Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cooperative client caching strategies for social and web applications

We evaluate the efficiency and cost of different placement strategies for a distributed cache implemented on the clients of an online social network or web service. In our system model, the service maintains a directory for content that tracks the location of objects. The service informs requesting clients of these locations and the clients will cache, serve, and push content according to directives provided by the service. We show that we can improve the individual cache hit ratio by leveraging relationships between clients (e.g., social links). The network load imposed on clients is practical.
Elephants have a large neocortex too

We review the evidence for the concept of the "initial" or prototype brain. We outline four possible modes of brain evolution suggested by our new findings on the evolutionary status of the dolphin brain. The four modes involve various forms of deviation from and conformity to the hypothesized initial brain type. These include examples of conservative evolution, progressive evolution, and combinations of the two in which features of one or the other become dominant. The four types of neocortical organization in extant mammals may be the result of selective pressures on sensory/motor systems resulting in divergent patterns of brain phylogenesis. A modular "modification/multiplication" hypothesis is proposed as a mechanism of neocortical evolution in eutherians. Representative models of the initial ancestral group of mammals include not only extant basal Insectivora but also Chiroptera; we have found that dolphins and large whales have also retained many features of the archetypal or initial brain. This group evolved from the initial mammalian stock and returned to the aquatic environment some 50 million years ago. This unique experiment of nature shows the effects of radical changes in environment on brain-body adaptations and specializations. Although the dolphin brain has certain quantitative characteristics of the evolutionary changes seen in the higher terrestrial mammals, it has also retained many of the conservative structural features of the initial brain. Its neocortical organization is accordingly different, largely in a quantitative sense, from that of terrestrial models of the initial brain such as the hedgehog.
The Cingranelli and Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Data Project

The CIRI Human Rights Data Project provides information about government respect for a broad array of human rights in nearly every country in the world. Covering twenty-six years, fifteen separate human rights practices, and 195 countries, it is one of the largest human rights data sets in the world. This essay provides an overview of the CIRI project and our response to some critiques of the CIRI physical integrity rights index. Compared to the Political Terror Scale (PTS), the CIRI physical integrity rights index is focused on government human rights practices, can be disaggregated, is more transparent in its construction, and is more replicable because of the transparency of our coding rules. Furthermore, unlike the PTS, the unidimensionality of the CIRI index has been demonstrated empirically. For these reasons, the CIRI index is a more valid index of physical integrity rights.
Ultrasound assessment of subglottic region for estimation of appropriate endotracheal tube size in pediatric anesthesia

Background and Aims: Endotracheal tube (ETT) selection in pediatric patients is mainly done with the age, height, or weight-based formula. We compared ultrasound assessment of the subglottic area to predict the outer diameter of the ETT, with that of modified Cole's formula. The aim of the study is to compare the appropriateness of uncuffed ETT selection based on modified Cole's formula with that of ultrasound assessment method of subglottic diameter in children undergoing surgical procedures under general anesthesia. Material and Methods: This is a prospective, randomized, parallel group study. One hundred and fifty American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II patients of age 2–6 years were randomly allotted into two groups: Group A - ETT selection based on ultrasound assessment of subglottic diameter. Group B - ETT selection based on modified Cole's formula. The study parameters are the internal diameter and external diameter (OD) of the predicted ETT by the two methods and that of the appropriate size ETT used. Results: The incidence of appropriate tube selection was 74.7% in the ultrasound based group while it was 45.3% in the modified Cole's formula group. There was a strong correlation between OD of the optimal ETT used and the ultrasound assessed subglottic diameter. Bland–Altman analysis of OD of appropriately sized ETT and subglottic diameter by ultrasound assessment has a bias of 0.02 mm with limits of agreement of +1.78 to −1.74. Conclusion: Ultrasonographic assessment of the subglottic diameter at the cricoid region is a better tool in predicting the appropriate size uncuffed ETT than modified Cole's formula.
LQG mean-field games with ergodic cost

We consider stochastic differential games with N players, linear-Gaussian dynamics in arbitrary state-space dimension, and long-time-average cost with quadratic running cost. Admissible controls are feedbacks for which the system is ergodic. We first study the existence of affine Nash equilibria by means of an associated system of N Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman and N Kolmogorov-Fokker-Planck partial differential equations. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of quadratic-Gaussian solutions in terms of the solvability of suitable algebraic Riccati and Sylvester equations. Under a symmetry condition on the running costs and for nearly identical players we study the large population limit, N tending to infinity, and find a unique quadratic-Gaussian solution of the pair of Mean Field Game HJB-KFP equations. This extends some of the classical results on Mean Field Games by Huang, Caines, and Malhame and by Lasry and Lions, and the more recent paper by one of the authors in the 1-dimensional case.
Speech Disorders at Different Stages of Development and in Diverse Social Contexts (A Case Study)

Abstract The present case study includes an examination of the speech output of a girl with a phonetic speech impairment consisting of both familiar functional as well as idiosyncratic processes related to larger fine motor problems. The speech samples were collected at two different developmental periods (2;6 and 4;6–5) and in a variety of elicitation tasks. The author and the girl live on the same kibbutz (agricultural village) which allowed for a close examination of the girl in different social interactions with a wide range of interlocutors (e.g., her peers, caregivers, and friends). The data are analyzed according to the task performed as well as the social context in which the task took place. The results are described and explained according to: (1) the definition of language as a symbolic tool whose structure is shaped both by its communicative function and the characteristics of its users and (2) the principle that language represents a compromise in the struggle to achieve maximum communication with minimal effort associated with the theory of Phonology as Human Behavior (Diver, 1979; Tobin, 1997).
Evaluating Springboard: impact of a family support programme in Ireland

The article reports results from an evaluation of Springboard, a family support programme introduced in Ireland during 1998. The evaluation is based on a non‐experimental design involving a pre‐post comparison of 319 children and 191 parents who participated in the programme. The two main outcomes reported here are children's psychological well‐being (measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ‐ SDQ), and the parent‐child relationship (measured by the Parent‐Child Relationship Inventory ‐ PCRI). Results showed improvements in SDQ and PCRI scores, equivalent to an effect size in the range 0.2 to 0.3, which is similar to the effect sizes produced by other family support programmes. At the end of the intervention, there was still a substantial amount of unmet need among children. The evaluation has two limitations: first, the use of a non‐experimental method means that we cannot be certain that all of the improved outcomes can be attributed to Springboard; second, the diverse interventions which constitute Springboard, and family support programmes generally, means that it is impossible to separate effective from ineffective interventions within the programme.
Inferential Quantification and the ω-rule

Logical inferentialism maintains that the formal rules of inference fix the meanings of the logical terms. The categoricity problem points out to the fact that the standard formalizations of classical logic do not uniquely determine the intended meanings of its logical terms, i.e., these formalizations are not categorical. This means that there are different interpretations of the logical terms that are consistent with the relation of logical derivability in a logical calculus. In the case of the quantificational logic, the categoricity problem is generated by the finite nature of the standard calculi and one direction in which it can be solved is to strengthen the deductive systems by adding infinite rules (such as the ω-rule), i.e., to construct a full formalization . Another main direction is to provide a natural semantics for the standard rules of inference, i.e., a semantics for which these rules are categorical. My aim in this paper is to analyze some recent approaches for solving the categoricity problem and to argue that a logical inferentialist should accept the infinite rules of inference for the first order quantifiers, since our use of the expressions “all” and “there is” leads us beyond the concrete and finite reasoning, and human beings do sometimes employ infinite rules of inference in their reasoning.
Russia's Unwanted Children

This study focuses on the plight of various categories of marginalized children in urban Russia, including orphans, children with some family ties in special boarding homes and street children. After a presentation of data on marginalized children in Russia within a global context and as background to the study, this article investigates the changing cultural views of marginalized children that Russian adults have developed since the Second World War. Changes in views have led to a change in the lifestyles of unwanted children in Russia, which further contributes to criminal activity and poverty on the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg.
When reciprocity fails: effort–reward imbalance in relation to coronary heart disease and health functioning within the Whitehall II study

Background: A deleterious psychosocial work environment, as defined by high efforts expended in relation to few rewards reaped, is hypothesised to increase the risk of future poor health outcomes. Aims: To test this hypothesis within a cohort of London based civil servants. Methods: Effort–reward imbalance (ERI) was measured among 6895 male and 3413 female civil servants aged 35–55 during the first phase of the Whitehall II study (1985–88). Participants were followed until the end of phase 5 (1997–2000), with a mean length of follow up of 11 years. Baseline ERI was used to predict incident validated coronary heart disease (CHD) events during follow up and poor mental and physical functioning at phase 5. Results: A high ratio of efforts in relation to rewards was related to an increased incidence of all CHD (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.36, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.65) and fatal CHD/non-fatal myocardial infarction (HR = 1.28, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.84) during follow up, as well as poor physical (odds ratio (OR) = 1.47, 95% CI 1.24 to 1.74) and mental (OR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.89 to 2.65) functioning at phase 5, net of employment grade. A one item measure of high intrinsic effort also significantly increased the risk of these health outcomes, net of grade. ERI may be particularly deleterious with respect to CHD risk among those with low social support at work or in the lowest employment grades. Discussion: Within the Whitehall II study, a ratio of high efforts to rewards predicted higher risk of CHD and poor physical and mental health functioning during follow up. Although the increased risk associated with ERI was relatively small, as ERI is common it could be of considerable public health importance.
Financing medical education : an analysis of alternative policies and mechanisms

This monograph is concerned with the sources of funds for medical education in the United States, with particular atten­ tion given to current and future roles of government. Because of data limitations, the emphasis is on medical schools; graduate medical education in teaching hospitals receives little space. There is some discussion of how the type of financing influences the functioning of the medical school and one chapter is de­ voted to the socioeconomic characteristics of medical students. The book contains 35 tables, many of which are of considerable interest. They are difficult to use, however, because they are not listed in the table of contents. The authors do provide a convenient summary of their “ma­ jor arguments and analyses;” most of their 27 points are re­ lated to a few central subjects. One frequently repeated theme is that medical schools differ. They differ as to expenditures per student, sources of funding, characteristics of students and type of physician trained. A second theme is that sponsored research accounted for more than half of the total increase in medical school receipts between 1947 and 1967 and that this shift in source of funds has had adverse effects on medical education. Another point that receives considerable attention is the
Investigation of the Population Structure of the Tick Vector of Lyme Disease Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in Canada using Mitochondrial Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit I Gene Sequences

ABSTRACT Genotyping of Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks could enhance understanding of the occurrence and genotypes of I. scapularis-borne pathogens. We investigated the utility of mitochondrial (mt) Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I gene (cox1) sequences as a tool for understanding the population structure of I. scapularis collected in Canada, where we also investigated the geographic occurrence of different cox1 haplotypes. Sequences obtained from 414 ticks were one of 55 unique haplotypes, most of which grouped into one of six clades. Demographic analysis suggested that cox1 sequences have haplotype and nucleotide diversity comparable to other mt genes. All haplotypes were connected in a single minimum spanning network tree. Despite low fixation index values there were significant differences in the frequency of occurrence of haplotypes of different clades among four geographic regions: 1) Alberta to western Ontario, 2) eastern Ontario, 3) Quebec, and 4) Atlantic Provinces; suggesting that cox1 sequences could reveal population structure differences between I. scapularis in geographically separated populations of northeastern and midwestern North America. Spatial clusters of ticks of the same haplotype identified in regions of southern Quebec and southern Ontario where I. scapularis is invading were consistent with population bottlenecks associated with founder events. These findings suggest that cox1 sequences are useful for the study of I. scapularis population structure, are of sufficient diversity that spatial analyses of haplotypes can be used to identify where I. scapularis is emerging in southern Canada, and may be useful for exploring differences between northeastern and midwestern populations of I. scapularis.
Does observed controlling teaching behavior relate to students’ motivation in physical education?

Self-determination theory (SDT) has served as a theoretical framework for considerable research on teaching behavior and student motivation. The majority of studies have focused on need-supportive teaching behavior at the expense of need-thwarting teaching behavior (i.e., the “dark side” of teaching). The goal of the present study was to examine motivational dynamics involved in controlling teaching behavior in the context of physical education (PE). The majority of studies on observed teaching behavior were conducted in the laboratory. To augment the ecological validity in the present study, the behavior of PE teachers was videotaped to rate their controlling teaching behavior in a real-life setting. In a sample of 56 teachers and 702 secondary school students, controlling teaching behavior during a specific PE class, as observed by external raters, was related positively to students’ perceived controlling teaching behavior and, through these perceptions, to controlled motivation and amotivation. These associations were obtained in spite of the low incidence of controlling teaching behaviors, suggesting that students may be quite sensitive to controlling teaching behaviors. No associations were found between observed controlling behavior and student autonomous motivation and students’ perceptions of autonomy-supportive teaching. Practical implications and recommendations for PE teachers’ professional development training are included.
Carotid Artery Angioplasty and Stenting: Introduction of a New Technique Into an Established Vascular Surgery Center

Background: The aim of this study was to review our initial experience with the introduction of carotid artery angioplasty and stenting as a treatment for carotid stenosis in high-risk patients and compare clinical outcomes to carotid endarterectomy patients treated over the same time period at our center. Methods: A total of 265 carotid revascularization procedures (45 carotid artery angioplasty and stenting and 220 carotid endarterectomy) were performed over 3 years period. In the carotid artery angioplasty and stenting group, 93% were at high risk according to the current reporting standards. Death, neurological events, and restenosis rates were compared at 30 days and at most recent follow-up. Results: Mean follow-up for all patients was 18 months (range 0-48 months). Carotid artery angioplasty and stenting group had higher cardiac risk than carotid endarterectomy group (13% vs 2%, P < .05). High-risk carotid lesions were present in 67% of carotid artery angioplasty and stenting patients. There was a tendency toward higher restenosis rate in carotid artery angioplasty and stenting than in carotid endarterectomy patients (35% vs 15%, P = .06). Combined stroke and death was higher in the carotid stenting group (4% and 9%) compared to the carotid endarterectomy group (0.5% and 0.5%) at 30 days and at late follow-up, respectively (P = .04 and .00). Conclusion: Restenosis and stroke were observed more frequently in our initial experience in patients undergoing carotid artery angioplasty and stenting compared with carotid endarterectomy patients during the same time period. These differences disappeared in high-risk patients. Further studies, to evaluate the effect of the learning curve on early results as well as follow-up for intermediate and long-term durability of carotid artery angioplasty and stenting in high-risk patients, are required.
The Joint Relationship of Conscientiousness and Ability with Performance: Test of the Interaction Hypothesis

This study investigated whether conscientiousness and ability interact in the prediction of job performance. Although few studies have directly addressed this issue, there is limited evidence that ability moderates the relationship between conscientiousness and job performance. Specifically, it has been reported that the relationship of conscientiousness to performance is positive for high ability and near zero or negative for low ability. Results in the present study provided no support for the interaction of GMA and conscientiousness. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses for three independent samples of participants (146 managers in sample 1, 103 sales representatives in sample 2, and 121 managers in sample 3), showed that the interaction did not account for unique variance in the prediction of supervisory ratings of job performance beyond that accounted for by GMA and conscientiousness. These findings indicate that ability does not moderate the relationship of conscientiousness to job performance. Practical implications for employee selection practices, and theoretical implications for models of job performance, are discussed.
A Multi-Theoretical Framework to Assess Gendered Stalking Victimization: The Utility of Self-Control, Social Learning, and Control Balance Theories

Despite recent advancements in the criminological study of stalking, few theoretical tests have been conducted to date to explain stalking victimization among men and women separately. The current study individually and simultaneously extends three criminological theories to the study of stalking victimization: self-control, social learning, and control balance theories. Among a sample of 2,766 university students, a series of models were estimated for men and women separately to assess each set of theoretical variables net of control variables. Results reveal consistent significant positive relationships between stalking victimization and low self-control for men; differential peer association (e.g. friends are stalking victims) for men and women; and several social learning variables for only women. However, the control imbalance variables do not explain stalking victimization among men or women, net of other theoretical and control variables. The utility of a multi-theoretical approach to future stalking victimization research is discussed.
The relationship between teenage ‘binge’ drinking, age of first alcohol consumption and intoxication

This paper is an investigation into the relationships between ‘binge’ drinking in adolescence, and ages of first drinking alcohol (beer, wine, spirits) and of first intoxication. These relationships are examined using data collected as part of the UK component of the European School Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). This single phase cross sectional survey elicited self‐report data from a national sample of 1710 school students aged 15 and 16 years. It has been suggested that the early onset of alcohol consumption is predictive of heavy drinking and/or alcohol‐related problems in later life. This possibility is examined by estimating within‐gender effects of earlier age of first drinking alcohol (beer, wine, spirits)/first intoxication on the likelihood of (more frequent) recent ‘binge’ drinking (i.e. ‘binge’ drinking in the last 30 days). Another line of enquiry is examination of between‐gender effects of first drinking alcohol (beer, wine, spirits)/first intoxication at a particular age on the likelihood of (more frequent) recent ‘binge’ drinking. Proportional odds logistic regression has been used to investigate relationships of interest. There was no evidence to suggest statistical associations between ‘binge’ drinking and the ages of first drinking beer or of first intoxication. Even so, ‘binge’ drinking was found to be associated with the age of first drinking wine and the age of first drinking spirits. Furthermore, these associations were significantly different for girls and boys. Nearly two‐thirds of the within‐gender effects of earlier age of first drinking wine or spirits on ‘binge’ drinking examined were statistically non‐significant. Those results that were significant revealed that, with one exception, boys/girls who first drank wine or spirits earlier in life were more likely to ‘binge’ drink than individuals of the same gender who first drank wine or spirits later in life or who have never consumed wine or spirits. The exception was boys who first drank wine at 15–16 years of age; they were less likely to drink in ‘binges’ than boys who have never drunk wine. This exploration suggests that early first drinking experience with any type of alcoholic beverage is not necessarily a risk factor for ‘binge’ drinking amongst UK teenagers.