Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A thoroughly validated spreadsheet for calculating isotopic abundances (2H, 17O, 18O) for mixtures of waters with different isotopic compositions.

RATIONALE Oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes are widely used tracers for studies on naturally occurring and laboratory mixtures of isotopically different waters. Although the mixing calculations are straightforward to perform, there are ample possibilities to make mistakes, especially when dealing with a large number of mixed fluids. To facilitate isotope mixing calculations and to avoid computational mistakes, a flexible tool to carry out these calculations is in demand. METHODS We developed, in three independent efforts, spreadsheets to carry out the mixing calculations for a combination of waters with different isotopic compositions using the isotope mass balance equation. We validated our calculations by comparison of the results of the three spreadsheets for a large number of test calculations. For all the cases, we obtained identical results down to the 12(th) to 14(th) significant digit. RESULTS We present a user-friendly, thoroughly validated spreadsheet for calculating (2) H, (17) O and (18) O stable isotopic abundances and respective isotope delta values for mixtures of waters with arbitrary isotopic compositions. The spreadsheet allows the mixing of up to 10 different waters, of which up to five can be specified using their isotopic abundances and up to five others using their isotope delta values. The spreadsheet is implemented in Microsoft Excel and is freely available from our research groups' websites. CONCLUSIONS The present tool will be applicable in the production and characterization of singly and doubly labeled water (DLW) mother solutions, the analysis of isotope dilution measurements, the deduction of unknown isotope values of constituents for mixtures of natural waters, and many other applications.
Correlations and interactions in the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in human blood mononuclear cells: IL-6 suppresses IL-1 and TNF.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) shares several biologic properties with IL-1, including hematopoietin-1 activity and stimulation of T cells. Because many of their biologic activities overlap, we developed and used a specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) for IL-6 to compare production of this cytokine on a molar basis with that of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha. The RIA correlated well with the hybridoma bioassay for IL-6 (r = .87, P less than .001). Freshly isolated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) cultured in the absence of stimuli did not produce IL-6 in most cases. Kinetics of secretion and cell-association of IL-6 were studied. In contrast to IL-1 alpha but similar to TNF, IL-6 was almost entirely secreted into the extracellular fluid. Incubation with different stimuli (lipopolysaccharide [LPS], phytohemagglutinin [PHA], Staphylococcus epidermidis, or IL-1 alpha) resulted in production of IL-6. However, on a molar basis PBMC produced approximately two to three times less IL-6 than IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, or TNF, regardless of the stimulus. The amount of IL-6 produced from PBMC was consistent when measured in the same subjects six time during a 12-week period. In a cohort of 38 donors, the coefficient of variation for IL-6 production was . 32, compared with . 92 for IL-1 beta and . 96 for TNF. Comparing cytokine production by PBMC, there was a significant correlation between IL-6 and IL-1 beta (r = .72) and between IL-6 and TNF (r = .66). IL-6 did not stimulate IL-1 beta or TNF production, but suppressed IL-1 beta and TNF production induced by LPS or PHA by 30% (P less than .01). This suppression of IL-1 beta and TNF by IL-6 appears to be on the level of transcription.
ESTIMATING THE EFFECT OF INCENTIVES ON MAIL SURVEY RESPONSE RATES: A META-ANALYSIS

This article reports the results of a meta-analysis of 38 experimental and quasi-experimental studies that implemented some form of mail survey incentive in order to increase response rates. A total of 74 observations or cases were classified into one of four types of incentive groups: those using prepaid monetary or nonmonetary rewards included with the initial survey mailing and those using monetary or nonmonetary rewards as conditional upon the return of the survey. Results were generated using an analysis of variance approach. The overall effect size across the 74 observations was reported as low to moderate at d = . 241. When compared across incentive types, only those surveys that included rewards (both monetary and nonmonetary) in the initial mailing yielded statistically significant estimates of effect size (d = .347, d = .136). The average increase in response rates over control conditions for these types of incentives was 19.1 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. There was no evidence of any impact for those incentive types offering rewards contingent upon the return of the survey.
Commerce électronique, la question de la vente aux particuliers sur l'Internet (« business to consumers »)

Cet essai repond a un double objectif. D'une part reexaminer les analyses actuelles sur le developpement du commerce electronique, en particulier celles issues de l'economie, la gestion et le marketing. D'autre part, a partir des specificites de la structure reticulaire de l'Internet, pointer de nouvelles specificite du commerce electronique, relevant d'approches plus sociologiques et anthropologiques. On aboutira en particulier a l'idee non pas de commerce electronique mais de formes et de modalites differentes pour la vente en ligne, c'est a dire bien plutot de commerces electroniques.
The correlates of subjective overall security

This paper deals with an important component of human wellbeing, which has been traditionally disregarded by the economic discourse: the individual's perception of his/her overall security. We study this feature within the framework of the economics of happiness. We argue that subjective security is a multi-dimensional psychological asset and briefly discuss its substantial neglect by the economic literature (Section 1). In Section 2, we make the case for the economics of happiness approach, which we apply using data from a representative survey (described in Section 3). Multivariate analyses (Sections 4 to 6) confirm that perceived individual life security is a multidimensional item: its main correlates can be classified as economic, relational, environmental and value-related. This supports the hypothesis that some compensation is possible among different dimensions of security. Structural differences emerge between gender groups.
Trophic Position and Metabolic Rate Predict the Long-Term Decay Process of Radioactive Cesium in Fish: A Meta-Analysis

Understanding the long-term behavior of radionuclides in organisms is important for estimating possible associated risks to human beings and ecosystems. As radioactive cesium (137Cs) can be accumulated in organisms and has a long physical half-life, it is very important to understand its long-term decay in organisms; however, the underlying mechanisms determining the decay process are little known. We performed a meta-analysis to collect published data on the long-term 137Cs decay process in fish species to estimate biological (metabolic rate) and ecological (trophic position, habitat, and diet type) influences on this process. From the linear mixed models, we found that 1) trophic position could predict the day of maximum 137Cs activity concentration in fish; and 2) the metabolic rate of the fish species and environmental water temperature could predict ecological half-lives and decay rates for fish species. These findings revealed that ecological and biological traits are important to predict the long-term decay process of 137Cs activity concentration in fish.
Targeting prosody in an eight-year-old child with high-functioning autism during an interactive approach to therapy

A fundamental deficit in children with high-functioning autism (HFA) is social communicative competence. Atypical prosody in variable forms has been implicated in contributing to this deficit. The purpose of this case study was to describe the clinical management of an eight-year-old child with HFA for whom prosody became the primary target of intervention. Procedures for prosodic analysis, the course of intervention and subsequent changes in the child's prosodic behaviour are explained.
Do gender proportions matter

This study examines the relationship of gender proportions and a variety of work experiences, work and extra‐work satisfactions and indicators of psychological wellbeing among 324 female and 134 male psychologists. Data were collected using questionnaires completed anonymously. Female psychologists indicated a higher proportion of females in their workplaces than did male psychologists. Both female and male psychologists indicated more women at lower than at higher organizational levels. Male psychologists were older, had longer job and employer tenure, were at higher organizational levels, earned more income and were more likely to be married. Measures of gender proportions were generally uncorrelated with work experiences, work and non‐work satisfactions and psychological wellbeing among both female and male psychologists.
Mind the ‘gap year’: a critical discourse analysis of volunteer tourism promotional material

The volunteer tourism program (VTP) is a popular form of travel for young tourists in which adventure travel is paired with short-term ‘volunteer’ placements in host communities around the countries of the global South. VTPs are now a routine mode of travel or pre-university ‘training’ for wealthy young people from across North America and Western Europe and exist outside of any historical or political context. They promise adventure travel, altruistic volunteer experiences, and an authentic experience of the other, whom the volunteer can help to transform. If not for the long history of intervention and domination that normalizes this new incarnation of the ‘civilizing mission’, the knowledge claims and authority asserted by the VTP would hardly appear so acceptable. The VTP exists in a cultural blind spot made possible by North–South relations structured on intervention and transformation of the other. This paper critically examines the promotional discourses of VTP providers and identifies the discursi.
Timing of facilitatory and inhibitory effects of visual attention

Three experiments were conducted to investigate influences on the precue-to-target delay at which response facilitation is first replaced by inhibition of return (IOR). In Experiment 1, different ranges of delays were used; the interpolated delay at which faster RTs for matching precue and target locations changed to slower RTs was inversely related to the length of the range of precue-to-target delays within a block of trials. These findings were replicated in Experiment 2, which additionally showed that task difficulty provided an insufficient explanation for the delay in the changeover time. These data allowed the conclusion that a shorter range of precue-to-target delays results in later onset of IOR than does a longer range of delays. The data from Experiment 3 suggested that a single character on the target screen confounds the interpretation of possible facilitation and/or inhibition due to the allocation of attention. These results were related to other reported findings and to theories of attention allocation.
The health impact of child labor in developing countries: evidence from cross-country data.

OBJECTIVES Research on child labor and its effect on health has been limited. We sought to determine the impact of child labor on children's health by correlating existing health indicators with the prevalence of child labor in selected developing countries. METHODS We analyzed the relationship between child labor (defined as the percentage of children aged 10 to 14 years who were workers) and selected health indicators in 83 countries using multiple regression to determine the nature and strength of the relation. The regression included control variables such as the percentage of the population below the poverty line and the adult mortality rate. RESULTS Child labor was significantly and positively related to adolescent mortality, to a population's nutrition level, and to the presence of infectious disease. CONCLUSIONS Longitudinal studies are required to understand the short- and long-term health effects of child labor on the individual child.
What Rosenberg's Philosophy of Economics Is Not

1. The paper constituted an inference to the best explanation of two facts I alleged to characterize neoclassical economics: its want of predictive improvement over the course of a century or two; the relative indifference to this fact of neoclassical economists. While I expounded these two observations, I did not attempt to establish them, for I considered them beyond reasonable dispute, but needful of reasonable explanation. I began the search for an explanatory hypothesis by rejecting some obvious candidates: that economics has no predictive content and economists are unconcerned with testing it because it fails some verificationist litmus test for being a science; that economics as an empirical science rests on the sort of conceptual mistakes that followers of the later Wittgenstein were eager to uncover in the empirical social sciences; that economics is a species of ideological self-deception perpetrated unknowingly by its adepts in the unrecognized interests of the bourgeoisie. I then showed why the extremal character of economic theory, a character it shares with Newtonian mechanics and evolutionary theory, insulates it against the sort of practical falsification common to other causal hypotheses and sets of them. Added to its extremal character is the fact that economics cites its causes and effects under intentional descriptions, as expectations and preferences that determine choices. I noted that, if wide spread conclusions in the philosophy of psychology about intentionality are correct, these conclusions must apply to microeconomics as well. Because of the way these variables are identified, any intentional theory is bound to be
Perceptions of Sibling Qualities and Activities of Early Adolescents

The purpose for this study was to address the ways in which conflictual and positive relationship qualities in the sibling relationship differ at different grade levels during early adolescence. This question was addressed using a cross-sectional design with 170 early adolescents in fourth grade (n = 60), sixth grade (n = 44), and eighth grade (n = 66). Reports of the behaviors engaged in by children as well as their perceptions of conflictual and positive relationship qualities were obtained. Age-related differences were found both in children’s perceptions and in behavioral reports of the sibling relationship. Several prosocial relationship qualities were lower for sixth graders and higher for eighth graders. In addition, children’s perceptions of sibling relationship qualities differed by gender composition of the sibling relationship, with boy/boy dyads reporting lower levels of positive relationship qualities including caring, intimacy, and conflict resolution than did either boy/girl or girl/girl dyads.
The Impact of Algorithmic Trading in a Simulated Asset Market

In this work we simulate algorithmic trading (AT) in asset markets to clarify its impact. Our markets consist of human and algorithmic counterparts of traders that trade based on technical and fundamental analysis, and statistical arbitrage strategies. Our specific contributions are: (1) directly analyze AT behavior to connect AT trading strategies to specific outcomes in the market; (2) measure the impact of AT on market quality; and (3) test the sensitivity of our findings to variations in market conditions and possible future events of interest. Examples of such variations and future events are the level of market uncertainty and the degree of algorithmic versus human trading. Our results show that liquidity increases initially as AT rises to about 10% share of the market; beyond this point, liquidity increases only marginally. Statistical arbitrage appears to lead to significant deviation from fundamentals. Our results can facilitate market oversight and provide hypotheses for future empirical work charting the path for developing countries where AT is still at a nascent stage.
Map-aided multi-level indoor vehicle positioning

In this paper, an indoor vehicle multi-level positioning algorithm is proposed that makes use of an indoor map, as well as dead-reckoning sensor information that is available in every car. A particle filter framework is used for online optimal Bayesian vehicle positioning with indoor-outdoor transitions. The method is validated experimentally in two indoor multi-level car parks. The achieved results indicate that accurate indoor positioning is possible already today without relying on expensive technology such as e.g. laser scanners or additional hardware.
Towards robust key extraction from multipath wireless channels

This paper tackles the problem of generating shared secret keys based on the physical characteristics of the wireless channel. We propose intelligent quantization mechanisms for key generation, achieving high secret bits generation rate. Moreover, some practical issues affecting the performance of the key generation mechanism are deeply investigated. Mainly, we investigate the effects of delay and mobility on the performance and we enhance the key generation mechanism accordingly. As a result, this paper presents a framework towards robust key generation from multipath wireless channels.
Perceptual and Central Interference in Dual-Task Performance

Humans often experience difficulty when asked to perform multiple tasks at the same time. Two of the better-known forms of dual-task interference are the attentional blink (AB) effect and the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) effect. These phenomena have traditionally been studied independently, using divergent methodologies and different dependent measures. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the possibility that these dual-task phenomena might reflect the same underlying processing limitation – a central bottleneck. We also discuss how AB and PRP effects are related to other phenomena such as repetition blindness and movements of spatial attention across visual space.
Why Foucault now

Over the last 40 years, American educational scholars have deployed a variety of theoretical perspectives to understand schooling in its relation to society beyond the schools. Through most of the 1950s and 1960s, the structural-functional perspective deriving from the late sociologist Talcott Parsons was dominant. During the 1970s, perspectives whose roots can be traced backtoEuropean theorists such as Karl Marx and AntonioGramsci held centre-stage. During this period, the structural-functional framework was the object of severe criticism. Most recently, the influence of the late French scholar Michel Foucault has been growing. In the US, Foucault's work appears, indeed, to represent the 'cutting edge' of theorizing about schooling's role in society. 1 What is curious is that in Discipline and Punish (1977), Foucault's only work to deal specifically with schooling, the logic of Foucault's analysis bears astrong resemblance tothat found in the earlier structural-functional accounts. This remains true, I b.
Trusting in art: Calling for empirical trust research in highly creative contexts

The article encourages trust researchers to explore the empirical field of the arts and creative industries. This is based on the idea that processes of trusting are best studied in high-uncertainty and high-vulnerability contexts and on the notion of trusting as an art in itself, due to the leaps of faith it entails. Reason, routine and reflexivity are suggested as the main analytical entry points for identifying both the bases for trusting and the particular ways in which artists require trust beyond such bases. The paper concludes by pointing out the ambivalent and idiosyncratic properties of trust that are particularly evident in the arts.
Considering racial and ethnic preferences in communication and interactions among the patient, family member, and physician following diagnosis of localized prostate cancer: study of a US population

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American men. The multiple treatment options for localized prostate cancer and potential side effects can complicate the decision-making process. We describe the level of engagement and communication among the patient, family member, and physician (the decision-making “triad”) in the decision process prior to treatment. Using the Family and Cancer Therapy Selection (FACTS) study baseline survey data, we note racial/ethnic variations in communication among the triad. Sensitivity to and awareness of decision-making styles of both the patient and their family member (or caregiver) may enable clinicians to positively influence communication exchanges about important clinical decisions.
Questionization of Peer-Generated Comments for Supporting Online Video-based Learning

Questions are an important trigger of learning as well as social interaction, and question asking is a common technique that teachers and practitioners use in classrooms for motivating and engaging students. In the context of online video-based learning such as MOOCs, however, there remains limited understanding around whether questions benefit online learning and how to systematically use questions to support learners online. In this paper, we present a questionization technique which can transform comment left by previous learners into question forms to display to new learners. Through a user study, we investigate how such transformation of peer comments influence learning experiences. The results indicated that showing high proportion of questions along with a control of the total amount of information displayed can positively impact learning experience and participation.
Repression, political threats, and survival under autocracy:

Dictatorships are generally characterized by their use of repression, which is higher than that of democratic systems. Repression is, jointly with the mobilizing of some political support, one of the two basic instruments dictators use in order to stay in power. There is broad empirical evidence proving that loyalty and cooptation help dictators survive in office. Yet, there is not systematic investigation analyzing the role of repression. Does repression help dictators retain power? This paper is aimed at filling this important gap. In particular, I address the simultaneous relationship existing between survival and repression by implementing a two-stage estimation method. I use data on authoritarian rulers’ survival and modes of exit. Data on repression are from the Political Terror Scale, the Cingranelli and Richards’ Physical Integrity Rights Index, and Freedom House’s civil liberties score. The results show that an increased probability of exit causes important and significant increases in repression levels; and that repression helps increasing the likelihood of dictators’ survival. Further, I also analyze if repression affect differently survival once the modes in which rulers’ can be replaced are disaggregated, and vice versa. Curiously, political terror is found to be only significantly helpful in preventing non-violent and regular exits, but not violent or irregular ones. Instead, restrictions on civil liberties are effective in deterring both types of threats. Similarly, it is only non-violent threats which trigger significant increases in political terror, while the risk of a violent or irregular exit leads the regime to increase restrictions on civil liberties.