Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance of Virtual Machines Under Networked Denial of Service Attacks: Experiments and Analysis

The use of virtual machines (VMs) to provide computational infrastructure and services to organizations is increasingly prevalent in the modern IT industry. The growing use of this technology has been driven by a desire to increase utilization of resources through server consolidation. Virtualization has also made the dream of such utility computing platforms as cloud computing a reality. Today, virtualization technologies can be found in almost every data center. However, it remains unknown whether the VMs are more vulnerable on external malicious attacks. If so, to what extent their performance degrades, and which virtualization technique has the closest to native performance? To this end, we devised a representative set of experiments to examine the performance of most typical virtualization techniques under typical denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. We show that, on a DoS attack, the performance of a web server hosted in a VM can degrade by up to 23%, while that of a nonvirtualized server hosted on the same hardware degrades by only 8%. Even with relatively light attacks, the file system and memory access performance of hypervisor-based virtualization degrades at a much higher rate than their nonvirtualized counterparts. We further examine the root causes of such degradation and our results shed new lights in enhancing the robustness and security of modern virtualization systems.
Analysis of TTG1 and CPC-like MYB genes during Arabidopsis epidermal cell differentiation

The development of Arabidopsis thaliana epidermal cells includes the differentiation of trichomes and root hairs. The TRANSPARENT TESTA GLABRA 1 (TTG1) gene encodes a WD40 protein that induces trichome differentiation and reduces root hair formation in Arabidopsis. The CAPRICE (CPC) gene family includes CPC, ENHANCER OF TRY AND CPC1 (ETC1), ENHANCER OF TRY AND CPC2 (ETC2), and CPC LIKE MYB3 (CPL3), which encode R3-type MYB transcription factors that inhibit trichome differentiation and promote root hair formation. CPC expression is positively regulated by a transcriptional complex that includes TTG1. To determine whether ETC1, ETC2, and CPL3 are also regulated by the TTG1 complex, we examined the functional relationship between TTG1 and CPC-like MYB genes. Double mutant analysis showed that the ttg1 mutant is epistatic to the cpc, etc1, etc2, and cpl3 mutants in trichome cell fate determination but not in root hair development. In roots, the cpc mutant is epistatic to the ttg1 mutant in root epidermal cell fate determination. Promoter-GUS analysis indicated that TTG1 is necessary for the expression of ETC1 and CPL3, but not for ETC2 expression. These results indicate that TTG1 had a stronger effect on trichome formation than CPC-like MYBs. By contrast, CPC had a stronger effect on root hair formation than TTG1. Our results suggest that ETC1 and CPL3 are also regulated by the TTG1 complex as is the case for CPC; however, ETC2 is not regulated by this complex. We concluded that ETC2 does not have a role in trichome and root hair formation.
Using spectro-temporal features to improve AFE feature extraction for ASR

Previous work has shown that spectro-temporal features reduce WER for automatic speech recognition under noisy conditions. The spectro-temporal framework, however, is not the only way to process features in order to reduce errors due to noise in the signal. The two-stage mel-warped Wiener ﬁltering method used in the “Advanced Front End” (AFE), now a standard front end for robust recognition, is another way. Since the spectro-temporal approach can be applied to a noise-reduced spectrum, we wanted to explore whether spectro-temporal features could improve the performance of AFE for ASR. We show that computing spectro-temporal features after AFE processing results in a 45% relative improvement compared to AFE in clean conditions and a 6% to 30% improvement in noisy conditions on the Aurora2 clean training setup.
Effects of Justice and Utilitarianism on Ethical Decision Making: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Gender Similarities and Differences

This study investigates the relationship between intention to behave ethically and gender within the context of national culture. Using Reidenbach and Robin's measures of the ethical dimensions of justice and utilitarianism in a sample of business students from three different countries, we found that gender is significantly related to the respondents' intention to behave ethically. Women relied on both justice as well as utilitarianism when making moral decisions. By contrast, men relied only on justice, and did not rely on utilitarianism when faced with the same ethical issues. Further, women's intention to behave was contextual, significantly affected by two national culture dimensions (uncertainty avoidance and individualism), whereas men's decisions were more universal, and not related to national culture dimensions.
Predictions of Academic Performance in Graduate and Professional School

Using a model followed in earlier research, corre lations were computed between undergraduate and graduate grade-point averages as well as between these and standard graduate and professional school tests. Approximately 1200 law school stu dents constituted a professional school sample and another 1200 students in mathematics, physics, and chemistry constituted a graduate school sample. Earlier findings were replicated. In addition, it is shown that both graduate and professional school grades form simplex matrices and that early grades are more highly predictable from aptitude tests than later grades. There is evidence for a single simplex matrix extending through the four under graduate and three post-graduate years only in the law school sample. There are two separate simplex matrices for the two levels in the graduate school sample. Correlations between test scores and under graduate grades are biased to very low values in the professional school sample by a compensatory selec tion system, but both aptitude and achievement tests are clearly more highly correlated with fresh- man than with senior grades in the graduate school sample. In this sample, however, the advanced test in the discipline is more highly correlated with first year graduate grades than with senior grades. These data suggest that the first year in a new aca demic learning situation represents a greater intel lectual challenge than subsequent years.
Sexual experience and eating problems in female undergraduates

Interrelationships between problems associated with eating and sexual experience were examined in a nonclinic population. The Eating Attitudes Test and a Sexual Events Questionnaire were used with a sample of 130 female undergraduates. The data confirmed the hypothesis that there is a significant association between unwanted sexual experience and eating problems. It is suggested that sexual abuse may act as one of a number of setting conditions for the development of eating problems and that intrafamilial and extrafamilial experiences may differentially affect the type of symptomatology exhibited.
Medication safety infrastructure in critical-access hospitals in Florida.

PURPOSE The medication safety infrastructure of critical-access hospitals (CAHs) in Florida was evaluated. METHODS Qualitative assessments, including a self-administered survey and site visits, were conducted in seven of nine CAHs between January and June 2003. The survey consisted of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Medication Safety Self-assessment, the 2003 Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations patient safety goals, health information technology (HIT) questions, and medication-use-process flow charts. On-site visits included interviews of CAH personnel who had safety responsibility and inspections of pharmacy facilities. The findings were compiled into a matrix reflecting structural and procedural components of the CAH medication safety infrastructure. RESULTS The nine characteristics that emerged as targets for quality improvement (QI) were medication accessibility and storage, sterile product compounding, access to drug information, access to and utilization of patient information in medication order review, advanced safety technology, drug formularies and standardized medication protocols, safety culture, and medication reconciliation. CONCLUSION Based on weighted importance and feasibility, QI efforts in CAHs should focus on enhancing medication order review systems, standardizing procedures for handling high-risk medications, promoting an appropriate safety culture, involvement in seamless care, and investment in HIT.
An Experimental Demonstration of Training Probation Officers in Evidence-Based Community Supervision

The present study evaluated a training program for probation officers based on the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model of offender rehabilitation. A total of 80 officers were randomly assigned to either training or a no training condition. The probation officers then recruited 143 probationers and audiotaped their sessions at the beginning of supervision, 3 months later, and 6 months later. The audiotapes were coded with respect to the officers’ adherence to the RNR model. The experimental probation officers demonstrated significantly better adherence to the RNR principles, with more frequent use of cognitive-behavioral techniques to address the procriminal attitudes of their clients. Finally, the analysis of recidivism rates favored the clients of the trained officers. The findings suggest that training in the evidence-based principles of the RNR model can have an important impact on the behavior of probation officers and their clients.
Acute and transient psychotic disorder: comorbidity with personality disorder

A study sample of 51 patients with acute and transient psychotic disorder (ATPD) (ICD‐10) is presented. The findings suggest that, in hospital settings, ATPD is a non‐frequent condition with onset in early adult life and most often associated with female sex, good premorbid social functioning and no or minor/moderate psychosocial stressors. The DSM‐IV criteria distribute the patients into three diagnostic categories: schizophreniform disorder (41%), brief psychotic disorder (33%) and psychotic disorder not otherwise classified (25%). A high prevalence (63%) of personality disorders (PD) is revealed after recovery from the psychotic episode. The ATPD is not related to any specific PD, and in a substantial minority (37%) of cases no PD is found. The unspecified category is by far the most frequent PD in patients with ATPD. The sample will be followed up and reassessed.
Systemic Inflammation, Nutritional Status and Tumor Immune Microenvironment Determine Outcome of Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background Hypothesizing that nutritional status, systemic inflammation and tumoral immune microenvironment play a role as determinants of lung cancer evolution, the purpose of this study was to assess their respective impact on long-term survival in resected non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Methods and Findings Clinical, pathological and laboratory data of 303 patients surgically treated for NSCLC were retrospectively analyzed. C-reactive protein (CRP) and prealbumin levels were recorded, and tumoral infiltration by CD8+ lymphocytes and mature dendritic cells was assessed. We observed that factors related to nutritional status, systemic inflammation and tumoral immune microenvironment were correlated; significant correlations were also found between these factors and other relevant clinical-pathological parameters. With respect to outcome, at univariate analysis we found statistically significant associations between survival and the following variables: Karnofsky index, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class, CRP levels, prealbumin concentrations, extent of resection, pathologic stage, pT and pN parameters, presence of vascular emboli, and tumoral infiltration by either CD8+ lymphocytes or mature dendritic cells and, among adenocarcinoma type, tumor grade (all p<0.05). In multivariate analysis, prealbumin levels (Relative Risk (RR): 0.34 [0.16–0.73], p = 0.0056), CD8+ cell count in tumor tissue (RR = 0.37 [0.16–0.83], p = 0.0162), and disease stage (RR 1.73 [1.03–2.89]; 2.99[1.07–8.37], p = 0.0374- stage I vs II vs III-IV) were independent prognostic markers. When taken together, parameters related to systemic inflammation, nutrition and tumoral immune microenvironment allowed robust prognostic discrimination; indeed patients with undetectable CRP, high (>285 mg/L) prealbumin levels and high (>96/mm2) CD8+ cell count had a 5-year survival rate of 80% [60.9–91.1] as compared to 18% [7.9–35.6] in patients with an opposite pattern of values. When stages I-II were considered alone, the prognostic significance of these factors was even more pronounced. Conclusions Our data show that nutrition, systemic inflammation and tumoral immune contexture are prognostic determinants that, taken together, may predict outcome.
LMS learning algorithms: misconceptions and new results on converence

The Widrow-Hoff delta rule is one of the most popular rules used in training neural networks. It was originally proposed for the ADALINE, but has been successfully applied to a few nonlinear neural networks as well. Despite its popularity, there exist a few misconceptions on its convergence properties. In this paper we consider repetitive learning (i.e., a fixed set of samples are used for training) and provide an in-depth analysis in the least mean square (LMS) framework. Our main result is that contrary to common belief, the nonbatch Widrow-Hoff rule does not converge in general. It converges only to a limit cycle.
Voluntary saccades in fast ball games

In this princeps study of voluntary eye movements in fast ball games, a group of experienced sportsmen is compared with a group of inexperienced controls on an antisaccade task. The experienced players did not make more anticipatory eye movements or wrongly directed antisaccades. Their antisaccadic latency time was shorter than that of the controls. These results suggest that frontal control of saccades is favored in fast ball games. The findings are discussed in terms of a two-process model of eye movements and attention.
Effect of intravenous antibiotics on exercise tolerance (3‐min step test)) in cystic fibrosis *

Most children with cystic fibrosis (CF) feel better and display more energy after a course of intravenous antibiotics (IVABs), but this is not always reflected by a satisfactory improvement in lung function. We assessed the change in exercise tolerance after treatment with IVABs usingthe 3‐min step test, and compared it with changes in spirometric lung function and arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2). Thirty‐six children (mean age, 13.8 years) were enrolled from two tertiary CF centers during an inpatient stay for IVABs.
Effects of a Peer Gatekeeper Training Program on Self-esteem, Interpersonal Relationships with Friends, and Suicide Probability for High School Students

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the effects of a Peer Gatekeeper Training Program on self-esteem, interpersonal relationships with friends and suicide probability for high school students. Methods: The recruited participants were forty-three students a vocational high school in G city. The study was done from August 31, 2012 to September 25, 2012. To test the effects of the Peer Gate Keeper Training Program, the participants were divided into two groups, an experimental group (22) and a control group (21). The Peer Gate Keeper Training Program was provided to the control group after the posttest was completed. Data were analyzed using x-test, t-test, and Fisher exact test with the SPSS/WIN 18.0 program. Results: After attending the Peer Gate Keeper Training Program, significant differences were found in self-esteem, interpersonal relationships with friends, and suicide probability scores between the experimental group and the control group (t=3.24, p=.002) (t=2.16, p=.036) (t=-2.95, p=.006). Conclusion: The results indicate that the Gate Keeper Training Program enhances self-esteem and interpersonal relationships with friends and reduces suicide probability in high school students. Therefore, this program is a good strategy that teachers and community mental health nurses can use for suicide prevention in high school students.
Prosaposin gene expression in normal and dystrophic RCS rat retina.

PURPOSE To identify proteins secreted by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and to analyze their cellular distribution in normal and pathologic rat retinas at various stages of eye development. METHODS A cDNA library was constructed with RNA isolated from porcine RPE sheets and screened by using the yeast signal sequence trap system. In situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis were performed on rat retinas. RESULTS The cDNA encoding prosaposin was isolated. This is the first time this gene has been shown to be expressed in the retina. Prosaposin mRNA was detected in the rat RPE cell monolayer and in ganglion cells 14, 21, and 45 days after birth. The amount of prosaposin mRNA increased between days 14 and 45 after birth in normal retinas (rdy+), but not in the pathologic retinas (rdy-) of RCS rats. CONCLUSIONS Several techniques were used to determine the localization of prosaposin in rat retinas. The increase in the amount of prosaposin mRNA in normal retinas coincided with the maturation of photoreceptor cells and the beginning of the phagocytosis process. In addition, the RCS rdy- RPE cells, characterized by the abrogation of the ingestion phase of the photoreceptor outer segments, are deficient in prosaposin expression.
Exploring the Relationship Between IS performance and Organizational Culture in the Government and Public Sector Organizations

This paper proposes a relationship between IS performance and organizational culture, based on an examination of research literature. In order to test the research model, survey data were collected from 315 respondents in 13 organizations. Since all these organizations were government agencies or departments, our findings are particularly relevant for e-governance environments. Our results indicate that IS performance and organizational culture are related. In particular, an organization that performs well on certain IS dimensions, tends to exhibit specific cultural traits. In particular, the bureaucratic dimension, which emerges as the dominant cultural dimension, is both positively and negatively related to IS performance dimensions. The supportive and innovative dimensions of organizational culture are positively related to work process improvement and the job satisfaction of the IS user. We provide implications for practice and research by interpreting the results in the context of the process paradox. Our results point out that while government and public sector organizations can use culture to positively impact efficiency dimensions of IS performance, the dominant bureaucratic cultural will tend to hinder systemic and enterprise-wide IS performance.
Effect of transdermal opioids in experimentally induced superficial, deep and hyperalgesic pain

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Chronic pain and hyperalgesia can be difficult to treat with classical opioids acting predominately at the µ‐opioid receptor. Buprenorphine and its active metabolite are believed to act through µ‐, κ‐ and δ‐receptors and may therefore possess different analgesic and anti‐hyperalgesic effects compared with pure µ‐receptor agonists, for example, fentanyl. Here, we have compared the analgesic and anti‐hyperalgesic effects of buprenorphine and fentanyl.
Types of Interaction on Israeli Political Radio Phone-In Programmes and Their Relations to the Public Sphere

Abstract This paper typifies the different interactions on Israeli public stations political radio phone-in programmes. Based on general features of the interaction and of the host perceptions, six different types of interaction were found. The different types can be distinguished by two aspects, whether the interaction is based on agreement or disagreement and whether the participants engage each other in the interaction. The most prominent type of interaction is a two-sided disagreement interaction, in which hosts and callers argue about issues and problems. A similar type is that of the neutral interaction, in which hosts try to avoid expressing their opinions. Other types of interactions also occur in the programmes, yet hosts often remark on their occurrence. These remarks serve to explain the interaction to the audience, to justify the hosts’ behaviour, and to reprimand or compliment the caller. These remarks also suggest that hosts see these types as non-normative interactions, when compared to the two-sided disagreement and neutral interactions. The normative categories go hand in hand with the demands of a public sphere, showing that political radio phone-in programmes in Israel contribute to the public sphere and to its democratic life.
Impact of ethnicity on progress of glycaemic control in 131 935 newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes: a nationwide observational study from the Swedish National Diabetes Register

Objectives Studies on ethnic disparities in glycaemic control have been contradictory, and compromised by excessively broad categories of ethnicity and inadequate adjustment for socioeconomic differences. We aimed to study the effect of ethnicity on glycaemic control in a large cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes. Setting We used nationwide data (mainly from primary care) from the Swedish National Diabetes Register (2002–2011) to identify patients with newly diagnosed (within 12 months) type 2 diabetes. Participants We included 131 935 patients (with 713 495 appointments), representing 10 ethnic groups, who were followed up to 10 years. Primary and secondary outcome measures Progress of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) for up to 10 years was examined. Mixed models were used to correlate ethnicity with HbA1c (mmol/mol). The effect of glycaemic disparities was examined by assessing the risk of developing albuminuria. The impact of ethnicity was compared to that of income, education and physical activity. Results Immigrants, particularly those of non-Western origin, received glucose-lowering therapy earlier, had 30% more appointments but displayed poorer glycaemic control (2–5 mmol/mol higher HbA1c than native Swedes). Probability of therapy failure was 28–111% higher for non-Western groups than for native Swedes. High-income Western groups remained below the target-level of HbA1c for 4–5 years, whereas non-Western populations never reached the target level. These disparities translated into 51–92% higher risk of developing albuminuria. The impact of ethnicity was greater than the effect of income and education, and equal to the effect of physical activity. Conclusions Despite earlier pharmacological treatment and more frequent appointments, immigrants of non-Western origin display poorer glycaemic control and this is mirrored in a higher risk of developing albuminuria.
Efficacy of Computer-Assisted Instruction for the Development of Early Literacy Skills in Young Children

Two studies examined the efficacy of using computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to supplement a phonics-based reading curriculum for preschoolers and kindergartners in an urban public school system. The CAI programs provided exercises in phonological awareness and basic phonics skills. We compared treatment classes using CAI with control classes receiving the same classroom instruction without CAI. For preschoolers, the treatment group made significantly greater gains than controls in phonological awareness. For kindergartners, treatment students with low pretest scores made significantly greater gains than controls, particularly in word reading. Overall, preschoolers and low-performing kindergartners benefited from intensive practice provided by CAI programs.