Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Universal basic skills: what countries stand to gain

While access to schooling has expanded around the world, many countries have not realised the hoped-for improvements in economic and social wellbeing. Access to education by itself is an incomplete goal for development; many students leave the education system without basic proficiency in literacy and numeracy. As the world coalesces around new sustainable development targets towards 2030, the focus in education is shifting towards access and quality. Using projections based on data from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and other international student assessments, this report offers a glimpse of the economic and social benefits that all countries, regardless of their national wealth, stand to gain if they ensure that every child not only has access to education but, through that education, acquires at least the baseline level of skills needed to participate fully in society.
Effects of exercise in the whole spectrum of chronic kidney disease: a systematic review

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a public health problem. Although physical activity is essential for the prevention and treatment of most chronic diseases, exercise is rarely prescribed for CKD patients. The objective of the study was to search for and appraise evidence on the effectiveness of exercise interventions on health endpoints in CKD patients. A systematic review was performed of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) designed to compare exercise with usual care regarding effects on the health of CKD patients. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central, Clinical Trials registry, and proceedings of major nephrology conference databases were searched, using terms defined according to the PICO (Patient, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome) methodology. RCTs were independently evaluated by two reviewers. A total of 5489 studies were assessed for eligibility, of which 59 fulfilled inclusion criteria. Most of them included small samples, lasted from 8 to 24 weeks and applied aerobic exercises. Three studies included only kidney transplant patients, and nine included pre-dialysis patients. The remaining RCTs allocated hemodialysis patients. The outcome measures included quality of life, physical fitness, muscular strength, heart rate variability, inflammatory and nutritional markers and progression of CKD. Most of the trials had high risk of bias. The strongest evidence is for the effects of aerobic exercise on improving physical fitness, muscular strength and quality of life in dialysis patients. The benefits of exercise in dialysis patients are well established, supporting the prescription of physical activity in their regular treatment. RCTs including patients in earlier stages of CKD and after kidney transplantation are urgently required, as well as studies assessing long-term outcomes. The best exercise protocol for CKD patients also remains to be established.
A Fully Nonlinear Equation on Four-Manifolds with Positive Scalar Curvature

We present a conformal deformation involving a fully nonlinear equation in dimension 4, starting with positive scalar curvature. Assuming a certain conformal invariant is positive, one may deform from positive scalar curvature to a stronger condition involving the Ricci tensor. We also give a new conformally invariant condition for positivity of the Paneitz operator, which allows us to give many new examples of manifolds admitting metrics with constant $Q$-curvature.
Minimising social desirability bias in construction safety risk research

Although social desirability bias (SDB) is a threat to non-experimental research method which is widely applied in construction safety risk research, not many of studies looks into how to minimise the effect of SDB in the design and implementation of construction safety risk research. In this paper, we analysed the theoretical basis of SDB from the perspective of psychology, followed by a review of SDB in different applied research fields, the influencing factors, validation scales, and control techniques. Following that, we analysed the nature and characteristics of construction safety risk research, and proposed techniques for minimising SDB, which is focusing on alleviating psychological effects. The techniques proposed in this paper include indirect questions, permissive context, sequencing, confidentiality protection, timing and validation. Examples are provided to demonstrate the use of these techniques. We suggest that the techniques proposed in this paper should also be applicable to construction management research in general.
Tighter Bounds for Multi-Armed Bandits with Expert Advice

Bandit problems are a classic way of formulating exploration versus exploitation tradeoffs. Auer et al. [ACBFS02] introduced the EXP4 algorithm, which explicitly decouples the set of A actions which can be taken in the world from the set of M experts (general strategies for selecting actions) with which we wish to be competitive. Auer et al. show that EXP4 has expected cumulative regret bounded by O( √ TA logM), where T is the total number of rounds. This bound is attractive when the number of actions is small compared to the number of experts, but poor when the situation is reversed. In this paper we introduce a new algorithm, similar in spirit to EXP4, which has a bound ofO( √ TS logM). The S parameter measures the extent to which expert recommendations agree; we always have S ≤ min {A,M}. We discuss practical applications that arise in the contextual bandits setting, including sponsored search keyword advertising. In these problems, common context means many actions are irrelevant on any given round, and so S << min {A,M}, implying our bounds offer a significant improvement. The key to our new algorithm is a linear-programing-based exploration strategy that is optimal in a certain sense. In addition to proving tighter bounds, we run experiments on real-world data from an online advertising problem, and demonstrate that our refined exploration strategy leads to significant improvements over known approaches.
The Jalape ~ no Dynamic Optimizing Compiler for Java TM

The Jalape~ no Dynamic Optimizing Compiler is a key component of the Jalape~ no Virtual Machine, a new Java 1 Virtual Machine (JVM) designed to support e cient and scalable execution of Java applications on SMP server machines. This paper describes the design of the Jalape~ no Optimizing Compiler, and the implementation results that we have obtained thus far. To the best of our knowledge, this is the rst dynamic optimizing compiler for Java that is being used in a JVM with a compile-only approach to program execution.
Choosing Bargaining Partners – An experimental study on the impact of information about income and gender

By Håkan Holm and Peter Engseld 2001-07-12 Abstract: Ultimatum proposals and dictator donations are studied when proposers can choose the sex and income of the responder. Information about the responders' income generated strong effects in the selection of responders; subjects preferred to send proposals to low-income responders and the proposals were negatively correlated to responder income. The responders' gender did not affect proposal levels, but strong effects were observed in the selection of responders; females were much more popular than males. Hence, signals of income and sex might be at least as in important in deciding with whom to bargain as in deciding how to bargain.
Consumer to consumer (C2C) online auction transaction intentions: an application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

There has been a dramatic growth of individuals using online auctions especially within Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) e-commerce coupled with increasing academic attention to behaviour in the online environments. Literature has identified the influence of attitudes, perceptions, trust and security on individual’s online auction transaction intentions and behaviours. The aim of this study, therefore, was to predict and understand individuals online auction transaction intentions and behaviours through the application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Three hundred and seventy-two respondents completed the survey within two geographical regions. Findings reported that attitudes, self-efficacy and trust significantly influenced intentions; while intentions and self-efficacy significantly influenced online auction behaviours. Interestingly, social pressures, perceived control and security failed to have any influence. Overall, the study provided greater insight into which salient drivers influence transaction behaviours and intentions.
Virtual Intravascular Endoscopy Visualization of Calcified Coronary Plaques

AbstractThis study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using 3D virtual intravascular endoscopy (VIE) as a novel approach for characterization of calcified coronary plaques with the aim of differentiating superficial from deep calcified plaques, thus improving assessment of coronary stenosis.A total of 61 patients with suspected coronary artery disease were included in the study. Minimal lumen diameter (MLD) was measured and compared between coronary CT angiography (CCTA) (≥64-slice) and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) with regard to the measurement bias, whereas VIE findings were correlated with CCTA with respect to the diagnostic performance of coronary stenosis and the area under the curve (AUC) by receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis (ROC). In all 3 coronary arteries, the CCTA consistently underestimated the MLD relative to the ICA (P < 0.001). On a per-vessel assessment, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value and 95% confidence interval (CI) were 94% (95% CI: 61%, 100%), 27% (95% CI: 18%, 38%), 33% (95% CI: 23%, 43%), and 92% (95% CI: 74%, 99%) for CCTA, and 100% (95% CI: 89%, 100%), 85% (95% CI: 75%, 92%), 71% (95% CI: 56%, 84%), and 100% (95% CI: 95%, 100%) for VIE, respectively. The AUC by ROC analysis for VIE demonstrated significant improvement in analysis of left anterior descending calcified plaques compared with CCTA (0.99 vs 0.60, P < 0.001), with better performance in the left circumflex and right coronary arteries (0.98 vs 0.84 and 0.77 vs 0.77, respectively; P = 0.07 and P = 0.96, respectively). There are no significant differences between 64-, 128-, and 640-slice CCTA and VIE in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value in the diagnosis of coronary stenosis.This study shows the feasibility of using VIE for characterizing morphological features of calcified plaques, therefore, significantly improving assessment of coronary stenosis.
Deletion Without Rebalancing in Binary Search Trees

We address the vexing issue of deletions in balanced trees. Rebalancing after a deletion is generally more complicated than rebalancing after an insertion. Textbooks neglect deletion rebalancing, and many B-tree--based database systems do not do it. We describe a relaxation of AVL trees in which rebalancing is done after insertions but not after deletions, yet worst-case access time remains logarithmic in the number of insertions. For any application of balanced trees in which the number of updates is polynomial in the tree size, our structure offers performance competitive with that of classical balanced trees. With the addition of periodic rebuilding, the performance of our structure is theoretically superior to that of many, if not all, classic balanced tree structures. Our structure needs lg lg m+ 1 bits of balance information per node, where m is the number of insertions and lg is the base-two logarithm, or lg lg n+ O(1) with periodic rebuilding, where n is the number of nodes. An insertion takes up to two rotations and O(1) amortized time, not counting the time to find the insertion position. This is the same as in standard AVL trees. Using an analysis that relies on an exponential potential function, we show that rebalancing steps occur with a frequency that is exponentially small in the height of the affected node. Our techniques apply to other types of balanced trees, notably B-trees, as we show in a companion article, and particularly red-black trees, which can be viewed as a special case of B-trees.
Association of Epstein-Barr virus infection and breast carcinoma

Introduction A controversy regarding the association of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with breast carcinomas has recently been reported in the literature. The present study was carried out in an attempt to determine whether there is a relationship between latent infection with EBV and breast carcinomas in Jordanian females. Material and methods Extraction of DNA from the archive samples of breast carcinoma cases embedded in paraffin wax was performed and the extracted DNA was subjected to polymerase chain reaction amplification to detect the EBV genome using four sets of primers for EBER 2, BNLF-1, EBNA 2, and Gp220. Immunohistochemistry study was performed on sections of 4 µm which were cut from paraffin blocks of tumor and control groups. Monoclonal antibody against EBNA-1 was applied to all slides to identify the EBV-infected tumor cells. Detection was performed using the Dako envision dual link system. Results DNA was successfully extracted from 92 paraffin embedded samples of breast carcinoma patients, and from 49 normal samples. The extracted DNA was confirmed by using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (GAPDH) primers. Twenty-four out of 92 breast carcinoma specimens was found to be infected with EBV as compared to 3 out of 49 control group specimens, which represented a statistically significant difference (p-value using χ2 = 0.008). Immunohistochemically, 24 (26%) of the 92 studied samples were found to be positive, showing EBNA-1 granular nuclear staining in tumor epithelial cells. Conclusions These findings suggest an association between EBV infection and breast carcinoma development.
HF pump-induced electron heating and artificial airglow at high latitudes: Aspect angle dependence

Large electron temperature increases (~3000 K) in the ionospheric F-region, produced by powerful HF wave injection, were measured using the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar near Tromso, Norway, on 7 October 1999. Magnetic fieldaligned measurements showed HF-initiated ion outflows reaching several hundred ms-1 at 580 km. When scanning the radar antenna from field-aligned (77.2deg southward) to vertical, the strongest heating effects were always in the fieldaligned position, irrespective of the HF beam direction which was varied. The imaged 630 nm HF-enhanced airglow also remained localized near field-aligned. Why the strongest heating effects occur for HF rays transmitted along the magnetic field is unclear.
A Place for Technology in Parent Education: An Exploratory Study of Parent Perceptions

ABSTRACT The current study sought to identify what parents would perceive to be helpful in terms of including technology topics in parent education programs, rather than assuming what would be best for parents. Parents were recruited for participation from a western state in the United States between 2012 and 2013. A qualitative approach was used to analyze parental responses (N = 168) regarding what topics/areas would be beneficial if they attended an educational offering relating to teens and technology. Parents indicated they wanted specific direction and skills relating to the practice of implementing parental mediation, and information about staying current with the technology trends. Other findings focused on the difficulty of getting parents to commit to such education.
OSS popularity: understanding the relationship between user-developer interaction, market potential and development stage

Alors que le logiciel libre a particulierement retenu l’attention et l’interet du monde academique et managerial, beaucoup de recherches ont cherche a comprendre les facteurs de succes de ces logiciels OSS. Cependant, ces recherches se sont principalement concentrees sur des projets reconnus et de grande envergure, tels que Linux ou Apache. Une investigation des projets moins connus permettrait une comprehension plus complete et d’eviter un taux d’echec important des projets OSS. Cette etude investigue donc la combinaison de trois facteurs : les interactions des utilisateurs et developpeurs, la penetration du marche et le stade de developpement, afin d’observer leur impact sur la popularite des projets OSS peu connus. Nous avons pour cela developpe un modele empirique de la popularite des OSS, et avons teste nos hypotheses sur 657 projets de logiciel libre. Les resultats de cette recherche montrent que la combinaison des trois facteurs a un impact positif sur la popularite des OSS. De plus, contrairement aux etudes precedentes, nos resultats revelent egalement que les interactions entre utilisateurs et developpeurs ont un role plus important que les activites reliees a la resolution de bugs dans la reussite des projets. Cette recherche propose une nouvelle maniere de mesurer la popularite d’un projet OSS et offrant ainsi aux organisations une meilleure comprehension.
tRNA synthetase counteracts c-Myc to develop functional vasculature

Recent studies suggested an essential role for seryl-tRNA synthetase (SerRS) in vascular development. This role is specific to SerRS among all tRNA synthetases and is independent of its well-known aminoacylation function in protein synthesis. A unique nucleus-directing domain, added at the invertebrate-to-vertebrate transition, confers this novel non-translational activity of SerRS. Previous studies showed that SerRS, in some unknown way, controls VEGFA expression to prevent vascular over-expansion. Using in vitro, cell and animal experiments, we show here that SerRS intervenes by antagonizing c-Myc, the major transcription factor promoting VEGFA expression, through a tandem mechanism. First, by direct head-to-head competition, nuclear-localized SerRS blocks c-Myc from binding to the VEGFA promoter. Second, DNA-bound SerRS recruits the SIRT2 histone deacetylase to erase prior c-Myc-promoted histone acetylation. Thus, vertebrate SerRS and c-Myc is a pair of ‘Yin-Yang’ transcriptional regulator for proper development of a functional vasculature. Our results also discover an anti-angiogenic activity for SIRT2. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.02349. 001
Compact Nonlinear Maps and Circulant Extensions

Kernel approximation via nonlinear random feature maps is widely used in speeding up kernel machines. There are two main challenges for the conventional kernel approximation methods. First, before performing kernel approximation, a good kernel has to be chosen. Picking a good kernel is a very challenging problem in itself. Second, high-dimensional maps are often required in order to achieve good performance. This leads to high computational cost in both generating the nonlinear maps, and in the subsequent learning and prediction process. In this work, we propose to optimize the nonlinear maps directly with respect to the classification objective in a data-dependent fashion. The proposed approach achieves kernel approximation and kernel learning in a joint framework. This leads to much more compact maps without hurting the performance. As a by-product, the same framework can also be used to achieve more compact kernel maps to approximate a known kernel. We also introduce Circulant Nonlinear Maps, which uses a circulant-structured projection matrix to speed up the nonlinear maps for high-dimensional data.
Working with schools: What employment providers need to know for successful collaboration1

BACKGROUND: This APSE workshop shared one state approach to interagency collaboration for transition-age youth. The purpose of the workshop was to determine value-added by working collaboratively and share preliminary results of a school-to-work project. OBJECTIVE: Using a collaborative of employment providers embedded in schools to improve agency connections prior to leaving school and work experiences that lead to employment outcomes. METHOD: The goal of the Collaborative was to provide employment opportunities for transition-age youth by embedding employment resources into the school to focus on agency connections, employment outcomes and reduce or eliminate duplication of services. Specifically, a provider employment specialist or Career Coach is embedded in the school to serve as a single point of contact to represent a “coalition” of providers serving on the Collaborative. The Collaborative also included Vocational Rehabilitation, schools, families and other agencies. RESULTS: Schools with an embedded Career Coach had students connected to Vocational Rehabilitation Services and other community agencies than the comparison sites. Students had more opportunities for work experiences, internships and paid employment prior to leaving school with the employment providers continuing services after school. CONCLUSIONS: By working together, schools and employment providers offer each other value in serving students and enhancing agency connections and employment outcomes.
Factors influencing cancer screening practices of underserved women

Purpose: This integrated review was conducted to evaluate the factors that inhibit or promote decisions by African American and Hispanic women to obtain cervical cancer screening. Data sources: Research articles were identified using MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health literature, published between 1999 and 2005. Conclusions: Cervical cancer screening practices of African American and Hispanic women were influenced by extrinsic motivators including lack of insurance, no usual source of health care, acculturation, and socioeconomic factors. Intrinsic motivators were related to beliefs and perceptions of vulnerability, such as ignoring cervical cancer screening when no symptoms were present; believing that not knowing if one had cervical cancer was better; and thinking that only women who engage in sexual risk–taking behaviors need to obtain Papanicolaou (Pap) smear testing. Implications for practice: Nurse practitioners (NPs) have an opportunity to impact the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer by improving screening practices of minority women. They can emphasize the importance of obtaining Pap smears regularly, teach patients the risks for and signs and symptoms of cervical cancer, and provide recommendations for obtaining screening at low cost or no cost to the patient. To improve cancer screening practices, NPs need to address minority women’s beliefs about cervical cancer and provide information and services in a culturally sensitive manner at an appropriate level of learning.
A Nonlinear Factor Analysis of S&P 500 Index Option Returns

This study confronts the growing evidence that multiple sources of priced risk appear necessary to explain the expected returns of equity index options. A general class of nonlinear latent factor models is estimated using a data set of over 32,000 daily return observations on S&P 500 index put options of varying maturity and moneyness. The results show that while priced factors other than the return on the underlying security contribute to these expected returns, factor-based models are insufficient to explain their magnitude. For a variety of option classes, but particularly short-term out-of-the-money puts, the magnitude of the mispricing remains large. Out-of-sample tests confirm the usefulness of the semiparametric latent factor approach in hedging a book of put options and in forming portfolios that exploit apparent option mispricing.