Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Program on Education Policy and Governance Working Papers Series Producing superstars for the economic Mundial : The Mexican Predicament with quality of education

The question of how to build the capabilities to both initiate a resurgence of growth and facilitate Mexico’s transition into a broader set of growth enhancing industries and activities is pressing. In this regard it seems important to understand the quality of the skills of the labor force. Moreover, in increasingly knowledge based economies it is not just the skills of the typical worker than matter, but also the skills of the most highly skilled. While everyone is aware of the lagging performance of Mexico on internationally comparable examinations like the PISA, what has been less explored is the consequence of that for the absolute number of very highly skilled. We examine how many students Mexico produces per year above the “high international benchmark” of the PISA in mathematics. While the calculations are somewhat crude and only indicative, our estimates are that Mexico produces only between 3,500 and 6,000 students per year above the high international benchmark (of a cohort of roughly 2 million). In spite of educational performance that is widely lamented within the USA, it produces a quarter of a million, Korea 125,000 and even India, who in general has much worse performance on average, produces over 100,000 high performance in math students per year. The issue is not about math per se, this is just an illustration and we feel similar findings would hold in other domains. The consequences of the dearth of globally competitive human capital are explored, with an emphasis on the rise of super star phenomena in labor markets (best documented in the USA). Finally, we explore the educational policies that one might consider to focus on the upper tail of performance, which are at odds with much of the “quality” focus of typical educational policies which are often remedial and focused on the lower, not upper tail of performance. Forthcoming in the World Economic Forum Report 2008
Program on Education Policy and Governance Working Papers Series Impact of the Teacher Advancement Program on Student Test Score Gains : Findings from an Independent Appraisal

This article presents findings from the first independent, third-party appraisal on the impact of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) on student test score gains in mathematics. TAP is a comprehensive school reform model designed to attract highly-effective teachers, improve instructional effectiveness, and elevate student achievement. We use a panel data set to estimate a TAP treatment effect by comparing student test score gains in mathematics in schools that participated in TAP with student test score gains in non-TAP schools. Ordinary least squares estimation reveals a positive TAP treatment effect on student test score gains in the elementary grades, with weaker but still positive point estimates in the secondary grades. When estimation methods control for selection bias, the positive effect remains at the elementary level, but most estimates for grades 6 through 10 turn negative. Our findings are qualified by the lack of information on the fidelity of implementation across TAP schools and on variation in features of TAP programs at the school level.
NEGOTIATING DIVORCE OUTCOMES : CAN WE IDENTIFY PATTERNS IN DIVORCE SETTLEMENTS ?

As nuclear families have become increasingly less stable over the past quarter century, married couples have been faced with the difficult task of negotiating the terms by which marriage is ended. For parents, divorce involves questions revolving around the care and sustenance of children. In this paper we investigate whether observed divorce settlements indicate that parents make trade-offs in several areas concerning their children, including custody, visitation, child support, and marital property division. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, we find evidence that parents make trade-offs of this nature. We also suggest a framework within which these results can be interpreted. Negotiating Divorce Outcomes: Can We Identify Patterns in Divorce Settlements An increasing proportion of all households are headed by a single parent. A significant proportion of the increase in these households can be attributed to increases in marital dissolution. Estimates indicate that as many as 50 percent of marriages recently contracted will eventually end in divorce (Weed, 1980). The determinants of marital dissolution and the socioeconomic consequences for women and children have received considerable research attention (e.g., Duncan and Hoffman, 1985; Garfinkel and McLanahan, 1986; Wallerstein and Kelley, 1980; Weitzman, 1985). Yet the patterns of negotiation surrounding divorce, which set the context for subsequent life-course outcomes, have received much less attention. Little is known about the interrelationships between various outcomes that constitute the basis of a divorce settlement. In this paper, we consider observed divorce outcomes to be indicators of the process of negotiation by which marriages are ended.
Precipitation characteristics at the hinterland of Gurbantunggut Desert and the surrounding areas.

It is always a challenge to study and understand precipitation characteristics in inner desert area due to the uninhabited conditions and the scarcity of observation data.Most relevant work in the literature employed data from weather stations located on the peripheral area of the desert and/or measurements from short-term scientific field explorations to study desert environment and climate change in Xinjiang.A few studies have examined short-term precipitation and clouds characteristics in the inner desert;however,it is not common to encounter studies using long-term meteorological data that were obtained in the inner desert area.This paper is one of the first of using the long-term,continuous measurements collected at the meteorological weather stations in the inner Gurbantunggut Desert between 1996 and 2005 to examine the annual,seasonal and monthly precipitation patterns and possible changes inside the desert with the variation coefficient and relative difference technique.Comparisons with the precipitation data obtained from the surrounding areas of the desert are also conducted.The results show as follows:(1) The annual precipitation in the inner Gurbantunggut Desert is 123.4 mm,about 32% less than the surrounding areas;(2) The annual,seasonal,and monthly distributions of the precipitation inside the desert are rather similar to those of the surrounding areas,with increase trend in summer and decrease trend in winter but no significant changes in the other two seasons.This implies that the total increase trend in precipitation comes primarily from summer increase;(3) The variation coefficients of the annual and seasonal precipitation,vapor pressure and relative humidity in the inner desert are larger than those of the surrounding areas,suggesting larger variability and instability of meteorological conditions inside the desert when compared to the peripheral areas;(4) The monthly precipitation of this decade in inner desert is less than that in surrounding area.In March the precipitation is minimal and the precipitation relative difference is 52.3%. (5) Observation data shows that there is only one day with precipitation more than 25 mm in this decade.The longest period with continuous precipitation is 8 days while the longest period without precipitation is 44 days in the inner desert in this decade.
Light to moderate intake of alcohol, drinking patterns, and risk of cancer: results from two prospective US cohort studies

Objectives To quantify risk of overall cancer across all levels of alcohol consumption among women and men separately, with a focus on light to moderate drinking and never smokers; and assess the influence of drinking patterns on overall cancer risk. Design Two prospective cohort studies. Setting Health professionals in the United States. Participants 88 084 women and 47 881 men participating in the Nurses’ Health Study (from 1980) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (from 1986), followed until 2010. Main outcomes and measures Relative risks of cancer. Results 19 269 and 7571 (excluding non-advanced prostate cancers) incident cancers were documented among women and men, respectively, over 3 144 853 person years. Compared with non-drinkers, light to moderate drinkers had relative risks of total cancer of 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.98 to 1.06) and 1.04 (1.00 to 1.09; Ptrend=0.12) for alcohol intake of 0.1-4.9 and 5-14.9 g/day among women, respectively. Corresponding values for men were 1.03 (0.96 to 1.11), 1.05 (0.97 to 1.12), and 1.06 (0.98 to 1.15; Ptrend=0.31) for alcohol intake of 0.1-4.9, 5-14.9, and 15-29.9 g/day, respectively. Associations for light to moderate drinking and total cancer were similar among ever or never smokers, although alcohol consumption above moderate levels (in particular ≥30 g/day) was more strongly associated with risk of total cancer among ever smokers than never smokers. For a priori defined alcohol related cancers in men, risk was not appreciably increased for light and moderate drinkers who never smoked (Ptrend=0.18). However, for women, even an alcohol consumption of 5-14.9 g/day was associated with increased risk of alcohol related cancer (relative risk 1.13 (95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.20)), driven by breast cancer. More frequent and heavy episodic drinking was not further associated with risk of total cancer after adjusting for total alcohol intake. Conclusion Light to moderate drinking is associated with minimally increased risk of overall cancer. For men who have never smoked, risk of alcohol related cancers is not appreciably increased for light and moderate drinking (up to two drinks per day). However, for women who have never smoked, risk of alcohol related cancers (mainly breast cancer) increases even within the range of up to one alcoholic drink a day.
Exporting the Second Amendment: U.S. Assault Weapons and the Homicide Rate in Mexico

In the four years following the expiration of the U.S. Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), the homicide rate in Mexico increased 45 percent. Over the same period, over 60,000 firearms recovered in Mexico have been traced back to the U.S. A difference-in-difference approach is used to estimate the effect of the expiration of the AWB on homicide rates in Mexico; states with a strong pre-2005 drug cartel presence are defined as the treatment group. The baseline estimates suggest the expiration of the AWB is responsible for at least 16.4 percent of the increase in the homicide rate in Mexico between 2004 and 2008.
Using relative penetration and maleness indices in Meloidogyne incognita to establish resistance type in Cucumis myriocarpus

Resistance in plant-parasitic nematodes is broadly classified as pre-infectional or post-infectional. Prebreeding establishment of resistance type in plant-parasitic nematodes is essential where germplasm is to be introgressed into the rootstock breeding lines since only post-infectional resistance is introgressible. A study was conducted to determine whether resistance in wild cucumber (Cucumis myriocarpus) rootstocks to the southern root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) was preor postinfectional. Seven treatments: 0, 200, 600, 1000, 1400, 1800 and 2200 eggs and juveniles, were arranged in a randomised complete block design with 10 replicates. At harvest, 56 days after inoculation, the relative penetration index [RPI = (Pfin root/Pfin soil) – 1] and the relative maleness index [RMI = (Pftotal males/Pftotal females) – 1] were each greater than one, with the reproductive factors of M. incognita also being less than one at all levels, without any yield loss. The RPI and RMI suggested that resistance in C. myriocarpus to M. incognita was post-infectional. Thus, the resistance germplasm in this plant could be introgressed into wild watermelons in the development of nematode-resistant rootstock lines for the management of M. incognita race 2 in highly nematode-susceptible watermelon cultivars.
Jussi Puljula ALCOHOL-RELATED TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE REDUCTION OF ALCOHOL PRICES OBSERVATIONS FROM OULU PROVINCE AND NORTHERN OSTROBOTHNIA

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an enormous health and economic problem. The proportion of alcohol involvement among subjects with TBI varies 34–51%. Acute alcohol intoxication increases the risk for head trauma compared with other parts of the body. Therefore, alcohol is a major, yet preventable risk factor for TBI. Alcohol taxes were reduced in 2004 and limits on taxfree imports from other EU countries were also removed. Within a year, total alcohol consumption increased by 10% in Finland. Alcohol-induced liver diseases and sudden deaths involving alcohol increased after the reduction. The effects of the reduction on the incidence and mortality of TBI were not known. Data on all TBI subjects admitted to Oulu University Hospital (1999, 2007) were gathered, as well as data on all fatal TBIs among the residents of Oulu Province (1999, 2006, and 2007). A cohort of subjects with head trauma admitted to Oulu University Hospital in 1999 was followed up until the end of 2009. Alcohol involvement was based on positive alcohol measurement or alcohol-related cause of death on death certificate or hospital chart notes made by health care providers. The incidence and mortality rates of moderate-to-severe TBI and alcohol involvement between the observation years were compared. Cumulative survival rates were calculated to demonstrate the effect of alcohol price reduction on the mortality of the head trauma cohort during a 10-year follow-up. The incidence of moderate-to-severe and fatal TBI was similar before and after the reduction of alcohol prices. After the reduction, the proportion of alcohol-related moderate-to-severe and fatal TBIs increased among middle-aged people, but decreased among young adults. The increase in TBIs among the middle-aged was mainly due to an increase in falls, whereas the decrease among young adults was due to a decreased number of suicides (particularly among young men). After the reduction of alcohol prices, harmful drinkers were significantly more likely to die than those who were not harmful drinkers. The overall incidence of moderate-to-severe and fatal TBIs did not increase after the reduction of alcohol prices, but the proportions of alcohol-related TBIs due to falls increased among middleaged people. Our observations demonstrate that harmful drinkers and middle-aged people were the groups which suffered the most TBI-related harm after the reduction of alcohol prices.
A Battery-Less Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting Interface Circuit With 35 mV Startup Voltage

A battery-less thermoelectric energy harvesting interface circuit to extract electrical energy from human body heat is implemented in a 0.35 CMOS process. A mechanically assisted startup circuit enables operation of the system from input voltages as low as 35 mV. An efficient control circuit that performs maximal transfer of the extracted energy to a storage capacitor and regulates the output voltage at 1.8 V is presented.
Interactive comment on “ Global warming projections derived from an observation-based minimal model ” by K .

The comment by Hébert and Lovejoy (H&L) raises a number of issues which would be interesting to discuss in depth, although some have little relevance to the present discussion paper. The main comment, which is relevant, is the following: Will the divergence of the convolution integral over a power-law kernel with β > 0 as t → ∞ have an effect on the GMST-projection up to 2200 CE? The short answer is that it does not. In the attached supplement I demonstrate this. It is written as a group of appendices which will be added in the revised manuscript.
1 OPTIMAL SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR BRAIN – MACHINE INTERFACES

Several landmark experimental paradigms have shown the feasibility of using neuroprosthetic devices to restore motor function and control in individuals who are “locked in” or have lost the ability to control movement of their limbs [1–19]. In these experiments, researchers seek to both rehabilitate and augment the performance of neural–motor systems using brain–machine interfaces (BMIs) that transfer the intent of the individual (as collected from the cortex) into control commands for prosthetic limbs and/or computers. Brain–machine interface research has been strongly motivated by the need to help the more than 2 million individuals in the United States suffering from a wide variety of neurological disorders that include spinal cord injury and diseases of the peripheral nervous system [20]. While the symptoms and causes of these disabilities are diverse, one characteristic is common in many of these neurological conditions: Normal functioning of the brain remains intact. If the brain is spared from injury and control signals can be extracted, the BMI problem becomes one of finding optimal signal processing techniques to efficiently and accurately convert these signals into operative control commands. A variety of noninvasive and invasive techniques have been used to collect control signals from the cortex. Some of the earliest brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) utilized electrical potentials collected from the scalp through the use of electroencephalography (EEG) [21]. This approach to interfacing individuals with machines has the appeal of a low threshold of clinical use since no surgical procedures are required to install the sensors detecting the control signals. Additionally, EEG hardware technology is at a stage where it is relatively inexpensive, portable, and easy to use. In terms of ease of access to the neurophysiology, EEG is an attractive choice; however, in terms of signal processing, this approach has been limited to basic communication capabilities with a computer screen and suffers from a low bandwidth (a few bits per second). The fundamental difficulty of using EEG for BCI is due to the “spatiotemporal filtering” of neuronal activity resulting from the different conductivities of the scalp, skull, and dura, which limits the signal-to-noise ratio of the time series and blurs the localization of the neural population firings [22]. Long training sessions are often required for BCI users to learn to modulate their neuronal activity, and users can respond only after minutes of concentration. Another approach to noninvasively collecting control signals is through the use
Association between extent of simulated degeneration of C 5C 6 disc and biomechanical parameters of a model of the full cervical spine : a finite element analysis study

Purpose: To delineate the association between extent of degeneration of the disc at C5-C6, simulated in a model of the full cervical spine, and biomechanical responses of the model. Methods: A validated three-dimensional model of an intact, healthy, adult full cervical spine (C1-C7) was constructed. This model was then modified to create three models simulating mild, moderate, and severe grades of degeneration of the disc at C5-C6. For each of these four models, we used the finite element analysis method to obtain three biomechanical parameters at various tissues in the model, under seven different physiologically relevant loadings. Results: For each of the biomechanical parameters, the results were expressed as relative change in its value when a specified combination of simulated degeneration model and applied loading was used, with respect to the corresponding value in the intact model. We introduced a new measure, which we designate the composite biomechanical performance index (CBPI), whose value incorporates all of the aforementioned relative changes. Conclusions: We found that CBPI increased with increase in the severity of disc degeneration simulated. The clinical relevance of CBPI should be addressed in future work.
Soil Moisture Active Passive ( SMAP ) Project : Calibration and Validation for the L 2 / 3 _ SM _ P Version 4 and L 2 / 3 _ SM _ P _ E Version 1 Data Products

Jackson, T. , P. O’Neill, , S, Chan, R. Bindlish, A. Colliander, F. Chen, S. Dunbar, J. Piepmeier, M. Cosh, T. Caldwell, J. Walker, X. Wu, A. Berg, T. Rowlandson, A. Pacheco, H. McNairn, M. Thibeault, J. Martínez-Fernández, Á. González-Zamora, E. Lopez-Baeza, F. Uldall, M. Seyfried, D. Bosch, P. Starks, C. Holifield, J. Prueger, Z. Su, R. van der Velde, J. Asanuma, M. Palecki, E. Small, M. Zreda, J. Calvet, W. Crow, Y. Kerr, S. Yueh, and D. Entekhabi, December 15, 2016. Calibration and Validation for the L2/3_SM_P Version 4 and L2/3_SM_P_E Version 1 Data Products, SMAP Project, JPL D-56297, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Project

Time ordered geolocated horizontal polarization and vertical polarization brightness temperatures as well as third and fourth Stokes parameters. Each product covers a half orbit with boundaries at the northernmost and southernmost points along the nadir path of the SMAP spacecraft trajectory. purpose The SMAP L1B_TB Science Processing Software generates data Revision A JPL D-92339 July 20, 2015 SMAP Level 1B_TB Product Specification 37 Copyright 2015 California Institute of Technology. U.S. Government sponsorship acknowledged. products with sufficient accuracy to retrieve soil moisture at 36 km resolution. Subsequent SMAP processes employ these data, along with radar data acquired simultaneously, to disaggregate the L1B_TB brightness temperatures into higher resolution samples, and thus generate higher resolution soil moisture products.
Technical Report Series on Global Modeling and Data Assimilation

A multivariate ensemble Kalman filter (MvEnKF) implemented on a massively parallel computer architecture has been implemented for the Poseidon ocean circulation model and tested with a Pacific Basin model configuration. There are about two million prognostic state-vector variables. Parallelism for the data assimilation step is achieved by regionalization of the background-error covariances that are calculated from the phase-space distribution of the ensemble. Each processing element (PE) collects elements of a matrix measurement functional from nearby PEs. To avoid the introduction of spurious long-range covariances associated with finite ensemble sizes, the background-error covariances are given compact support by means of a Hadamard (element by element) product with a three-dimensional canonical correlation function. The methodology and the MvEnKF configuration are discussed. It is shown that the regionalization of the background covariances has a negligible impact on the quality of the analyses. The parallel algorithm is very efficient for large numbers of observations but does not scale well beyond 100 PEs at the current model resolution. On a platform with distributed memory, memory rather than speed is the limiting factor.
Glycine Receptors Caught between Genome and Proteome – Functional Implications of RNA Editing and Splicing

Information processing in the brain requires a delicate balance between excitation and inhibition. Glycine receptors (GlyR) are involved in inhibitory mechanisms mainly at a synaptic level, but potential novel roles for these receptors recently emerged due to the discovery of posttranscriptional processing. GLR transcripts are edited through enzymatic modification of a single nucleotide leading to amino acid substitution within the neurotransmitter binding domain. RNA editing produces gain-of-function receptors well suited for generation and maintenance of tonic inhibition of neuronal excitability. As neuronal activity deprivation in early stages of development or in epileptic tissue is detrimental to neurons and because RNA editing of GlyR is up-regulated in temporal lobe epilepsy patients with a severe course of disease a pathophysiological role of these receptors emerges. This review contains a state-of-the-art discussion of (patho)physiological implications of GlyR RNA editing.