other regimes. Significant educational and occupational inequalities on edentulousness and no functional dentition were observed in all welfare regimes. The comparison on the magnitude of inequalities across regimes showed a complex picture with different findings according to the outcome, socioeconomic indicator and nature of the inequalities (absolute and relative). Overall, results of this comparison did not support the hypothesis of lower inequalities in the Scandinavian regime. When using a multilevel approach, results revealed that grouping countries into welfare regimes contributed to explaining the variation in oral health among European countries. In the England-US comparison, significant relative (RII) and absolute (SII) inequalities were found in the two countries in all oral health measures. These inequalities were consistently higher in the US compared to England. Conclusions: Oral health inequalities exist in all European welfare state regimes. The Scandinavian regime exhibited better oral health, but not lower inequalities compared to the other regimes. The US showed consistently larger inequalities than England. Overall, results suggest that political factors influence socioeconomic inequalities in oral health.