Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic pricing under binary demand uncertainty: A multi-armed bandit with correlated arms

We consider a dynamic pricing problem with unknown demand models. In this problem, a seller offers prices sequentially to a stream of potential customers and observes either success or failure in each sales attempt. The underlying demand model is unknown and can take one of two possible forms. We show that the problem can be formulated as a two-armed bandit with correlated arms. We develop a dynamic pricing policy based on likelihood ratio test that offers a finite regret, where regret is defined as the revenue loss with respect to the case with a known demand model. We further generalize this policy by introducing an exploration price to improve the regret. The exploration price is set to be the one that maximizes the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the two demand models.
When Meaning Is Not Enough: Distributional and Semantic Cues to Word Categorization in Child Directed Speech

One of the most important tasks in first language development is assigning words to their grammatical category. The Semantic Bootstrapping Hypothesis postulates that, in order to accomplish this task, children are guided by a neat correspondence between semantic and grammatical categories, since nouns typically refer to objects and verbs to actions. It is this correspondence that guides children’s initial word categorization. Other approaches, on the other hand, suggest that children might make use of distributional cues and word contexts to accomplish the word categorization task. According to such approaches, the Semantic Bootstrapping assumption offers an important limitation, as it might not be true that all the nouns that children hear refer to specific objects or people. In order to explore that, we carried out two studies based on analyses of children’s linguistic input. We analyzed child-directed speech addressed to four children under the age of 2;6, taken from the CHILDES database. The corpora were selected from the Manchester corpus. The corpora from the four selected children contained a total of 10,681 word types and 364,196 word tokens. In our first study, discriminant analyses were performed using semantic cues alone. The results show that many of the nouns found in parents’ speech do not relate to specific objects and that semantic information alone might not be sufficient for successful word categorization. Given that there must be an additional source of information which, alongside with semantics, might assist young learners in word categorization, our second study explores the availability of both distributional and semantic cues in child-directed speech. Our results confirm that this combination might yield better results for word categorization. These results are in line with theories that suggest the need for an integration of multiple cues from different sources in language development.
A Naturalistic Study of Dissociative Identity Disorder and Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified Patients Treated by Community Clinicians

The goals of this naturalistic, cross-sectional study were to describe the patient, therapist, and therapeutic conditions of an international sample of dissociative disorder (DD) patients treated by community therapists and to determine if community treatment for DD appears to be as effective as treatment for chronic PTSD and conditions comorbid with DD. Analyses found that across both patient (N 280) and therapist (N 292) reports, patients in the later stages of treatment engaged in fewer self-injurious behaviors, had fewer hospitalizations, and showed higher levels of various measures of adaptive functioning (e.g., GAF) than those in the initial stage of treatment. Additionally, patients in the later stages of treatment reported lower symptoms of dissociation, posttraumatic stress disorder, and distress than patients in the initial stage of treatment. The effect sizes for Stage 5 versus Stage 1 differences in DD treatment were comparable to those published for chronic PTSD associated with childhood trauma and depression comorbid with borderline personality disorder. Given the prevalence, severity, chronicity, and high health care costs associated with DD, these results suggest that extended treatment for DD may be beneficial and merits further research.
Towards assessment of IPv6 readiness, deployment and transition plans in Croatia

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) was designed in the mid-1990s with the goal to replace IPv4 as the main network-layer protocol in the Internet. Fifteen years later, it is evident that the adoption of IPv6 has not progressed as expected, but recently it seems to be finally taking up. This paper reviews the past experiences and present state of IPv6 deployment in Croatia, followed by the ongoing assessment of IPv6 readiness and transition plans in public and private sectors. Future activities to raise awareness of IPv6 in Croatia and to stimulate its adoption in research and education communities, government and public authorities, and private sector are discussed.
Charles Reep: A Major Influence on British and Norwegian Football

This article attempts to explain Norway's international success in football during the 1990s, by primarily focusing on the development of playing styles in Norway and the UK. Charles Reep has been central in this development. His research has led him to propose a theory which highlights the role which chance plays in football and thus a particularly direct style of play. This playing style, however, has its roots in the football played by Herbert Chapman's Arsenal team of the early 1930s. The style of play subsequently adopted by the Norwegian national team in the 1990s, therefore, can be traced back to Herbert Chapman via Charles Reep.
Home Nodes, Criminogenic Places, and Parolee Failure

This article examines whether potentially criminogenic places (including bars, liquor stores, restaurants, public transport hubs, drug markets, and more), located within a 1,240-feet radius of parolees’ residences (the home “node”), predict their rearrest or revocation. Taking these features into account, in addition to individual traits and behaviors, might pave the way for more accurate risk assessment that could help make supervision sensitive to place-based risks. However, multivariate survival analysis of 1,632 parolees released to Newark during July 2007 to June 2009 found little evidence that these factors increased the risk of failure. Successful operationalization of environmental risk will probably need to incorporate more detailed measures of parolees’ routine activities, including the settings and paths they frequent beyond their home environment.
Young onset dementia

Young onset dementia is a challenging clinical problem with potentially devastating medical and social consequences. The differential diagnosis is wide, and includes a number of rare sporadic and hereditary diseases. However, accurate diagnosis is often possible, and all patients should be thoroughly investigated to identify treatable processes. This review presents an approach to the diagnosis, investigation, and management of patients with young onset dementia, with particular reference to common and treatable causes.
Actors and Their Use of Avatars as Personal Mediators: An empirical study of avatar-based sense-makings and communication practices in the virtual worlds of EverQuest and Second Life

Over the past five years, millions of actors have found it meaningful to move in and settle down in the Metaverse, for example, as an adventurous shaman in an advanced role-playing game such as EverQuest or as a businesswoman in the social world of Second Life. In this article, the main question therefore is: how do the actors and gamers of the two types of virtual worlds make sense of their avatars and the worlds when they act and communicate using their avatars as personal mediators? Participatory observations inspired by virtual ethnography and in-depth video-interviews were conducted to answer this question. The analysis of the substantial amount of empirical data draws on the concepts of intermediaries and mediators from actor-network theory (Latour, 1991, 1998, 2005), Sense-Making methodology (Dervin et al., 2003), social psychology (Yee, 2006), and experimental economics (Bloomfield & Rennekamp, 2008). It is shown how the actors create a personal story and history of their avatar that transforms them into the mediators of being in the virtual world, and also how the avatars act as the mediators that transform the actors themselves. To identify, understand, and keep track of the many transformations of meaning, Nick Yee’s motivation factors (relationships, immersion, achievement, escapism and manipulation) have proven helpful also to the analysis of a social world like Second Life. In future studies, it is recommended that we study further the sense-makings of motivation factors such as creativity and experimentation.
Love, rights and solidarity in the recognition of prior learning (RPL)

This article uses Axel Honneth’s theory of Recognition to reflect upon current research that investigates non-traditional learners’ experiences of the recognition of prior learning (RPL) in the Australian vocational education sector. More specifically, it considers how to support greater engagement with and completion of RPL processes by non-traditional learners who work within the community services industry. Data are gathered through a series of semi-structured interviews with nine RPL candidates, their workplace supervisors and assessors at three stages during the RPL process and thematic analysis is undertaken using constructivist grounded methodology. Preliminary findings indicate ontological purposes of RPL and intersubjective qualities and effects of the assessment. Honneth’s theory of Recognition is used as a sensitising theory to provide an interpretive lens through which to view these findings, raising particular questions for how RPL assessment is understood and practiced with non-traditional learners.
Prevalence of polymorphisms with significant resistance to NS5A inhibitors in treatment-naive patients with hepatitis C virus genotypes 1a and 3a in Sweden

Abstract Background: The future treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection will be combinations of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) that not only target multiple viral targets, but are also effective against different HCV genotypes. Of the many drug targets in HCV, one promising target is the non-structural 5A protein (NS5A), against which inhibitors, namely daclatasvir, ledipasvir and ombitasvir, have shown potent efficacy. However, since HCV is known to have very high sequence diversity, development of resistance is a problem against but not limited to NS5A inhibitors (i.e. resistance also found against NS3-protease and NS5B non-nucleoside inhibitors), when used in suboptimal combinations. Furthermore, it has been shown that natural resistance against DAAs is present in treatment-naïve patients and such baseline resistance will potentially complicate future treatment strategies. Methods: A pan-genotypic population-sequencing method with degenerated primers targeting the NS5A region was developed. We have investigated the prevalence of baseline resistant variants in 127 treatment-naïve patients of HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2b and 3a. Results: The method could successfully sequence more than 95% of genotype 1a, 1b and 3a samples. Interpretation of fold resistance data against the NS5A inhibitors was done with the help of earlier published phenotypic data. Baseline resistance variants associated with high resistance (1000–50 000-fold) was found in three patients: Q30H or Y93N in genotype 1a patients and further Y93H in a genotype 3a patient. Conclusion: Using this method, baseline resistance can be examined and the data could have a potential role in selecting the optimal and cost-efficient treatment for the patient.
Consulting citizens: technologies of elicitation and the mobility of publics

The new centrality of “the public” to the governance of science and technology has been accompanied by a widespread use of public consultation mechanisms designed to elicit from citizens relevant opinions on technoscientific matters. This paper explores the configuration of legitimate constituencies in two such exercises: the UK “GM Nation? ” public debate on food biotechnology, and a Swedish “Transparency Forum” on the risks of mobile telephones. We consider the apparently paradoxical combination in these two examples of a tendency to produce static images of the public with a high valuation of mobility—of citizens and their opinions—as the key outcome of deliberation. We discuss the organizers' careful delineation of a distinction between “stakeholders” and the “general public,” and their aversion to any sort of “eventfulness” in public deliberations. Finally, we introduce the classical notion of the “idiot”—the individual who minds exclusively his or her own private affairs— and argue for the need to develop a new vocabulary to evaluate the politics of “listening to the public. ”
Abnormalities of the First Three Steps of Gait Initiation in Patients with Parkinson's Disease with Freezing of Gait

The purpose of this study was to investigate abnormalities of the first three steps of gait initiation in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with freezing of gait (FOG). Ten PD patients with FOG and 10 age-matched healthy controls performed self-generated gait initiation. The center of pressure (COP), heel contact positions, and spatiotemporal parameters were estimated from the vertical pressures on the surface of the force platform. The initial swing side of gait initiation was consistent among the trials in healthy controls but not among the trials in PD patients. The COP and the heel contact position deviated to the initial swing side during the first step, and the COP passed medial to each heel contact position during the first two steps in PD patients. Medial deviation of the COP from the first heel contact position had significant correlation with FOG questionnaire item 5. These findings indicate that weight shifting between the legs is abnormal and that medial deviation of the COP from the first heel contact position sensitively reflects the severity of FOG during the first three steps of gait initiation in PD patients with FOG.
Aberrant localization of the neuronal class III beta-tubulin in astrocytomas.

BACKGROUND The class III beta-tubulin isotype (betaIII) is widely regarded as a neuronal marker in development and neoplasia. In previous work, we have shown that the expression of betaIII in neuronal/neuroblastic tumors is differentiation dependent. In contrast, the aberrant localization of this isotype in certain nonneuronal neoplasms, such as epithelial neuroendocrine lung tumors, is associated with anaplastic potential. OBJECTIVE To test the generality of this observation, we investigated the immunoreactivity profile of betaIII in astrocytomas. DESIGN Sixty archival, surgically excised astrocytomas (8 pilocytic astrocytomas, WHO grade 1; 18 diffuse fibrillary astrocytomas, WHO grade 2; 4 anaplastic astrocytomas, WHO grade 3; and 30 glioblastomas, WHO grade 4), were studied by immunohistochemistry using anti-betaIII monoclonal (TuJ1) and polyclonal antibodies. A monoclonal antibody to Ki-67 nuclear antigen (NC-MM1) was used as a marker for cell proliferation. Antibodies to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and BM89 synaptic vesicle antigen/synaptophysin were used as glial and neuronal markers, respectively. RESULTS The betaIII immunoreactivity was significantly greater in high-grade astrocytomas (anaplastic astrocytomas and glioblastomas; median labeling index [MLI], 35%; interquartile range [IQR], 20%-47%) as compared with diffuse fibrillary astrocytomas (MLI, 4%; IQR, 0.2%-21%) (P <.0001) and was rarely detectable in pilocytic astrocytomas (MLI, 0%; IQR, 0%-0.5%) (P <.0001 vs high-grade astrocytomas; P <.01 vs diffuse fibrillary astrocytomas). A highly significant, grade-dependent relationship was observed between betaIII and Ki-67 labeling and malignancy, but this association was stronger for Ki-67 than for betaIII (betaIII, P <.006; Ki-67, P <.0001). There was co-localization of betaIII and GFAP in neoplastic astrocytes, but no BM89 synaptic vesicle antigen/synaptophysin staining was detected. CONCLUSIONS In the context of astrocytic gliomas, betaIII immunoreactivity is associated with an ascending gradient of malignancy and thus may be a useful ancillary diagnostic marker. However, the significance of betaIII-positive phenotypes in diffuse fibrillary astrocytomas with respect to prognostic and predictive value requires further evaluation. Under certain neoplastic conditions, betaIII expression is not neuron specific, calling for a cautious interpretation of betaIII-positive phenotypes in brain tumors.
Improving partnerships between schools and universities: professional learning with benefits beyond preservice teacher education

Abstract A constant dilemma for teacher education in Australia and overseas is the difficulty of finding sufficient numbers of placements for preservice teachers to complete the professional experience/student teaching component of their course. Statements related to quantity of placements gain both public and professional attention while less attention is given to the quality of learning. Investigations as to why experienced teachers are reluctant to participate demonstrate that there are more complex issues than the superficial focus on numbers. They demand attention by those involved in university–school relationships. This paper proposes that by viewing the partnership from a wider perspective, concerns related to professional experience can be addressed, at the same time offering expanded opportunities for teacher professional development. Reflecting upon observations of current practices and the analysis of perspectives articulated in educational literature, the paper further proposes that a committed partnership approach takes advantage of underutilised experience and knowledge to provide mutually beneficial learning outcomes for all participants.
Generating Peace: A Study of Nonformal Youth Organizations

Youth today encounter many obstacles—including poverty, violence, and marginalization—that often result in feelings of hopelessness and despair leading to harmful behaviors. This sometimes has led to the scapegoating of youth in society. However, many youth have chosen to confront these media-propagated stereotypes by becoming involved positively in their communities. Utilizing a conceptual framework and philosophy of education that incorporates structural violence theory and peace education pedagogy, this article explores the impact involvement has on inner-city youth who have chosen to address issues of direct and structural violence as peacebuilders. The empirical research conducted established that involvement in a prosocial organization had an impact on personal growth, on interest in learning, in a desire to “get their word out,” and in reinforcing an ethic of social responsibility. This research supports the creation of bottom-up education programs that incorporate the voices of youth in their design and development.
Constructing the ‘other’ within police culture: an analysis of a deviant unit within the police organization

As a society, we aggregate and dichotomize ourselves by implying that sharing a master status effectively binds a set of people together. Dichotomization constructs an image of a mythical ‘other’ who is not at all like ‘us’ and may result in stigmatization and leveling of sanctions against those who occupy the ‘other’ status. Research has revealed a police culture that promotes a ‘we–they’ paradox within the larger community. This research goes a step further in examining how police culture invokes this paradox within the police organization itself. In particular, it examines how police culture stigmatizes and sanctions, or penalizes, community police officers who engage in ‘social service’ work. The study revealed that feelings of stigma were determined by lack of agency support and officer ridicule and resulted in high levels of agency penalty.
Rural Special Education Teachers' Plans to Continue or Leave Their Teaching Positions

A survey of 158 rural special education teachers was conducted to determine the teachers' plans for remaining in or leaving their current teaching positions. Only 57% indicated that it was likely that they would return in 5 years. Data were analyzed to determine variables that differed significantly between those likely to stay in their positions. Select variables were entered into a logistic regression analysis to build a predictive model. The results of these analyses, along with teachers' written comments, suggested that administrative support and job requirements played important roles in teachers' 5-year plans.
Game-based learning using a 3D virtual world in computer engineering education

This paper presents an on-line three-dimensional virtual world learning environment that has been developed aiming to contribute to the improvement of Information Security issues awareness. This learning environment simulates a number of information security threat scenarios, presented to users as games, selected by users as the most interesting ones. The environment enables students to experience the risks, be educated about them and combine skills and knowledge to overcome them, without exposing themselves and their data to real risk. This paper provides insight and focuses on the learning process and the learning outcomes of using this three-dimensional virtual world learning environment into a formal university education process for computer engineering students.
Effect of postponed treatment with an anti‐tumour necrosis factor (TNF) F(ab')2 fragment on endotoxin‐induced cytokine and neutrophil responses in chimpanzees

TNF is considered to be an intermediate factor in endotoxin‐induced release of other cytokines and endotoxin‐induced neutrophil degranulation. Little is known about the effect of postponed treatment with anti‐TNF in primate endotoxin models. To assess the effect of delayed treatment with anti‐TNF in endotoxaemia, six healthy adult chimpanzees were intravenously injected with Escherichia coli endotoxin (4 ng/kg). In three of these animals the administration of endotoxin was followed after 30 min by a bolus i.v. injection of the anti‐TNF F(ab')2 fragment MAK 195F (0.1 mg/kg). Post‐treatment with MAK 195F completely prevented the appearance of TNF activity in serum elicited by endotoxin, and markedly reduced the rises in the serum concentrations of IL‐6 and IL‐8. In addition, the endotoxin‐induced increases in the type I and type II soluble TNF receptors were also profoundly inhibited by MAK 195F, suggesting that TNF is involved in the release of its own soluble receptors in endotoxaemia, Neutrophilic leucocytosis was not affected by MAK 195F. In contrast, MAK 195F did significantly abrogate neutrophil degranulation, as measured by the plasma concentrations of lactoferrin. These results indicate that treatment with anti‐TNF 30 min after the administration of endotoxin is still effective in attenuating the induction of the cytokine network and of neutrophil degranulation.