2,305 research outputs found
School building conditions and student achievments: Norwegian evidence
This paper studies the effects from poor school building conditions on student achievements in Norwegian primary schools based on results from national tests in mathematics, English and Norwegian. The benchmark OLS results suggest a negative relationship, but the estimates are mostly insignificant. Further, a municipality fixed effects (MFE) and an instrumental variable approach (IV) is suggested as alternatives to OLS in order to battle potential endogeneity issues due to unobservable characteristics. The results from the OLS and IV procedures are mostly similar to the OLS results.
School facilities and student achievements: evidence from the Timss
This paper studies the link between school facilities and student achievements in eight countries using data from the TIMSS 2003 database. OLS and propensity score matching is used to control for observable characteristics. Both methods indicate that poor school facilities may be negatively associated with student achievements, but the estimated coefficients are mainly insignificant. Significantly negative estimates are found in only three out of eight countries when using OLS. When using matching on propensity scores I only find significant coefficients in one of the countries.
Temporal coherence length of light in semiclassical field theory models
The following work is motivated by the conceptual problems associated with
the wave-particle duality and the notion of the photon. Two simple classical
models for radiation from individual emitters are compared, one based on sines
with random phasejumps, another based on pulse trains. The sum signal is
calculated for a varying number of emitters. The focus lies on the final
signal's statistical features quantified by means of the temporal coherence
function and the temporal coherence length. We show how these features might be
used to experimentally differentiate between the models. We also point to
ambiguities in the definition of the temporal coherence length.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. The following article has been submitted to AIP
Conference Proceedings: Advances in Quantum Theory, Vaxjo 201
When the Advantaged Become Disadvantaged: Men’s and Women’s Actions Against Gender Discrimination
Intergroup theories suggest that different social identities will either discourage or encourage the taking of action against discrimination (Bartky, 1977; Jost & Banaji, 1994). However, research (e.g., Branscombe, 1998) has shown that discrimination is a less negative experience for men than for women. As such, it is possible that men may take greater action than women, regardless of identity. However, men’s responses to their perceived disadvantage has not yet been tested. Among those induced to ascribe to a gendered stereotype identity, men endorsed more action than women did.Among those induced to ascribe to an identity based on a gendered social experienced, women endorsed marginally more action than men did. Differences in responses are proposed to be a function of the different efficacy levels developed by each gender within each social identity
Urban Land Cover Classification with Missing Data Modalities Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks
Automatic urban land cover classification is a fundamental problem in remote
sensing, e.g. for environmental monitoring. The problem is highly challenging,
as classes generally have high inter-class and low intra-class variance.
Techniques to improve urban land cover classification performance in remote
sensing include fusion of data from different sensors with different data
modalities. However, such techniques require all modalities to be available to
the classifier in the decision-making process, i.e. at test time, as well as in
training. If a data modality is missing at test time, current state-of-the-art
approaches have in general no procedure available for exploiting information
from these modalities. This represents a waste of potentially useful
information. We propose as a remedy a convolutional neural network (CNN)
architecture for urban land cover classification which is able to embed all
available training modalities in a so-called hallucination network. The network
will in effect replace missing data modalities in the test phase, enabling
fusion capabilities even when data modalities are missing in testing. We
demonstrate the method using two datasets consisting of optical and digital
surface model (DSM) images. We simulate missing modalities by assuming that DSM
images are missing during testing. Our method outperforms both standard CNNs
trained only on optical images as well as an ensemble of two standard CNNs. We
further evaluate the potential of our method to handle situations where only
some DSM images are missing during testing. Overall, we show that we can
clearly exploit training time information of the missing modality during
testing
The consequences of a hypothetical economic boycott on South Africa
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented November 1977By a boycott we mean the refusal by persons to deal with one or
more other persons. The purpose of the boycott is generally
to punish, or induce abandonment of a course of action, by economic
pressure. Likewise, an international boycott refers to the refusal of citizens of a state to trade, or enter into other
economic relations with the citizens of another state, in order to
manifest resentment or bring pressure. A boycott is to be
distinguished from measures of economic retortion such as reprisals,
sanctions, embargoes or blockades, which are initiated by a
government to bring pressure upon a state guilty of unfriendly,
reprehensible or illegal behaviour. Boycotts, however, merge into
such official procedures if they are encouraged or organized by
government....As far as South Africa is concerned, there has been a notable tendency for an increase in the calls for an economic boycott.... An articulate demand for an investment boycott was made last year in
a joint statement issued by Chief Gatsha Buthelesi and Dr. C.F. Beyers Naude.... It is not the purpose of this paper to assess the validity of the
theologians' reasoning. Suffice it to say that social and economic
devastation is a most unlikely scenario from which South Africa will
emerge as a peaceful multi-racial society. In my opinion it is
rapid economic growth, and NOT the enforced abandonment of
prosperous international economic links, which is best suited
effectively to further the case of the South African Black.
Be this as it may, let us look now at the consequences which a
hypothetical economic boycott would have for South Africa
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