Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
\Proof-of-Work" Proves Not to Work

A frequently proposed method of reducing unsolicited bulk email (\spam") is for senders to pay for each email they send. Proof-of- work schemes avoid charging real money by requiring senders to demon- strate that they have expended processing time in solving a crypto- graphic puzzle. We attempt to determine how di-cult that puzzle should be so as to be efiective in preventing spam. We analyse this both from an economic perspective, \how can we stop it being cost-efiective to send spam", and from a security perspective, \spammers can access insecure end-user machines and will steal processing cycles to solve puzzles". Both analyses lead to similar values of puzzle di-culty. Unfortunately, real- world data from a large ISP shows that these di-culty levels would mean that signiflcant numbers of senders of legitimate email would be unable to continue their current levels of activity. We conclude that proof-of-work will not be a solution to the problem of spam.
Cost‐effectiveness of thiopurine methyltransferase genotype screening in patients about to commence azathioprine therapy for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease

Background : Azathioprine is a useful agent in the management of inflammatory bowel disease. Its use is limited by its side‐effect profile. Marrow toxicity occurs in approximately 3.2% of patients and is known to be associated with diminished thiopurine methyltransferase enzyme activity resulting from genetic polymorphisms.
Qutrit magic state distillation

Magic state distillation (MSD) is a purification protocol that plays an important role in fault-tolerant quantum computation. Repeated iteration of the steps of an MSD protocol generates pure single non-stabilizer states, or magic states, from multiple copies of a mixed resource state using stabilizer operations only. Thus mixed resource states promote the stabilizer operations to full universality. MSD was introduced for qubit-based quantum computation, but little has been known concerning MSD in higher-dimensional qudit-based computation. Here, we describe a general approach for studying MSD in higher dimensions. We use it to investigate the features of a qutrit MSD protocol based on the five-qutrit stabilizer code. We show that this protocol distils non-stabilizer magic states, and identify two types of states that are attractors of this iteration map. Finally, we show how these states may be converted, via stabilizer circuits alone, into a state suitable for state-injected implementation of a non-Clifford phase gate, enabling non-Clifford unitary computation.
An exploration of the examination script features that most influence expert judgements in three methods of evaluating script quality

Some methods of determining grade boundaries within examinations, such as awarding, paired comparisons, and rank ordering, entail expert judgements of script quality. We aimed to identify the features of examinees’ scripts that most influence judgements in the three methods. For contrasting examinations in biology and English, a Latin square design enabled each of three matched groups of 10 experienced examiners to use each method to determine grade boundaries in an experimental setting. Additionally, every script was rated separately for nine potentially influential features by at least two examiners working independently. All three methods generated plausible grade boundary marks. The most influential features were inferred from analyses of the relationships between script feature ratings and grading judgements. Although the three methods yielded similarities and variations in the most influential features, no influential features were deemed likely to compromise the methods’ validities.
Simultaneous real-time monitoring of multiple cortical systems

Objective. Real-time monitoring of the brain is potentially valuable for performance monitoring, communication, training or rehabilitation. In natural situations, the brain performs a complex mix of various sensory, motor or cognitive functions. Thus, real-time brain monitoring would be most valuable if (a) it could decode information from multiple brain systems simultaneously, and (b) this decoding of each brain system were robust to variations in the activity of other (unrelated) brain systems. Previous studies showed that it is possible to decode some information from different brain systems in retrospect and/or in isolation. In our study, we set out to determine whether it is possible to simultaneously decode important information about a user from different brain systems in real time, and to evaluate the impact of concurrent activity in different brain systems on decoding performance. Approach. We study these questions using electrocorticographic signals recorded in humans. We first document procedures for generating stable decoding models given little training data, and then report their use for offline and for real-time decoding from 12 subjects (six for offline parameter optimization, six for online experimentation). The subjects engage in tasks that involve movement intention, movement execution and auditory functions, separately, and then simultaneously. Main results. Our real-time results demonstrate that our system can identify intention and movement periods in single trials with an accuracy of 80.4% and 86.8%, respectively (where 50% would be expected by chance). Simultaneously, the decoding of the power envelope of an auditory stimulus resulted in an average correlation coefficient of 0.37 between the actual and decoded power envelopes. These decoders were trained separately and executed simultaneously in real time. Significance. This study yielded the first demonstration that it is possible to decode simultaneously the functional activity of multiple independent brain systems. Our comparison of univariate and multivariate decoding strategies, and our analysis of the influence of their decoding parameters, provides benchmarks and guidelines for future research on this topic.
FAMILY CONTROL AND GROUPING : POSSIBLE EXPROPRIATION VIA DIVIDENDS

Despite the prevalence and economic importance of the family-owned firms and group -affiliated firms in north America, Western Europe and East-Asia, little attention, if any, has been given to these types of organizations in finance. Using parametric and non parametric tests on a sample of Canadian listed firms, this paper provided empirical evidence of sharp contrast in financial features and policies between family grouping and their individually counterparts. Firms surveyed exhibit evidence that family-owned firms and group-affiliated firms are prone to engage in expropriation of minority shareholders in a very sophisticated and implicit ways.
Advanced Placement Course Enrollment and School-Level Characteristics

The current study examined access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses as a function of these school characteristics (e.g., percentage of ethnic minority and lower socioeconomic status) and then examined AP course enrollment as a function of both access to AP courses and these school characteristics. Using structural equation modeling techniques, results indicated that school characteristics, such as the percentage of students who have minority and/or lower socioeconomic status backgrounds, would appear to be more related to the availability of AP curricula rather than to the number of students who enroll in these courses at a school.
The role of regulatory T cell (Treg) subsets in gestational diabetes mellitus

Physiological changes during normal pregnancy are characterized by an inflammatory immune response and insulin resistance. Therefore, we hypothesize that gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may be caused by an inappropriate adaption of the maternal immune system to pregnancy. In this study we examined the role of regulatory T cell (Treg) differentiation for the development of GDM during pregnancy. We used six‐colour flow cytometric analysis to demonstrate that the total CD4+CD127low+/−CD25+ forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3+) Treg pool consists of four different Treg subsets: naive CD45RA+ Tregs, HLA‐DR−CD45RA− memory Tregs (DR− Tregs) and the highly differentiated and activated HLA‐DRlow+CD45RA− and HLA‐DRhigh+CD45RA− memory Tregs (DRlow+ and DRhigh+ Tregs). Compared to healthy pregnancies, the percentage of CD4+CD127low+/−CD25+FoxP3+ Tregs within the total CD4+ T helper cell pool was not different in patients affected by GDM. However, the suppressive activity of the total CD4+CD127low+/−CD25+ Treg pool was significantly reduced in GDM patients. The composition of the total Treg pool changed in the way that its percentage of naive CD45RA+ Tregs was decreased significantly in both patients with dietary‐adjusted GDM and patients with insulin‐dependent GDM. In contrast, the percentage of DR−‐memory Tregs was increased significantly in patients with dietary‐adjusted GDM, while the percentage of DRlow+ and DRhigh+ memory Tregs was increased significantly in patients with insulin‐dependent GDM. Hence, our findings propose that alterations in homeostatic parameters related to the development and function of naive and memory Tregs may cause the reduction of the suppressive capacity of the total Treg pool in GDM patients. However, as this is an exploratory analysis, the results are only suggestive and require further validation.
EVALUATION OF TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TAMDAR DATA IN SHORT-RANGE MESOSCALE FORECASTS

Upper-air observations are disproportionately sparse, both temporally and geographically, when compared to surface observations. The lack of data is likely one of the largest limiting factors in numerical weather prediction. Atmospheric measurements performed by the Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) sensor of humidity, pressure, temperature, winds aloft, icing, and turbulence, along with the corresponding location, time, and altitude from built-in GPS are relayed via satellite in real-time to a groundbased network operations center. The TAMDAR sensors are deployed on a fleet of 63 Saab 340s operated by Mesaba Airlines in the Great Lakes region as a part of the NASA-sponsored Great Lakes Fleet Experiment (GLFE). More than 800 soundings are generated from 400 flights to 75 regional airports during a 24-h period. A two-part case study is conducted using the 22-23 April 2005 cyclogenetic event over the Great Lakes region. A mesoscale model using real-time fourdimensional data assimilation is employed to draw comparisons from parallel short-range simulations where the experimental (control) run includes (withholds) TAMDAR data. The second part of this study varies the vertical resolution by increasing the number of model ! levels from 36 to 48. Over half of the additional ! -levels are added to the lowest 1.5 km. This is done for both the control and experimental simulations for the same 22-23 April 2005 case. In the last part, a quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) verification study is conducted on multiple numerical weather models using the 22-23 April 2005 case. An objective precipitation cell isolation technique is employed to quantify the accuracy of each model with respect to magnitude and location of precipitation cells. The objectives of this study are to (i) identify impacts that TAMDAR data may have on mesoscale model forecasts by increasing the horizontal distribution of vertical atmospheric profiles during initialization, and (ii) to isolate the model's ability to utilize higher vertical data resolution; thus quantifying any impacts it may have for this particular case.
Gait speed under varied challenges and cognitive decline in older persons: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE to examine whether usual gait speed, fast gait speed or speed while walking with a cognitive or neuromuscular challenge predicts evolving cognitive decline over 3 years. DESIGN prospective study. SETTING population-based sample of community-dwelling older persons. PARTICIPANTS 660 older participants (age > or = 65 years). MEASUREMENTS usual gait speed, fastest gait speed, gait speed during 'walking-while-talking', depression, comorbidities, education, smoking and demographics were assessed at baseline. Cognition was evaluated at baseline and follow-up. A decline in MMSE score by > or = 3 points was considered as significant cognitive decline (SCD). RESULTS adjusting for confounders, only fast speed was associated with cognitive performance at 3-year follow-up. One hundred thirty-five participants had SCD over 3 years. Participants in the lowest quartile of usual speed or walking-while-talking speed were more likely to develop SCD. Conversely, participants in the third and fourth quartiles of fast speed were more likely to develop SCD. J-test showed that the model including fast speed quartiles as a regressor was significantly more predictive of SCD than the models with usual speed or walking-while-talking speed quartiles. CONCLUSION measuring fast gait speed in older persons may assist in identifying those at high risk of cognitive decline.
IFNγ-dependent, spontaneous development of colorectal carcinomas in SOCS1-deficient mice

Approximately 20% of human cancers are estimated to develop from chronic inflammation. Recently, the NF-κB pathway was shown to play an essential role in promoting inflammation-associated cancer, but the role of the JAK/STAT pathway, another important signaling pathway of proinflammatory cytokines, remains to be investigated. Suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 (SOCS1) acts as an important physiological regulator of cytokine responses, and silencing of the SOCS1 gene by DNA methylation has been found in several human cancers. Here, we demonstrated that SOCS1-deficient mice (SOCS1−/−Tg mice), in which SOCS1 expression was restored in T and B cells on a SOCS1−/− background, spontaneously developed colorectal carcinomas carrying nuclear β-catenin accumulation and p53 mutations at 6 months of age. However, interferon (IFN)γ−/−SOCS1−/− mice and SOCS1−/−Tg mice treated with anti-IFNγ antibody did not develop such tumors. STAT3 and NF-κB activation was evident in SOCS1−/−Tg mice, but these were not sufficient for tumor development because these are also activated in IFNγ−/−SOCS1−/− mice. However, colons of SOCS1−/−Tg mice, but not IFNγ−/−SOCS1−/− mice, showed hyperactivation of STAT1, which resulted in the induction of carcinogenesis-related enzymes, cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase. These data strongly suggest that SOCS1 is a unique antioncogene which prevents chronic inflammation-mediated carcinogenesis by regulation of the IFNγ/STAT1 pathways.
AdaCost: Misclassification Cost-Sensitive Boosting

AdaCost, a variant of AdaBoost, is a misclas-siﬁcation cost-sensitive boosting method. It uses the cost of misclassiﬁcations to update the training distribution on successive boosting rounds. The purpose is to reduce the cumulative misclassiﬁcation cost more than AdaBoost. We formally show that AdaCost reduces the upper bound of cumulative mis-classiﬁcation cost of the training set. Empirical evaluations have shown signiﬁcant reduction in the cumulative misclassiﬁcation cost over AdaBoost without consuming additional computing power.
Clients' Perceptions of Single Session Consultations as an Option to Waiting for Family Therapy

A single-session program was trialled at Bouverie Family Therapy Centre (BFTC), Melbourne, and results indicated a high level of client satisfaction with the service. Within the review period 53% of clients chose to attend for a one off consultation only, with the option of an 'open door' to return for therapy if they felt the need. The BFTC outcome supported findings of Moshe Talmon (an international advocate of the effectiveness of single session therapy), and also of two other Australian agencies whose research was reviewed and compared with the BFTC results. (author abstract)
Pharmacokinetics of clindamycin HCl administered intravenously, intramuscularly and subcutaneously to dogs.

A buffered aqueous solution of clindamycin Hcl (200 mg/mL) was injected intravenously (i.v.) intramuscularly (i.m.) and subcutaneously (s.c.) in a non-randomized, partial cross-over trial involving six male and six female dogs. Blood samples were collected at conventional, predetermined time periods and serum drug concentrations were determined by microbiological assay. Dogs were observed clinically for signs of pain, and activity of serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) was monitored after i.m. dosing. The i.v. data from five of the dogs best fitted a two-compartment open-system pharmacokinetic model whereas a non-compartment model was most suitable for analysis of the data from the remaining seven dogs. The mean i.v. elimination half-life (t1/2 beta) and the mean residence time (MRT) were 124 and 143 min, respectively. The mean volume of distribution at steady state (Vss) was 0.86 L/kg. Little pain was recorded upon i.m. injection; mean peak serum drug concentration (Cmax) was 4.4 micrograms/mL, the elimination half-life (t1/2el) was 247 min and the calculated bioavailability (F) was 115% of the i.v. dose. Serum CPK activity was elevated to 25-fold the pretreatment level in samples collected 4, 8 and 12 h after i.m. injection. Pain was not recorded after s.c. drug administration; the mean Cmax of 20.8 micrograms/mL was significantly greater than the corresponding value for the i.m. route, and F was 310%. The s.c. route appears to be superior to the i.m. route in terms of local tolerance and serum drug level; a 10 mg/kg SID treatment regimen is suggested for treatment of canine infections due to clindamycin sensitive bacteria.
Multiparty Democracy: Elections and Legislative Politics

Multiparty Democracy: Elections and Legislative Politics. By Norman Schofield and Itai Sened. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 248p. $70.00 cloth, $24.99 paper. The elegant median voter result of the Downsian model of electoral competition—which suggests that in order to maximize votes, parties move towards the ideological center—does not entirely translate into multiparty systems. To begin with, as Charles Plott (“A Notion of Equilibrium and Its Possibility under Majority Rule,” American Economic Review 57 [no. 4, 1967]: 787–806) shows, an equilibrium generally does not exist in multidimensional spaces. Moreover, Gary Cox (“Centripetal and Centrifugal Incentives in Electoral Systems,” American Journal of Political Science 34 [no. 4, 1987]: 903–35) demonstrates that if an equilibrium does exist in multicandidate contests, then they must be noncentrist. But multiparty politics are even more complex, as one must consider which coalition will govern following the election and what policy it will implement. These considerations may in turn affect the voters' strategies and the parties' choice of platforms.
Management of Night‐Waking in Young Children

Regular waking at night is one of the most common problems encountered by parents of young children. In a family counselling programme in Auckland, a night-waking programme has been used with 208 children referred during a two year period. The programme involved organized bed-time routines, procedures for settling the child and non-reward of crying, calling out and getting out of bed. Programme introduction was followed by daily phone calls to parents in which appropriate parent behaviours were prompted and reinforced. Further face to face sessions were held after one week and then if needed. Parent reports show high rates of parent implementation of procedures and rapid change of child sleep behaviour with improvements being maintained at follow up. In a survey of 48 of the parents, positive changes in the daytime behaviour of children were reported as coinciding with improved sleep habits. Also there was an absence of negative side effects, and generally, parent satisfaction with the programme was high.
The Martin boundary of a discrete quantum group

We consider the Markov operator P_phi on a discrete quantum group given by convolution with a q-tracial state phi. In the study of harmonic elements x, P_phi(x)=x, we define the Martin boundary A_phi. It is a separable C*-algebra carrying canonical actions of the quantum group and its dual. We establish a representation theorem to the effect that positive harmonic elements correspond to positive linear functionals on A_phi. The C*-algebra A_phi has a natural time evolution, and the unit can always be represented by a KMS state. Any such state gives rise to a u.c. p. map from the von Neumann closure of A_phi in its GNS representation to the von Neumann algebra of bounded harmonic elements, which is an analogue of the Poisson integral. Under additional assumptions this map is an isomorphism which respects the actions of the quantum group and its dual. Next we apply these results to identify the Martin boundary of the dual of SU_q(2) with the quantum homogeneous sphere of Podles. This result extends and unifies previous results by Ph. Biane and M. Izumi.
Development of an Instrument to Assess Fourth and Fifth Grade Students' Attitudes Toward Physical Education

The purpose of the authors in this study was to develop an instrument to assess fourth and fifth grade students' attitudes toward physical education. The methods for validation included (a) an elicitation study and instrument question development, (b) a pilot study, and (c) a series of analyses to assess, construct, and content validity and to assess reliability. Once data for 1,344 students were collected, an iterative process was completed using principal component analysis, exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, and confirmatory factor analysis using structure equation modeling. Data analysis showed that the instrument fit two different models. The first model shows students' attitudes to be influenced by cognition and affect. The second model shows a 4-factor model comprised of cognition- teacher, cognition-curriculum, affect- teacher, and affect-curriculum. This study yielded an instrument with valid and reliable scores that can assess elementary school students' attitudes toward physical education.
Effects of Attitude toward Using, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Compatibility on Intention to Use E-Marketing

This research was purposed to establish the effect of attitude toward using, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived compatibility on intention to use E-Marketing of small and medium sized business owners in the three southern border provinces of Thailand (Yala, Pattani and Narathiwas provinces) A questionnaire-based field survey was conducted to collect data from 430 participants. The data were analyzed and nine hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (Partial least square method in the SmartPLS application program). Results show that attitude toward using E-Marketing is the most influence factor that affecting on intention to use E-Marketing
Athletic Participation and Seatbelt Omission Among U.S. High School Students

Although seatbelts save lives, adolescents may be disproportionately likely to omit their use. Using data from the 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a national survey of more than 16,000 U.S. public and private high school students, the authors employed a series of logistic regression analyses to examine cross-sectional associations between past year athletic participation and regular seatbelt omission. Controlling for the effects of gender, age, race, parental education, and school urbanicity, student athletes were significantly less likely than nonathletes to report seatbelt omission. Separate gender-specific analyses showed that this effect was significant for girls but only marginally significant for boys; in addition, the effect was strongest for adolescents who participated on three or more school or community sports teams. Possible explanations for the relationship between athletic participation and seatbelt omission, including Jessor’s problem behavior syndrome, prosocial sport subcultures, and sensation seeking, are considered.