Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hybrid Healing: Reiki and the Integration of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Into Biomedicine

This thesis explores complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) through research on the modality of Reiki. Reiki is an energetic practice that uses the “laying on of hands” to facilitate healing. The aim is to give insight both on a specific mind-bodyspiritual practice and on how Reiki and similar modalities might be accepted as treatments and integrated into biomedicine. Research was completed through standard anthropological methods: interviews, participant observation, and field notes. Twentyseven Reiki practitioners were interviewed to learn about their perspectives on Reiki and the progression towards integration. Through analysis of the interview transcripts and participant observation, I developed a number of themes. For organizational purposes, the themes were grouped into three levels of analysis: the institutional level, the practitioner level, and the patient level, following the approach used by anthropologist Susan Sered in her 2007 article “Taxonomies of Ritual Mixing: Ritual Healing in the Contemporary United States. ” At the institutional level, I suggest that integration is based on a spectrum and that CAM modalities range in their progression towards integration in aspects such as insurance coverage and requirements for becoming a practitioner. At the practitioner level, I suggest that practitioners affect integration progression by impeding cohesion of Reiki as a modality through mixing rituals, individualizing philosophies, and individualizing terminology from biomedicine. Analysis of the patient level examines the ambiguity and mixed information given to Reiki clients. I also explore some of the possible ways that Reiki can heal and the kinds of conditions Reiki is being utilized to heal.
Political Tensions and Corporate Cross-Border Financing: Evidence from the China-U.S. Trade War

A growing body of literature has explored the effects of political tensions on international trade and consumers’ behavior. Still, little is known whether or to what extend it matters to corporations’ cross-border financing activities. This study fills such gap in the literature by investigating the impacts of the recent China-U.S. trade war on Chinese firms’ international syndicated loans. This quasi-nature experiment facilitates the difference-in-differences (DD) identification strategy and we use Chinese corporations seeking international borrowing as the treatment group and non-Chinese counterparties as the control group. Our analysis is taken at both the aggregate level and the deal level. Preliminary results suggest significant negative aggregate consequences, including the number of loan initiations as well as their amount. Deal level estimations exhibit the similar pattern: loan spreads and maturities were adversely affected; and sizes of syndicates became bigger and the probability of secured loan occurrence was higher for Chinese corporations. To substantiate the argument that the observed gloom was caused by the trade war, we adopt the triple difference-in-differences (DDD) estimation method by exploiting U.S. borrowers as an additional level of variation.
Business Cycle Asymmetry and Unemployment Rate Forecasts

Asymmetries in unemployment dynamics have been observed in the time series of a number of countries, including the United States. This paper studies asymmetries in unemployment rate forecast errors. We consider conditions under which optimal forecasts will display asymmetrically-distributed errors and how the degree of asymmetry might vary with forecast horizon. Using data from the U.S. Survey of Professional Forecasters and the Federal Reserve Greenbook, we find substantial evidence of forecast error asymmetry, which tends to increase with the forecast horizons; we also find noteworthy differences in forecasts from these two sources. The results give insight into the ability of professional forecasters to adapt their forecasts to asymmetry in underlying processes.
Gradient Q(σ, λ): A Unified Algorithm with Function Approximation for Reinforcement Learning

Full-sampling (e.g., Q-learning) and pure-expectation (e.g., Expected Sarsa) algorithms are efficient and frequently used techniques in reinforcement learning. Q$(\sigma,\lambda)$ is the first approach unifies them with eligibility trace through the sampling degree $\sigma$. However, it is limited to the tabular case, for large-scale learning, the Q$(\sigma,\lambda)$ is too expensive to require a huge volume of tables to accurately storage value functions. To address above problem, we propose a GQ$(\sigma,\lambda)$ that extends tabular Q$(\sigma,\lambda)$ with linear function approximation. We prove the convergence of GQ$(\sigma,\lambda)$. Empirical results on some standard domains show that GQ$(\sigma,\lambda)$ with a combination of full-sampling with pure-expectation reach a better performance than full-sampling and pure-expectation methods.
Investigation of the Relationship Between the Largest Tumor Size , AgNOR area and AgNOR Count on Breast Cancer Cells

1. AgNOR 2. Tumör Çapı 3. Prognoz Özet: Tümör çapı, meme kanserinin evresini ve prognozunu belirlemede kullanılan önemli bir parametredir. Biz de AgNOR alanı ile tümör çapı arasında bir ilişkinin olup olmadığını, bu sayede hastalığın evresinin ve prognozunun belirlenmesinde, AgNOR parametrelerinin de bir ölçüt olup olamayacağını araştırmayı amaçladık. Değerlendirmeye alınan 18 meme kanserli hastada ultrasonda gözlenen tümörün çapı bilgileri arşiv kayıtlarından alındı. AgNOR sayısı ve AgNOR alanı bilgileri ise arşivdeki preparatların incelenmesiyle elde edildi. Hastalar, Tümör Nod Metastaz sınıflama sistemindeki tümör çapı kriterlerine göre gruplara ayrıldı. Böylece, tümör çapı 5-10 mm (T1b;n=8), 10-20 mm (T1c;n=5), ve 20-50 mm arasında olan hastalar (T2;n=5) olmak üzere üç grup oluşturuldu. Tümör çapları ile hem AgNOR alanı ortalamaları, hem de AgNOR sayı ortalamaları arasında güçlü bir korelasyon olduğunu saptadık (Sırasıyla r=0,740;P=0,000, r=0,771;P=0,000). İstatistiksel değerlendirmeyi, tümör çapı yerine, tümör çapının, sınıflama sistemindeki sınıfı ile yaptığımızda ise korelasyonun zayıfladığı görüldü. (Sırasıyla r=0,709;P=0,001, r=0,646;P=0,004). Hastaları, tümör çapına göre gruplara ayırıp yaptığımız değerlendirmede, grupları, hem AgNOR alanı ortalamaları hem de AgNOR sayı ortalamaları bakımından, birbirlerinden anlamlı derecede farklı bulduk (Sırasıyla; P=0,013; P=0,029). Tümör çapı ile AgNOR parametreleri arasında pozitif ilişkinin bulunması, AgNOR parametrelerinin de, meme kanserinin hem evrelenmesinde, hem de prognozunun öngörülmesinde kullanılabileceğini göstermektedir.
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULARITIES IN CONTEXTUAL LEARNING 2

1 Repeatedly searching through invariant spatial arrangements in visual search displays 2 leads to the build-up of memory about these displays (contextual-cueing effect). In the present 3 study, we investigate (1) whether contextual cueing is influenced by global statistical 4 properties of the task; and if so (2) whether these properties increase the overall strength 5 (asymptotic level) or the temporal development (speed) of learning. Experiment 1a served as 6 baseline against which we tested the effects of increased or decreased proportions of repeated 7 relative to non-repeated displays (Experiments 1b and 1c, respectively), thus manipulating the 8 global statistical properties of search environments. Importantly, probability variations were 9 achieved by manipulating the number of non-repeated (baseline) displays so as to equate the 10 total number of repeated displays across experiments. In Experiment 1d, repeated and non11 repeated displays were presented in longer streaks of trials, thus establishing a stable 12 environment of sequences of repeated displays. Our results showed that the build-up of 13 contextual cueing was expedited in the ‘statistically-rich’ Experiments 1b and 1d, relative to 14 the baseline Experiment 1a. Further, contextual cueing was entirely absent when repeated 15 displays occurred in the minority of trials (Experiment 1c). Together, these findings suggest 16 that contextual cueing is modulated by observers’ assumptions about the reliability of search 17 environments. 18 19 Word count: 204/250 20 21
Impact of Switching Bug Trackers: A Case Study on a Medium-Sized Open Source Project

For most software projects, the bug tracker is an essential tool. In open source development, this tool plays an even more central role as it is generally open to all users, who are encouraged to test the software and report bugs. Previous studies have highlighted the act of reporting a bug as a first step leading a user to become an active contributor. The impact of the bug reporting environment on the bug tracking activity is difficult to assess because of the lack of comparison points. In this paper, we take advantage of the switch, from Bugzilla to GitHub, of the bug tracker of Coq, a medium-sized open source project, to evaluate and interpret the impact that such a change can have. We first report on the switch itself, including the migration of preexisting issues. Then we analyze data from before and after the switch using a regression discontinuity design, an econometric methodology imported from quantitative policy analysis. We complete this quantitative analysis with qualitative data from interviews with developers. We show that the switch induces an increase in bug reporting, particularly from principal developers themselves, and more generally an increased engagement with the bug tracking platform, with more comments by developers and also more external commentators.
We are looking forward of seeing you in Florence ! The workshop organizers :

This work attempts to explain the types of computation that neural networks can perform by relating them to automata. We first define what it means for a real-time network with bounded precision to accept a language. A measure of network memory follows from this definition. We then characterize the classes of languages acceptable by various recurrent networks, attention, and convolutional networks. We find that LSTMs function like counter machines and relate convolutional networks to the subregular hierarchy. Overall, this work attempts to increase our understanding and ability to interpret neural networks through the lens of theory. These theoretical insights help explain neural computation, as well as the relationship between neural networks and natural language grammar.
Kinetic and Stability Improvement of Immobilized Pepper Chitosanase on Chitin by Covalent Bond

DOI: 10.21276/sjmps.2017. 3.9. 3 Abstract: Kinetic properties and stability studies of pepper chitosanase immobilized on chitin by covalent bond for production of chitooligosaccharides was the main objective of this work. A comparison with the properties that shown by the free one was also carried out. Maximum enzyme activity was observed at 2.825 and 0.576 mg chitosan /reaction mixture for free chitosanase (FC) and immobilized chitosanase (IC), respectively. They followed Michaelis-Menten Kinetics. The values of the Michaelis-Menten constant indicated that IC exhibited higher affinity toward chitosan than that of the free one. Km value was 35.71 mg/reaction mixture for the IC and 17.86 mg/reaction mixture for the free one. The maximum velocities (Vmax) were 12.5 and 47.62 U/mg for IC and FC, respectively. The optimum pH of IC was slightly shifted to acidic range (pH 5.6) from 5.8, which is the optimum for free one. IC exhibited high activity at wide range of temperature from 40 to 60oC with optimum at 55oC, while high activity of FC was found at range from 40 to 55oC with optimum at 45oC. The thermal and operational stabilities of both free and immobilized chitosanase were also evaluated. Results showed that the immobilization enhanced the enzyme stability. IC showed better thermal stability than the free one. It lost 5-10 % of its original activity after heating at 50 o C for 1h, while FC lost 35 % after the same treatment. IC also lost 58% of its original activity after heating at 60 o C for 1h, while free one lost 80 % after the same treatment. Results showed 22% rate of hydrolysis after 1 h and reached about 24 and 30 % after 2 and 24 h of hydrolysis. The end product of chitosan hydrolysis by the IC showed N-acetyl glucosamine and mixture of DP 2-6 oligomers. This improvement of the IC properties made it a potential candidate for future use in industrial application especially in chitooligosaccharides production.
Job satisfaction among librarians in Nigerian public universities

This study examined job satisfaction among librarians in public universities in Nigeria. It adopted survey research design. The population of the study consisted of 1,254 librarians in public university libraries in Nigeria, from which 923 were selected using simple random sampling. The research instrument used was a selfdeveloped questionnaire. A response rate of 67.2% was achieved. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed a high level of job satisfaction among librarians in public university libraries in Nigeria. The study concluded that contrary to general belief of low level of job satisfaction among librarians in university libraries it was however discovered that it was high. It is recommended that university library management should continue to promote values such as improved employee recognition, good leadership style and improved human capital development programmes that would increase job satisfaction of its
Effects on Gating , Working Memory , and ood Interact with the Synonymous atechol-O-methyltransferase rs 4818 C / G Polymorphism

ethods: Thirteen G/G (low prefrontal cortex [PFC] dopamine [DA]) and 12 C/C (high PFC DA) healthy male subjects entered and ompleted the study. Subjects participated in two weekly sessions associated with either acute oral tolcapone (200 mg) or placebo ccording to a balanced, crossover, double-blind design. Prepulse inhibition was assessed with 5 dB and 15 dB above background prepulses t 30-msec, 60-msec, and 120-msec intervals. Subjective mood and working memory performance (n-back and letter-number sequencing) ere also assessed.
Factors Influencing Employee Perception on Performance Management System

Without the employee feedback, the developed performance management system (PMS) cannot be assumed as an effective system that able to stimulate their workers to achieve the company’s objectives and targets. This paper aims to identify the implementation of performance management system in the company, to analyze the factors that affect employee perception on PMS, and subsequently to determine the relationship between factors influencing employee perception and PMS. 119 questionnaires were distributed to employees in Company X. The response rate is 43% of the total sample. The finding shows that the respondents strongly agreed on the implemented PMS in the company. Also, employee participation was the highest factor that influencing employee perception of PMS, followed by employee knowledge and skills, and rating techniques. Overall, each of the factors had a significant relationship with the PMS. This study may assist managers in improving their communication with employees on their work performance. Therefore, this will increase the employee understanding of how they have been assessed and feel that the process is fair. Later, this will ensure a positive employee perception of the implemented PMS.
On Legal and Moral Defeasibility

The paper discusses the notion of defeasibility and defeasible norms. It starts by examining different notions and understandings of defeasibility, highlighting key notions and paradigms associated with the concept of defeasibility. By utilizing defeasibility in the legal domain one usually aims to stress either the defeasible nature of law itself (defeasibility of legal norms, defeasibility of legal requirements) as admitting of exceptions that cannot be fully spelled out and specified in advance (a norm-based account of legal defeasibility), or defeasibility in legal reasoning as a consequence of the interpretation of legal provisions or concepts (an interpretation-based account of legal defeasibility). Several different models or interpretations of defeasibility are discussed in order to get a better grip on the issue. In the field of moral theory defeasibility is most often associated with moral principles or rules and is employed to accommodate the alleged exceptions to these moral norms and can thus in principle allow that the moral import of a given feature of action varies from case to case. Four such models of defeasible moral principles will be presented and discussed, namely (a) the model of ‘that’s it’ moral principles; (b) the model of default moral principles; (c) the model of hedged moral principles; and (d) the model of defeasible moral principles as soft laws. At the end similarities and differences between both domains regarding the notion of defeasibility are discussed with a goal to propose a wider understanding of defeasibility covering the whole field of normativity. Several general features of defeasibility models for normativity-related domains are discerned and central features of defeasibility will be pointed out.
The Effect of Location on Perceived Intrusiveness of Mobile Ads

Ads are a salient means for supporting the development and sustenance of several computing services free for public use. While ads have potential benefits for users (monetary, informational, etc.) they also have shortcomings such as being perceived as intrusive. With the advent of mobile computing location based services might be able to address the shortcomings of ads. In this paper we study the perceived intrusiveness of location based ads using a virtual environment. We present initial evidence that location has a significant impact on the way people perceive the intrusiveness of ads. Author
Macroeconomic variables and the cross-section of Johannesburg Stock Exchange returns

This study adopts the Chen, Roll & Ross prespecified variable approach to priced arbitrage pricing theory factor (APT) identification on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). It is observed that the dichotomy in the return generating processes underlying South African mining and industrial shares leads to cross-sectional correlations in the residual errors of linear factor models that do not employ factor analytically extracted explanatory variables. As a result, a 'two residual market factor' approach is introduced in this study. Employing the iterated non-linear seemingly unrelated regression technique of McElroy & Burmeister (1988), it is found that the rand gold price, the rate on long bonds, the Dow-Jones Industrial Index and the level of gold and foreign exchange reserves together with the Industrial and All-Gold residual market factors represent priced sources of risk within the framework of the APT over the period 1985 to 1995. The pricing relationships estimated are found to be inconsistent with those implied by the capital asset pricing model. These results are robust across the 'unconstrained intercept' and 'zero beta' cross-sectional model specifications. The findings of the study, however, imply that the influence of macroeconomic variables on the JSE is most parsimoniously expressed in the two factor APT model of Van Rensburg & Slaney (1997).
A pr 2 01 8 Collaboration and Competition Between Richtmyer-Meshkov instability and Rayleigh-Taylor instability

The two-dimensional Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability(RMI) system and the coexisting system combined with Rayleigh-Taylor Instability(RTI) are simulated with a multiple-relaxation time discrete Boltzmann model. It is found that, for the RMI system, the correlation between globally averaged non-organized energy flux and nonuniformity of temperature is nearly 1; the correlation between globally averaged non-organized momentum flux and nonuniformity of velocity and that between globally averaged thermodynamic non-equilibrium strength and nonuniformity of density are also high. In the coexisting system combined with RTI, the collaboration and competition mechanisms of the two instabilities are investigated. In the case where RMI dominates, an interesting interface inversion process is observed. The parameter regions for RMI dominates and RTI dominates are given. The effects of gravity acceleration and Mach number on nonequilibrium are carefully studied, via which the effects of RTI and RMI strengths on the extent of material mixing are better probed. PACS numbers: 47.11. -j, 51.10. +y, 05.20. Dd
Stellar Consensus by Instantiation

Stellar introduced a new type of quorum system called a Federated Byzantine Agreement System. A major difference between this novel type of quorum system and a threshold quorum system is that each participant has its own, personal notion of a quorum. Thus, unlike in a traditional BFT system, designed for a uniform notion of quorum, even in a time of synchrony one well-behaved participant may observe a quorum of well-behaved participants, while others may not. To tackle this new problem in a more general setting, we abstract the Stellar Network as an instance of what we call Personal Byzantine Quorum Systems. Using this notion, we streamline the theory behind the Stellar Network, removing the clutter of unnecessary details, and refute the conjecture that Stellar's notion of intact set is optimally fault-tolerant. Most importantly, we develop a new consensus algorithm for the new setting.
Agrotxico e trabalho: uma combinao perigosa para a sade do trabalhador rural

Analisaram-se os riscos e danos a saude dos agricultores causados pelos agrotoxicos, tendo como eixos centrais o processo e as relacoes de trabalho presentes na agricultura brasileira. Trata-se de um tema polemico, complexo e conflituoso. Foram abordadas questoes referentes a informacao e as politicas publicas para o setor. Este artigo traz a contribuicao e a reflexao do Grupo de Estudos de Saude e Trabalho Rural de Minas Gerais (Gestru), que apresenta alguns resultados de seus trabalhos realizados em regioes hortifrutigranjeira, floricultora, canavieira e cafeeira de Minas Gerais. Propoe-se a incorporacao de um conjunto de variaveis a serem consideradas no processo de avaliacao da exposicao e dos danos a saude gerados pelos agrotoxicos. Sao apresentadas algumas propostas e sugestoes para a construcao de uma agenda de politicas e acoes no campo da saude do trabalhador agricola brasileiro.
BoWLer: A neural approach to extractive text summarization

While extractive summarization is a well studied problem, it is far from solved. In recent years a large number of interesting and complex models have been used to achieve significant improvements in performance. This can easily be attributed to Deep Learning models and dense vector representations but the performance gain comes with the cost of computational and representational complexity. In this work, we present a simple, yet effective approach for extractive summarization of news articles. In line with many recent works in this area we propose an encoder-decoder architecture with a simple bag of word encoder for sentences followed by an attention based decoder for relevant sentence selection. Our model is trained end-to-end and its performance is comparable to the state-of-the-art models while being simpler both in terms of the number of parameters (signiﬁcantly lesser) as well as the representational complexity.