Indexing and Self-indexing sequences of IEEE 754 double precision numbers

Succinct data structures were designed to store and/or index data with a relatively small alphabet size, a rather skewed distribution and/or, a considerable amount of repetitiveness. Although many of them were developed to handle text, they have been used with other data types, like biological collections or source code. However, there are no applications of succinct data structures in the case of floating point data, the obvious reason is that this data type does not usually fulfill the aforementioned requirements.     

A Meta-Analysis of Interventions to Improve Reading Comprehension Outcomes for Adolescents with Reading Difficulties

This meta-analysis synthesized 97 effect sizes extracted from 37 intervention studies for students with reading difficulties (RDs) in Grades 6 to 12 published between 1982 and 2021 to identify the overall impact of reading interventions and the moderating effects of intervention characteristics and study design characteristics. Random-effects robust variance estimation (RVE) was used to account for dependencies within studies. Overall, interventions designed to improve reading comprehension outcomes for adolescents with RDs were effective (g = 0.63). Meta-regression analyses identified several significant moderators that were associated with intervention efficacy, such as text content, duration of intervention, agent of intervention, status of student, type of dependent measure, and study quality. We provide study limitations as well as implications for research and practice.     

A theory of grand innovation prizes

The past decade has witnessed a resurgence in innovation awards, in particular of grand innovation prizes (GIPs) which are rewards to innovators developing technologies reaching performance goals and requiring breakthrough solutions. GIPs typically do not preclude the winner also obtaining patent rights. This is in stark contrast with mainstream economics of innovation theories where prizes and patents are substitute ways to generate revenue and encourage innovation. Building on the management of innovation literature which stresses the difficulty to specify ex-ante all the technical features of the winning technologies, we develop a model in which innovative effort is multi-dimensional and only a subset of innovation tasks can be measured and contracted upon. We show that in this environment patent rights and cash rewards are complements, and that GIPs are often preferable to patent races or prizes requiring technologies to be placed in the public domain. Moreover, our model uncovers a tendency for patent races to encourage speed of discovery over quality of innovation, which can be corrected by GIPs. We explore robustness to endogenous entry, costly public funds, and incomplete information by GIP organizers on the surplus created by the technology.     

Factors Influencing Scientific Achievements of Medical Students in the Anatomy Research Group: An Analysis From the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Mexico

Scientific research and student involvement are critical to the formation of physicians, yet the number of medical researchers has decreased over time. To implement corrective strategies, the variables associated with positive research attitudes and productivity among medical students must be identified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the variables associated with students interested or involved in research. A validated questionnaire was applied to the student members of an established anatomy research group in a Mexican medical school with a six-year medical program. Data were collected and analyzed. A total of 85.5% (n = 77/90) students answered the survey with most respondents being second-year medical students. The majority of respondents indicated that the important component of conducting research was a contribution to the new knowledge (45.5%) and to the scientific community (42.9%). More than half of respondents mentioned a professor or a peer as the initial motivation to become involved in research. Lack of time was the main limitation (59.7%) to research involvement. Perceived benefits were knowledge and team work skills. Of those involved, most (85.7%) wished to continue participating in research as a complement to their clinical work. Professors and student colleagues were found to play an important motivational and recruitment role for medical research. These efforts in turn have developed into long-lasting mentor-mentee relationships. Students also anticipated that early involvement in research will positively influence the likelihood of future physicians' contribution and collaboration in research.