Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proxy Server Experiment and Network Security with Changing Nature of the Web

The total reliance on internet connectivity and World Wide Web (WWW) based services is forcing many organizations to look for alternative solutions for providing adequate access and response time to the demand of their ever increasing users. A typical solution is to increase the bandwidth; this can be achieved with additional cost, but this solution does not scale nor decrease users perceived response time. Another concern is the security of their network. An alternative scalable solution is to deploy a proxy server to provide adequate access and improve response time as well as provide some level of security for clients using the network. While some studies have reported performance increase due to the use of proxy servers, one study has reported performance decrease due to proxy server. We then conducted a six-month proxy server experiment. During this period, we collected access logs from three different proxy servers and analyzed these logs with Webalizer a web server log file analysis program. After a few years, in September 2010, we collected log files from another proxy server, analyzed the logs using Webalizer and compared our results. The result of the analysis showed that the hit rate of the proxy servers ranged between 21% - 39% and over 70% of web pages were dynamic. Furthermore clients accessing the internet through a proxy server are more secured. We then conclude that although the nature of the web is changing, the proxy server is still capable of improving performance by decreasing response time perceived by web clients and improved network security.
Finsler pp-waves

In this work we present Finsler gravitational waves. These are a Finslerian version of the well-known pp-waves, generalizing the very special relativity line element. Our Finsler pp-waves are an exact solution of Finslerian Einstein’s equations in vacuum and describe gravitational waves propagating in an anisotropic background.
Planning in Writing: The Cognition of a Constructive Process. Technical Report No. 34.

This work was supported by the Personnel and Training Research Programs, Psychological Sciences Division, Office of Naval Research, Contract No. 00014-85-K-0423, Contract Authority Identification Number, R&T 442cOO5---02. Approved for Public Release; distribution unlimited. Reproduction in whole or part is permitted for any purpose of the United States Government. Supported in part by a grant from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Department of Education (OERI/ED)for the Center for the Study of Writing. However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the OERI/ED and no official endorsement by the OERIIED should be inferred. * .
A Randomized , Double-Blind , Placebo-Controlled Trial on Intravenous Ibuprofen L-Lysine for the Early Closure of Nonsymptomatic Patent Ductus Arteriosus within 72 Hours of Birth in Extremely Low-BirthWeight Infants

A multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) ibuprofen (L-lysine) for the early closure of nonsymptomatic patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) within 72 hours of birth in extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants with evidence of ductal shunting by echocardiogram. Eleven sites enrolled 136 infants with nonsymptomatic early PDA (gestational age < 30 weeks; body weight 500 to 1000 g) to receive a 3-day course (10 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg, and 5 mg/kg) of IV ibuprofen (n1⁄4 68) or placebo (n1⁄4 68). Cardiac echocardiogram was performed on study days 1 and 14, and with rescue. Infants were followed to 36 weeks postconceptional age. Patient demographics, mean (standard deviation), were similar between ibuprofen and placebo: birth weight: 798.5 g (128.7) versus 797.3 g (132.8); gestational age: 26.1 weeks (1.3) versus 26.2 weeks (1.4); and age at first dose: 1.5 days (0.7). The intent-to-treat analysis of the primary endpoint, subjects rescued, died, or dropped through study day 14, was 21/68 (30.9%) with ibuprofen and 36/68 (52.9%) for placebo (p1⁄4 0.005). Death, intraventricular hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis, daily fluid intake/output, liver function, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and retinopathy of
Demographic Indicators Influencing Learning Activities in MOOCs: Learning Analytics of FutureLearn Courses

Big data and analytics for educational information systems, despite having gained researchers’ attention, are still in their infancy and will take years to mature. Massive open online courses (MOOCs), which record learner-computer interactions, bring unprecedented opportunities to analyse learner activities at a very fine granularity, using very large datasets. To date, studies have focused mainly on dropout and completion rates. This study explores learning activities in MOOCs against their demographic indicators. In particular, pre-course survey data and online learner interaction data collected from two MOOCs, delivered by the University of Warwick, in 2015, 2016, and 2017, are used, to explore how learner demographic indicators may influence learner activities. Recommendations for educational information system development and instructional design, especially when a course attracts a diverse group of learners, are provided.
Performance-Sensitive Debt – The Intertwined Effects of Performance Measurement and Pricing Grid Asymmetry

This paper studies the use of performance pricing (PP) provisions in debt contracts and compares accounting-based with rating-based pricing designs. We find that rating-based provisions are used by volatile-growth borrowers and allow for stronger spread increases over the credit period. Accounting-based provisions are employed by opaque-growth borrowers and stipulate stronger spread reductions. Further, a higher spread-increase potential in rating-based contracts lowers the spread at the loan's inception and improves the borrower's performance later on. In contrast, a higher spread-decrease potential in accounting-based contracts lowers the initial spread and raises the borrower's leverage afterwards. The evidence indicates that rating-based contracts are indeed employed for different reasons than accounting-based contracts: the former to signal a borrower's quality, the latter to mitigate investment inefficiencies.
Short Selling Pressure, Stock Price Behavior, and Management Forecast Precision: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Using a natural experiment (Regulation SHO), we show that short selling pressure and consequent stock price behavior have a causal effect on managers’ voluntary disclosure choices. Specifically, we find that managers respond to a positive exogenous shock to short selling pressure and price sensitivity to bad news by reducing the precision of bad news forecasts. This finding on management forecasts appears to be generalizable to other corporate disclosures. In particular, we find that, in response to increased short selling pressure, managers also reduce the readability (or increase the fuzziness) of bad news annual reports. Overall, our results suggest that maintaining the current level of stock prices is an important consideration in managers’ strategic disclosure decisions.
Development of Physical Therapy Practical Assessment System by Using Multisource Feedback.

The purposes of the research were (1) to develop the physical therapy practical assessment system by using the multisource feedback (MSF) approach and (2) to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of the developed physical therapy practical assessment system. The development of physical therapy practical assessment system by using MSF was determined by nine experts in physical therapy. Suitability and feasibility of the system for each sub-group were investigated. Five input factors, two process factors, two output factors, and two feedback factors were involved in the system. Level of suitability and feasibility of elements in each sub-group presented at high to the highest level. In system testing, 40 physical therapy students were participated. Raters consisted of clinical educators, students (self-assessment), friends (students who in the same practical group), and patients. Twice assessments during the period of clinical practice were performed. Data analysis for generalizability coefficient (G-coefficient) was evaluated by the EduG program. Quality of the system was evaluated 4 aspects including the utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy. These were calculated by mean () and standard deviation (SD). The values of G-coefficient for absolute and relative were 0.86 and 0.88, respectively. In addition, quality of the system showed value at high to the highest level in all aspects.
Thermal control on the modes of crustal thinning leading to mantle exhumation: Insights from the Cretaceous Pyrenean hot paleomargins

The prerift Mesozoic sequences of the Cretaceous passive margins fossilized in the North Pyrenean Zone (NPZ) are characterized by high‐temperature deformation in relation with thinning of the continental basement. Our compilation of chronological and geological data confirms a clear correlation between the distribution of the highest paleotemperatures in the prerift sedimentary cover and the loci of extreme crustal stretching. Geological evidences such as the occurrence of peridotite bodies directly underlying metamorphic prerift sediments indicate an early attenuation of the rifted continental crust. This leads us to propose a mechanism of rifting involving boudinage of the continental crust. The lateral extraction of the Paleozoic basement occurred under the prerift cover that is decoupled on the Triassic clays and evaporites. The thermal conditions allowing coeval ductile deformation of the crust and of the prerift sediments leaded to the widening of basins devoid of large faulted blocks. We discuss the implications on the origin and significance of the granulites and the relations between flysch deposition and high‐temperature metamorphism of the prerift sediments. In the NPZ, Albian‐Cenomanian flysch sequences were deposited synchronously with the synmetamorphic ductile deformation of the prerift sequences. Since the base of the flysch deposits also recorded locally the high‐temperature tectonic event, we propose an original mechanism for the evolution of the basins involving continuous deformation of the prerift metamorphic sediments. At the scale of the Pyrenean domain, our results suggest a strong lateral variability in the tectonic style of passive margins, in direct link with their thermic pattern.
Pulsed terahertz tomography

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a coherent measurement technology. Using THz-TDS, the phase and amplitude of the THz pulse at each frequency can be determined. Like radar, THz-TDS also provides time information that allows us to develop various three-dimensional THz tomographic imaging modalities. The three-dimensional THz tomographic imagings we investigated are: terahertz diffraction tomography (THz DT), terahertz computed tomography (THz CT), THz binary lens tomography and THz digital holography. THz DT uses the THz wave as a probe beam to interact with a target, and then reconstructs the three-dimensional image of the target using the THz waves scattered by the target. THz CT is based on geometrical optics and inspired by x-ray CT. THz binary lens tomography uses the frequency dependent focal length property of binary lenses to obtain tomographic images of an object. THz three-dimensional holography combines radar and conventional holography technology. By separating the multiple scattered THz waves of different scattering orders, we used a digital holography method to reconstruct the sparsely distributed scattering centres. Three-dimensional THz imaging has potential in such applications as non-destructive inspection. The interaction between a coherent THz pulse and an object provides rich information about the object under study; therefore, three-dimensional THz imaging is a very useful tool to inspect or characterize dielectric and semiconductor objects. For example, three-dimensional THz imaging can be used to detect and identify the defects inside a space shuttle insulation tile.
Animal spirits through creative destruction

We show how a Schumpeterian process of creative destruction can induce rational, herd behavior by entrepreneurs across diverse sectors as if fueled by "animal spirits. " Consequently, a multisector economy, in which productivity improvements are made by independent, profit-seeking entrepreneurs, exhibits regular booms, slowdowns, and downturns as part of the long-run growth process. Our cyclical equilibrium has higher average growth, but lower welfare than the corresponding acyclical one. We show how a negative relationship can emerge between volatility and growth across cycling economies, and assess the extent to which our model matches several features of actual business cycles.
L G ] 1 4 N ov 2 01 8 1 An Empirical Evaluation of Rule Extraction from Recurrent Neural Networks

Rule extraction from black-box models is critical in domains that require model validation before implementation, as can be the case in credit scoring and medical diagnosis. Though already a challenging problem in statistical learning in general, the difficulty is even greater when highly non-linear, recursive models, such as recurrent neural networks (RNNs), are fit to data. Here, we study the extraction of rules from second order recurrent neural networks trained to recognize the Tomita grammars. We show that production rules can be stably extracted from trained RNNs and that in certain cases the rules outperform the trained RNNs.
A dynamical system perspective on plant hydraulic failure

Photosynthesis is governed by leaf water status that depends on the difference between the rates of transpiration and water supply from the soil and through the plant xylem. When transpiration increases compared to water supply, the leaf water potential reaches a more negative equilibrium, leading to water stress. Both high atmospheric vapor pressure deficit and low soil moisture increase the water demand while decreasing the supply due to lowered soil‐to‐root conductance and xylem cavitation. Therefore, dry conditions may eventually reduce the leaf water potential to the point of collapsing the plant hydraulic system. This “hydraulic failure” is shown to correspond to a fold bifurcation where the environmental parameters (vapor pressure deficit and soil moisture) trigger the loss of a physiologically sustainable equilibrium. Using a minimal plant hydraulic model, coordination among plant hydraulic traits is shown to result in increased resilience to environmental stresses, thereby impeding hydraulic failure unless hydraulic traits deteriorate due to prolonged water shortage or other damages.
Nonlinear global modes in hot jets

Since the experiments of Monkewitz et al. (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 213, 1990, p. 611), sufficiently hot circular jets have been known to give rise to self-sustained synchronized oscillations induced by a locally absolutely unstable region. In the present investigation, numerical simulations are carried out in order to determine if such synchronized states correspond to a nonlinear global mode of the underlying base flow, as predicted in the framework of Ginzburg–Landau model equations. Two configurations of slowly developing base flows are considered. In the presence of a pocket of absolute instability embedded within a convectively unstable jet, global oscillations are shown to be generated by a steep nonlinear front located at the upstream station of marginal absolute instability. The global frequency is given, within 10% accuracy, by the absolute frequency at the front location and, as expected on theoretical grounds, the front displays the same slope as a $k^-$-wave. For jet flows displaying absolutely unstable inlet conditions, global instability is observed to arise if the streamwise extent of the absolutely unstable region is sufficiently large: while local absolute instability sets in for ambient-to-jet temperature ratios $S \le 0.453$, global modes only appear for $S \le 0.3125$. In agreement with theoretical predictions, the selected frequency near the onset of global instability coincides with the absolute frequency at the inlet. For lower $S$, it gradually departs from this value.
Hierarchical structures in Northern Hemispheric extratropical winter ocean–atmosphere interactions

In recent years extensive studies on the Earth's climate system have been carried out by means of advanced complex network statistics. The great majority of these studies, however, have been focusing on investigating correlation structures within single climatic fields directly on or parallel to the Earth's surface. Here, we develop a novel approach of node weighted coupled network measures to study correlations between ocean and atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics and construct 18 coupled climate networks, each consisting of two subnetworks. In all cases, one subnetwork represents monthly sea‐surface temperature (SST) anomalies, while the other is based on the monthly geopotential height (HGT) of isobaric surfaces at different pressure levels covering the troposphere as well as the lower stratosphere. The weighted cross‐degree density proves to be consistent with the leading coupled pattern obtained from maximum covariance analysis. Network measures of higher order allow for a further analysis of the correlation structure between the two fields and consistently indicate that in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics the ocean is correlated with the atmosphere in a hierarchical fashion such that large areas of the ocean surface correlate with multiple statistically dissimilar regions in the atmosphere. Ultimately we show that this observed hierarchy is linked to large‐scale atmospheric variability patterns, such as the Pacific North American pattern, forcing the ocean on monthly time scales.
Charm Production with Jets at H1

Measurements of inclusive D meson production in photoproduction and deep-inelastic scattering at HERA are presented. To gain a further understanding of the production mechanism of charm, events containing jets, in addition to the D, are selected. This allows to investigate quantities sensitive to the partons interacting in the hard subprocess such as the fractional momentum w.r. t. the photon and proton, and the azimuthal angle between the jets. The data are compared with theoretical models such as NLO pQCD calculations based on the DGLAP evolution scheme or those based on CCFM evolution and kt-unintegrated gluon distributions.
Financial Shocks and the Real Economy in a Nonlinear World: From Theory to Estimation

We examine the inter-linkages between financial factors and real economic activity. We review the main theoretical approaches that allow financial frictions to be embedded into general equilibrium models. We outline, from a policy perspective, the most recent empirical papers focusing on the propagation of exogenous shocks to the economy, with a particular emphasis on works dealing with time variation of parameters and other types of nonlinearities. We then present an application to the analysis of the changing transmission of financial shocks in the euro area. Results show that the effects of a financial shock are time-varying and contingent on the state of the economy. They are of negligible importance in normal times but they greatly matter in conditions of stress.
2 Minimumwage compliance in developing countries

This article studies minimum wage non-compliance in Honduras, a dual labor market with high wage floors that are weakly enforced. However, rather than just counting how many workers earn sub-minimum wages, it also estimates violation indices that measure compliance at the intensive margin. I first explore cross-sectional heterogeneity in violations using household survey data. Then, I quantify compliance adjustments to minimum wage hikes by comparing indices before and after a large unexpected increase. Results show substantial differences in non-compliance across industries, location, and coverage status. Violations worsen with rising minima, but less in in more compliant sectors. JEL classification codes: J38, J42, O54
The Effect of Power on Exploratory Behavior

THE EFFECT OF POWER ON EXPLORATORY BEHAVIOR By William R. Clay, B.S. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010 Major Director: Natalie J. Shook, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology Department of Psychology The relations between power, exploratory behavior, and willingness to take risks were investigated. It was hypothesized that high power would be associated with increases in exploratory behavior, and that this relationship would be mediated by participants‟ willingness to take risks. In Study One, one-hundred forty-one undergraduates (66% female) completed questionnaires to assess trait power and willingness to take risk, as well as a computer-based research paradigm, BeanFest, to assess exploration. Willingness to take risks correlated positively with exploration. However, the predicted relations involving power were not observed. In Study Two, power was experimentally manipulated. One-hundred thirty-three undergraduates (61% female) were randomly assigned to a high-power or low-power condition before completing measures of exploration and willingness to take risk. Results indicated no significant differences between the power conditions in exploration or risk propensity. Suggestions for directions that future research should take in order to test the proposed relations are discussed.
Association between physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors in individuals undergoing cardiac rehabilitation program

INTRODUCAO: A pratica de atividade fisica (AF) apresenta relacao inversa com fatores de risco (FR) de doencas cardiovasculares, com efeitos positivos na qualidade de vida e em outras variaveis fisicas e psicologicas. Contudo, nao estao estabelecidos os beneficios das atividades cotidianas. OBJETIVO: Investigar a prevalencia e a associacao entre dos fatores de risco cardiovasculares e diversas categorias de atividade fisica de pacientes de um programa de reabilitacao cardiaca. METODOS: Avaliou-se 69 participantes e foram verificados peso, altura e pressao arterial. Logo apos, os pacientes responderam aos questionarios autorreferidos para avaliar o nivel de atividade fisica, nivel de estresse e verificar a presenca dos FR. Utilizou-se regressao logistica para estimar a razao de chance. RESULTADOS: Encontrou-se alta prevalencia de FR nos individuos, sendo idade e hipertensao arterial mais prevalentes, enquanto tabagismo e estresse apresentaram menor prevalencia. A maioria foi classificada como sedentaria, exceto para AF de locomocao (AFL). CONCLUSAO: Ha alta prevalencia de FR em pacientes que frequentam programas de reabilitacao cardiaca e os sedentarios possuem maior chance de apresentarem os FR hipertensao arterial, obesidade, tabagismo, alcool e estresse que os ativos, dependendo da categoria de AF.