Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Haciendo que los colegios se hagan responsables por el logro (Holding Schools Accountable for Achievement). ERIC Digest.

De tal manera que el llamado hacia una mayor responsabilidad de los colegios ha encontrado una receptiva audiencia nacional. En un tiempo de aumento en los costos y detrimento en los resultados, los norteamericanos pensaron que era de simple sentido común hacer a los educadores responsables. Los educadores podrán cuestionar ciertas políticas específicas, pero raramente discutirán que ellos no debieran ser responsables.
Physical Processes Shaping Gamma-Ray Burst X-Ray Afterglow Light Curves: Theoretical Implications from the Swift X-Ray Telescope Observations

With the successful launch of the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, a rich trove of early X-ray afterglow data has been collected by its onboard X-Ray Telescope (XRT). Some interesting features are emerging, including a distinct rapidly decaying component preceding the conventional afterglow component in many sources, a shallow decay component before the more "normal" decay component observed in a good fraction of GRBs, and X-ray flares in nearly half of the afterglows. In this paper we systematically analyze the possible physical processes that shape the properties of the early X-ray afterglow light curves and use the data to constrain various models. We suggest that the steep decay component is consistent with the tail emission of the prompt gamma-ray bursts and/or the X-ray flares. This provides strong evidence that the prompt emission and afterglow emission are likely two distinct components, supporting the internal origin of the GRB prompt emission. The shallow decay segment observed in a group of GRBs suggests that very likely the forward shock keeps being refreshed for some time. This might be caused by either a long-lived central engine, or a wide distribution of the shell Lorentz factors, or else possibly the deceleration of a Poynting flux-dominated flow. X-ray flares suggest that the GRB central engine is very likely still active after the prompt gamma-ray emission is over, but with a reduced activity at later times. In some cases, the central engine activity even extends to days after the burst triggers. Analyses of early X-ray afterglow data reveal that GRBs are indeed highly relativistic events and that early afterglow data of many bursts, starting from the beginning of the XRT observations, are consistent with the afterglow emission from an ISM environment.
Intelligent crawling based on rough set for web resource discovery

The rapid development of the Internet brings a new problem, which is how to rapidly and effectively retrieve needed web resource from vast number of web pages. The progress of machine learning techniques shows a new direction of solving this problem. In this paper, intelligent crawling algorithm based on rough set is proposed. The algorithm use the hypertext features behavior in order to perform topic specific resource discovery. Our experiment in this regard has provided better Harvest rate and better Target recall for focused crawling.
Approach for a Congestion Charges System supported on Internet of Things

This paper describes an approach for a congestion charge system architecture based on a model of Internet of Things. This proposal is made in order to address the problems caused by the growth of traffic congestion on road infrastructure that supports a city. The vision of the architecture is the divided in two components: the vehicular detection component and the processing and analysis component. The first of these is related to the network of distributed and autonomous hardware used to monitor and detect vehicles that enter to a cost congestion area. The second component is responsible for the logical operations business of the system. The document shows advantages of the model of Internet of Things for a Congestion Charges System and other associated challenges.
A fast layer elimination approach for power grid reduction

Simulation and verification of the on-die power delivery network (PDN) is one of the key steps in the design of integrated circuits (ICs). With the very large sizes of modern grids, verification of PDNs has become very expensive and a host of techniques for faster simulation and grid model approximation have been proposed. These include topological node elimination, as in TICER and full-blown numerical model order reduction (MOR) as in PRIMA and related methods. However, both of these traditional approaches suffer from certain drawbacks that make them expensive and limit their scalability to very large grids. In this paper, we propose a novel technique for grid reduction that is a hybrid of both approaches-the method is numerical but also factors in grid topology. It works by eliminating whole internal layers of the grid at a time, while aiming to preserve the dynamic behavior of the resulting reduced grid. Effectively, instead of traditional node-by-node topological elimination we provide a numerical layer-by-layer block-matrix approach that is both fast and accurate. Experimental results show that this technique is capable of handling very large power grids and provides a 4.25× speed-up in transient analysis.
Automatic optical reading of passport information

Nowadays, automatic reading of passport information has become an important security issue in airports and border control. This is implemented including electronic devices on passports that allow a reliable and fast reading. Our purpose with this system is to reinforce the electronic reading adding an optical reading system. This optical system could be used to read old passports that do not have the electronic system (still in use in many countries) and it could be also used to provide an additional security measure: comparing the data from electronic chip to those written on the passport. This system could also have less critical uses, such as getting fast the personal information in a hotel check-in or other similar situations.
Research on employment of adaptive beamformer based on weight iterative algorithm in suppressing radio frequency interferences

By comparing the disadvantages and advantages of conventional algorithms of adaptive beamformer, we put forward an adaptive beamformer based on weight iterative algorithm for suppressing radio frequency interference (RFI), according to the distributing properties of RFI in different range cell. We get the initial weight vector of the adaptive beamformer by utilizing the algorithm of minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR). The other weight vectors are computed by the algorithm of linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) based on the last time weight vector. The covariance matrix of the two algorithms, i.e. MVDV and LCMV, are constructed with the array snapshots in the far range cells which have not useful radar echo. Thus the free degree of antenna array is increased. The feasibility of the adaptive beamformer is proved by utilizing it to process the actual radar data. Keywords—LCMV, MVDR, RFI, adaptive beamformer
Valenced Fit Reviews in the Online Apparel Retailing Purchase Decision Process

The purpose of this study is to explore how the valence of fit review (FR) affects the consumer decision-making process during online apparel shopping. The first two stages of Rogers (2003)' innovation decision model (i.e., knowledge and persuasion), credibility, and confidence in purchase decision (CIP) are applied in the conceptual model. A one-factor (valence of the FR) within-subject experimental design was used in this study. Results showed that positive FR was more compelling than negative FR for female consumers when they like the apparel product. Two aspects of information credibility (i.e., review credibility and site credibility) specific to the online shopping context played important roles in the consumer purchase decision process. Consumer CIP evoked by both FR and the provided OPI were also key determinants of the consumer purchase decision process. The FR invoked process consequently improved consumers' future purchase intention through their positive attitude to the online retailer.
Deterministic weight modification algorithm for efficient learning

This paper presents a new approach using deterministic weight modification (DWM) to speed up the convergence rate effectively and improve the global convergence capability of the standard and modified back-propagation (BP) algorithms. The main idea of DWM is to reduce the system error by changing the weights of a multi-layered feed-forward neural network in a deterministic way. Simulation results show that the performance of DWM is better than BP and other modified BP algorithms for a number of learning problems.
Does a more centralized urban form raise housing prices?

This paper examines the relationship between various quantitative measures of urban centralization and urban housing prices through the use of a 2000 data set from the 452 Census designated urbanized areas in the United States. An empirical study of this type is necessary because: (1) the theoretical influence of creating more centralized urban areas-or what many would consider less “sprawl”-on what people pay for housing is indeterminate, (2) now popular “Smart Growth” policies advocate more centralized urban areas, and (3) some have argued that a cost of this centralization is an increase in the price of homes. After controlling for differences across United States urbanized areas in residents' economic status and demographics, number and type of households, climate, household growth, nonresidential land uses, and the structural characteristics of houses, we find that a more centralized area exhibits a lower median home value and percentage of homes in an upper-end price category. Therefore, we offer no evidence to support the contention that a successful effort to further centralize an urban area raises the price of homes in that urban area. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
Efficient Cropping-Resistant Robust Image Hashing

A digital forensics examiner often has to deal with large amounts of multimedia content during an investigation. One important part of such an investigation is to identify illegal material like pictures containing child pornography. Robust image hashing is an effective technique to help identifying known illegal images even after the original images were modified by applying various image processing operations. However, some specific operations lead to increased false negative rates when using robust image hashing. One of the most challenging operations today is image cropping. In this work we introduce an approach to counter cropping operations on images by combining image segmentation and efficient block mean image hashing. We show that we are able to achieve high detection rates for images where cropping operations where applied on the original known source. This further improves the robustness of our image hashing approach.
Truthful Channel Sharing for Self Coexistence of Overlapping Medical Body Area Networks

As defined by IEEE 802.15. 6 standard, channel sharing is a potential method to coordinate inter-network interference among Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs) that are close to one another. However, channel sharing opens up new vulnerabilities as selfish MBANs may manipulate their online channel requests to gain unfair advantage over others. In this paper, we address this issue by proposing a truthful online channel sharing algorithm and a companion protocol that allocates channel efficiently and truthfully by punishing MBANs for misreporting their channel request parameters such as time, duration and bid for the channel. We first present an online channel sharing scheme for unit-length channel requests and prove that it is truthful. We then generalize our model to settings with variable-length channel requests, where we propose a critical value based channel pricing and preemption scheme. A bid adjustment procedure prevents unbeneficial preemption by artificially raising the ongoing winner’s bid controlled by a penalty factor λ. Our scheme can efficiently detect selfish behaviors by monitoring a trust parameter α of each MBAN and punish MBANs from cheating by suspending their requests. Our extensive simulation results show our scheme can achieve a total profit that is more than 85% of the offline optimum method in the typical MBAN settings.
Adaptive transmission and dynamic resource allocation for relay-assisted wireless networks

In this paper, we provide simulation results for the optimal channel-aware adaptive transmission, dynamic resource allocation and multiuser scheduling schemes for the downlink of a wireless cell that is assisted by a number of relays. The relays are half-duplex and apply a regenerative decode-and-forward scheme, and the channels are Rayleigh block-faded. We apply the optimal resource allocation scheme for two specific scheduling criteria, the maximum capacity scheduler and the proportional fair scheduler. For both scheduling schemes, we study the gains of using relays on the overall aggregate throughput of the system as well as for the individual users. Furthermore, we compare the performance versus the total number of relays and their locations in the wireless cell and we study the statistics of relays' usage. Moreover, we compare between the two scheduling schemes in terms of achievable rate and fairness among users.
INFORMATIVENESS OF THE EQUITY FINANCING DECISION : DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT VERSUS THE PUBLIC OFFER

Stock price reactions to announcements of new equity issues via dividend reinvestment plans (DRPs) have been shown to be statistically insignificant. The insignificant reaction documented in studies using conventional event study methods may be because (1) equity issuance through DRPs arises from economic motives that are different from those underlying general cash offers, (2) new-issue DRPs are generally much smaller than general cash offers, hence their effects are more difficult to detect, or (3) identification of the precise event date for new-issue DRPs is problematic. We compare stock price reactions to DRPs and general cash offers taking care to control for relative issue size and employing stringent sampling techniques to assure reliable identification of the event date. Our results show that stock price reactions to DRPs and general cash offers are statistically indistinguishable once the appropriate controls are employed.
Review of Form-Finding Methods for Tensegrity Structures

Seven form-finding methods for tensegrity structures are reviewed and classified. The three kinematical methods include an analytical approach, a non-linear optimisation, and a pseudo-dynamic iteration. The four statical methods include an analytical method, the formulation of linear equations of equilibrium in terms of force densities, an energy minimisation, and a search for the equilibrium configurations of the struts of the structure connected by cables whose lengths are to be determined, using a reduced set of equilibrium equations. It is concluded that the kinematical methods are best suited to obtaining only configuration details of structures that are already essentially known. The force density method is best suited to searching for new configurations, but affords no control over the lengths of the elements of the structure. The reduced coordinates method offers a greater control on elements lengths, but requires more extensive symbolic manipulations.
Musical Interaction with Artificial Life Forms: Sound Synthesis and Performance Mappings

This paper describes the use of evolutionary and artificial life techniques in sound design and the development of performance mapping to facilitate the real-time manipulation of such sounds through some input device controlled by the performer. A concrete example of such a system is briefly described which allows musicians without detailed knowledge and experience of sound synthesis techniques to develop new sounds and performance manipulation mappings interactively according to their own aesthetic judgments.
Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radio Using a Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo Scheme

In this letter, a novel stochastic strategy to spectrum sensing is investigated for the purpose of improving spectrum sensing efficiency of cognitive radio (CR) systems. The problem of selecting the optimal sequence of channels to finely sensing is formulated as an optimization problem to maximize the probability of obtaining available channels, and is then subsequently solved by using a Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) scheme. By employing a nonparametric approach such as the MCMC scheme, the reliance on specific traffic models is alleviated. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has the potential to achieve noticeably improved performance in terms of overhead and percentage of missed spectrum opportunities, thus making it well suited for use in CR networks.
Evaluation of Round Window Stimulation Performance in Otosclerosis Using Finite Element Modeling

Round window (RW) stimulation is a new type of middle ear implant's application for treating patients with middle ear disease, such as otosclerosis. However, clinical outcomes show a substantial degree of variability. One source of variability is the variation in the material properties of the ear components caused by the disease. To investigate the influence of the otosclerosis on the performance of the RW stimulation, a human ear finite element model including middle ear and cochlea was established based on a set of microcomputerized tomography section images of a human temporal bone. Three characteristic changes of the otosclerosis in the auditory system were simulated in the FE model: stapedial annular ligament stiffness enlargement, stapedial abnormal bone growth, and partial fixation of the malleus. The FE model was verified by comparing the model-predicted results with published experimental measurements. The equivalent sound pressure (ESP) of RW stimulation was calculated via comparing the differential intracochlear pressure produced by the RW stimulation and the normal eardrum sound stimulation. The results show that the increase of stapedial annular ligament and partial fixation of the malleus decreases RW stimulation's ESP prominently at lower frequencies. In contrast, the stapedial abnormal bone growth deteriorates RW stimulation's ESP severely at higher frequencies.
Antitrust enforcement in the healthcare industry: the expanding scope of state activity.

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To describe the landscape of state antitrust activity and review related research and policy issues. In particular, to examine state laws that attempt to immunize mergers among healthcare providers from state and federal antitrust prosecution and consent decrees issued by state attorneys general permitting healthcare providers to merge. DATA SOURCES: State laws attempting to immunize collaborative activities from state and federal antitrust prosecution and consent decrees between state attorneys general and collaborating healthcare providers. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: State antitrust agencies have been more willing than federal antitrust agencies to approve mergers that are contingent on the fulfillment of specific conditions that require continued oversight. CONCLUSIONS: Research is needed to inform policymakers about the consequences of state-approved mergers on market performance.
A Secure Wireless Routing Protocol Using Enhanced Chain Signatures

We propose a routing protocol for wireless networks. Wireless routing protocols allow hosts within a network to have some knowledge of the topology in order to know when to forward a packet (via broadcast) and when to drop it. Since a routing protocol forms the backbone of a network, it is a lucrative target for many attacks, all of which attempt to disrupt network traffic by corrupting routing tables of neighboring routers using false updates. Secure routing protocols designed for wired networks (such as S-BGP) are not scalable in an ad-hoc wireless environment because of two main drawbacks: (1) the need to maintain knowledge about all immediate neighbors (which requires a discovery protocol), and (2) the need to transmit the same update several times, one for each neighbor. Although information about neighbors is readily available in a fairly static and wired network, such information is often not updated or available in an ad-hoc wireless network with mobile devices. Our protocol is a variant of S-BGP called SS-BGP and allows a single broadcast for routing updates without having the need to be aware of every neighboring router. The protocol is based on a novel authentication primitive called Enhanced Chain Signatures (ECS).
What are infant siblings teaching us about autism in infancy?

International research to understand infant patterns of development in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has recently focused on a research paradigm involving prospective longitudinal studies of infant siblings of children with autism. Such designs use a comparison group of infant siblings without any familial risks (the low‐risk group) to gather longitudinal information about developmental skills across the first 3 years of life, followed by clinical diagnosis of ASD at 36 months. This review focuses on five topics: presence of ASD in the infant sibling groups, patterns and characteristics of motor development, patterns and characteristics of social and emotional development, patterns and characteristics of intentional communication, both verbal and nonverbal, and patterns that mark the onset of behaviors pathognomonic for ASD. Symptoms in all these areas typically begin to be detected during the age period of 12–24 months in infants who will develop autism. Onset of the symptoms occurs at varying ages and in varying patterns, but the pattern of frank loss of skills and marked regression reported from previous retrospective studies in 20–30% of children is seldom reported in these infant sibling prospective studies. Two surprises involve the very early onset of repetitive and unusual sensory behaviors, and the lack of predictive symptoms at the age of 6 months. Contrary to current views that autism is a disorder that profoundly affects social development from the earliest months of life, the data from these studies presents a picture of autism as a disorder involving symptoms across multiple domains with a gradual onset that changes both ongoing developmental rate and established behavioral patterns across the first 2–3 years of life.
An NMDA Receptor Signaling Complex with Protein Phosphatase 2A

Regulation of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity and NMDA receptor (NMDAR) phosphorylation state contribute to the modulation of synaptic plasticity, yet these two mechanisms have not been functionally linked. The NMDAR subunit NR3A is equipped with a unique carboxyl domain that is different from other NMDAR subunits. We hypothesized that the NR3A C-terminal intracellular domain might serve as synaptic anchor for the phosphatase in the developing CNS. A cDNA library was screened by the yeast two-hybrid method using the NR3A carboxyl domain as the bait. The catalytic subunit of the serine–threonine PP2A was found to be associated with the NR3A carboxyl domain. Immunoprecipitation studies indicated that the NR3A subunit formed a stable complex with PP2A in the rat brain in vivo. Association of PP2A with NMDARs led to an increase in the phosphatase activity of PP2A and the dephosphorylation of serine 897 of the NMDAR subunit NR1. Stimulation of NMDARs led to the dissociation of PP2A from the complex and the reduction of PP2A activity. A peptide corresponding to the PP2A–NR3A binding domain functioned as a negative regulator of PP2A activity. These data suggest that NMDARs are allosteric modulators of PP2A, which in turn controls their phosphorylation state. The data delineate a mechanistic model of the dynamic regulation of a PP2A–NMDAR signaling complex, mediated by the interaction of NR3A and PP2A, and suggest a novel NMDAR-mediated signaling mechanism in addition to the traditional ionotropic functions of NMDARs.