Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The emptiness of voids: yet another overabundance problem for the Λ cold dark matter model

We study the luminosity function, the peculiar velocities and the sizes of voids in the Local Volume (LV) in observational samples of galaxies which contain galaxies down to M B = ― 10 and to M B = ―12 within the distance 4-8 Mpc. When we compare the results with the predictions of the standard cosmological λ cold dark matter (ACDM) model, we find that the theory faces a sever problem: it predicts a factor of 10 more dwarf haloes as compared with the observed number of dwarf galaxies. In the LV, we identify voids with sizes ranging from 1 to 4.5 Mpc and compare the observational distribution of void sizes with the voids in very high-resolution simulations of the ACDM model with Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 1(WMAP1) and WMAP3 parameters. The theoretical void function matches the observations remarkably well only if we use haloes with circular velocities V c larger than 40-45 km s -1 [M vir = (1-2) x 10 10 M ⊙ ] for models with σ 8 = 0.9 and V c > 35 km s -1 [M vir = (6-8) × 10 9 M ⊙ ] for σ 8 = 0.75. We exclude the possibility that in the ACDM model haloes with circular velocities <35 km s -1 can host galaxies as bright as M B = -12: there are too many small haloes in the ACDM model resulting in voids being too small as compared with the observations. The problem is that many of the observed dwarf galaxies have H I rotational velocities below 25 km s ―1 that strictly contradicts the ACDM predictions. Thus, the ACDM model faces the same overabundance problem, which it had with the number of satellites in the Local Group (LG). We also estimate the rms deviations from the Hubble flow σ H for galaxies at different distances from the LG and find that in most of our model LV candidates the rms peculiar velocities are consistent with observational values: σ H = 50 km s ―1 for distances less than 3 Mpc and σ H = 80 km s ―1 for distances less than 8 Mpc. At distances 4 (8) Mpc, the observed overdensities of galaxies are 3.5-5.5 (1.3-1.6) - significantly larger than typically assumed.
An Integrated Metabolomic and Microbiome Analysis Identified Specific Gut Microbiota Associated with Fecal Cholesterol and Coprostanol in Clostridium difficile Infection

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is characterized by dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota and a profound derangement in the fecal metabolome. However, the contribution of specific gut microbes to fecal metabolites in C. difficile-associated gut microbiome remains poorly understood. Using gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and 16S rRNA deep sequencing, we analyzed the metabolome and microbiome of fecal samples obtained longitudinally from subjects with Clostridium difficile infection (n = 7) and healthy controls (n = 6). From 155 fecal metabolites, we identified two sterol metabolites at >95% match to cholesterol and coprostanol that significantly discriminated C. difficile-associated gut microbiome from healthy microbiota. By correlating the levels of cholesterol and coprostanol in fecal extracts with 2,395 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) determined by 16S rRNA sequencing, we identified 63 OTUs associated with high levels of coprostanol and 2 OTUs correlated with low coprostanol levels. Using indicator species analysis (ISA), 31 of the 63 coprostanol-associated bacteria correlated with health, and two Veillonella species were associated with low coprostanol levels that correlated strongly with CDI. These 65 bacterial taxa could be clustered into 12 sub-communities, with each community containing a consortium of organisms that co-occurred with one another. Our studies identified 63 human gut microbes associated with cholesterol-reducing activities. Given the importance of gut bacteria in reducing and eliminating cholesterol from the GI tract, these results support the recent finding that gut microbiome may play an important role in host lipid metabolism.
ON GROWTH AND INDEBTEDNESS WITH IMPERFECT CAPITAL MOBILITY

Employing closed-economy models, recent cross-country growth literature seems to have confirmed the conditional convergence hypothesis (CCH): holding population growth and capital accumulation constant, poor countries tend to grow faster than rich countries. However, this literature reveals an empirical puzzle. African and Latin American countries grew systematically slower than the sample mean during the 1970s and 1980s. This thesis reexamines the CCH under the assumption of open economies with imperfect capital mobility. Two alternative models are constructed. The first shows that the CCH can be extended to open economies if foreign borrowing can be used only to finance the accumulation of physical (but not human) capital. Furthermore, external variables such as debt and openness are expected to affect growth, either directly, or indirectly by affecting investment share. The second model studies the growth of a small borrowing economy facing a credit ceiling internationally. This framework classifies a borrowing economy as one of three cases: never- constrained, ever-constrained and optimal-regime-switching. The key result is that growth paths of output, investment, and foreign debt for a regime-switching country exhibit kinks and different convergence properties. This attributes low growth rates in Africa and Latin America to excessive borrowing in the late 1970s and subsequent regime-switching. Empirically, for 98 countries from 1960 to 1986, we find that openness has a positive effect on the growth rate while debt has a negative effect, and that CCH does indeed hold in an open-economy setting. Secondly, when growth and investment are both treated as dependent variables and reestimated in a simultaneous equation system, we find a significant negative effect of debt on investment share, and a much larger coefficient of investment on growth. We also reconfirm the two-link chain previously identified in the literature: openness is positively correlated with the investment share and is therefore growth-promoting. To allow for dynamic variations across time, we further respecify the model in a pooled cross-sectional and time-series analysis, producing more efficient parameter estimates. Finally, we propose a Logit model to determine the probability of a country's being credit constrained. We find that debt-service ratio, reserves-to-import ratio, average interest on the loans, lagged growth rate, lagged investment share, and share of government spending are important indicators of debt servicing capacity.
Reduction of Chronic Stress and Trait Anxiety by Inquiry of Cognitive Appraisals with the Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR) Method

Abstract Background: Chronic stress and anxiety can impair individuals’ health. Appraisal theories assume that stress and anxiety are experienced if individuals appraise a situation as threatening for their well-being. Thus, the modification of cognitive appraisals can be expected to reduce stress and anxiety. A potentially effective method to modify individuals’ appraisals is inquiry-based stress reduction (IBSR; Mitchell & Mitchell, 2003). Aims: The present study assesses the effects of IBSR on chronic stress and trait anxiety in comparison to a matched control group. Method: We used a quasi-experimental repeated-measurement design and a non-clinical sample of N = 199. Participants’ chronic stress and anxiety levels were assessed before and three months after a nine-day IBSR training. To account for the consequences of missing randomization, propensity score matching was applied. Results: As expected, data analyses revealed that in the IBSR training group chronic stress and trait anxiety statistically significantly decreased over the course of three months whereas in the matched control group, the levels of chronic stress and trait anxiety did not statistically significantly change. Conclusions: IBSR seems to effectively reduce trait anxiety and chronic stress in a non-clinical sample.
The Effect of Teacher Burnout on Organizational Commitment in Turkish Context

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of teachers’ burnout on their organizational commitment. The model of this research is correlational survey model. The participants of the study are 173 teachers working at elementary and secondary schools in Turkey. Maslach Burnout Inventory and Organizational Commitment Scale are used as data collection instruments. For data analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and basic and multiple regression analysis are applied with SPSS. The findings of the study showed that emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout and compliance dimension of organizational commitment in terms of teachers’ perceptions were found at high level in comparison with other dimensions of burnout and organizational commitment. Also, it is determined that there is a negative, moderate and significant relationship between teachers’ burnout and their organizational commitment. Besides, teachers’ organizational commitment significantly predict their burnout. The findings of this research are discussed with related studies and some implications are presented.
Theory Development in Design Science Research: Anatomy of a Research Project

The common understanding of Design Science Research in Information Systems (DSRIS) continues to evolve. Only in the broadest terms has there been consensus: that DSRIS involves, in some way, learning through the act of building . However, what is to be built – the definition of the DSRIS artifact – and how it is to be built – the methodology of DSRIS – has drawn increasing discussion in recent years. The relationship of DSRIS to theory continues to make up a significant part of the discussion: how theory should inform DSRIS and whether or not DSRIS can or should be instrumental in developing and refining theory. In this paper we present the exegesis of a DSRIS research project in which creating a (prescriptive) design theory through the process of developing and testing an IS artifact is inextricably bound to the testing and refinement of its kernel theory.
A Novel Model for Acute Peripheral Nerve Injury in the Horse and Evaluation of the Effect of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Applied In Situ on Nerve Regeneration: A Preliminary Study

Transplantation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to sites of experimentally created nerve injury in laboratory animals has shown promising results in restoring nerve function. This approach for nerve regeneration has not been reported in horses. In this study, we first evaluated the in vitro ability of equine bone marrow-derived MSCs (EBM-MSCs) to trans-differentiate into Schwann-like cells and subsequently tested the MSCs in vivo for their potential to regenerate a transected nerve after implantation. The EBM-MSCs from three equine donors were differentiated into SCLs for 7 days, in vitro, in the presence of specialized differentiation medium and evaluated for morphological characteristics, by using confocal microscopy, and for protein characteristics, by using selected Schwann cell markers (GFAP and S100b). The EBM-MSCs were then implanted into the fascia surrounding the ramus communicans of one fore limb of three healthy horses after a portion of this nerve was excised. The excised portion of the nerve was examined histologically at the time of transection, and stumps of the nerve were examined histologically at day 45 after transplantation. The EBM-MSCs from all donors demonstrated morphological and protein characteristics of those of Schwann cells 7 days after differentiation. Nerves implanted with EBM-MSCs after nerve transection did not show evidence of nerve regeneration at day 45. Examination of peripheral nerves collected 45 days after injury and stem cell treatment revealed no histological differences between nerves treated with MSCs and those treated with isotonic saline solution (controls). The optimal delivery of MSCs and the model suitable to study the efficacy of MSCs in nerve regeneration should be investigated.
Functional Dissection of the Drosophila melanogaster Condensin Subunit Cap-G Reveals Its Exclusive Association with Condensin I

The heteropentameric condensin complexes have been shown to participate in mitotic chromosome condensation and to be required for unperturbed chromatid segregation in nuclear divisions. Vertebrates have two condensin complexes, condensin I and condensin II, which contain the same structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) subunits SMC2 and SMC4, but differ in their composition of non–SMC subunits. While a clear biochemical and functional distinction between condensin I and condensin II has been established in vertebrates, the situation in Drosophila melanogaster is less defined. Since Drosophila lacks a clear homolog for the condensin II–specific subunit Cap-G2, the condensin I subunit Cap-G has been hypothesized to be part of both complexes. In vivo microscopy revealed that a functional Cap-G-EGFP variant shows a distinct nuclear enrichment during interphase, which is reminiscent of condensin II localization in vertebrates and contrasts with the cytoplasmic enrichment observed for the other EGFP-fused condensin I subunits. However, we show that this nuclear localization is dispensable for Cap-G chromatin association, for its assembly into the condensin I complex and, importantly, for development into a viable and fertile adult animal. Immunoprecipitation analyses and complex formation studies provide evidence that Cap-G does not associate with condensin II–specific subunits, while it can be readily detected in complexes with condensin I–specific proteins in vitro and in vivo. Mass-spectrometric analyses of proteins associated with the condensin II–specific subunit Cap-H2 not only fail to identify Cap-G but also the other known condensin II–specific homolog Cap-D3. As condensin II–specific subunits are also not found associated with SMC2, our results question the existence of a soluble condensin II complex in Drosophila.
Digging the METEOSAT Treasure - 3 Decades of Solar Surface Radiation

Solar surface radiation data of high quality is essential for the appropriate monitoring and analysis of the Earth's radiation budget and the climate system. Further, they are crucial for the efficient planning and operation of solar energy systems. However, well maintained surface measurements are rare in many regions of the world and over the oceans. There, satellite derived information is the exclusive observational source. This emphasizes the important role of satellite based surface radiation data. Within this scope, the new satellite based CM-SAF SARAH (Solar surfAce RAdiation Heliosat) data record is discussed as well as the retrieval method used. The SARAH data are retrieved with the sophisticated SPECMAGIC method, which is based on radiative transfer modeling. The resulting climate data of solar surface irradiance, direct irradiance (horizontal and direct normal) and clear sky irradiance are covering 3 decades. The SARAH data set is validated with surface measurements of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) and of the Global Energy and Balance Archive (GEBA). Comparison with BSRN data is performed in order to estimate the accuracy and precision of the monthly and daily means of solar surface irradiance. The SARAH solar surface irradiance shows a bias of 1.3 \(W/m^2\) and a mean absolute bias (MAB) of 5.5 \(W/m^2\) for monthly means. For direct irradiance the bias and MAB is 1 \(W/m^2\) and 8.2 \(W/m^2\) respectively. Thus, the uncertainty of the SARAH data is in the range of the uncertainty of ground based measurements. In order to evaluate the uncertainty of SARAH based trend analysis the time series of SARAH monthly means are compared to GEBA. It has been found that SARAH enables the analysis of trends with an uncertainty of 1 \(W/m^2/dec\); a remarkable good result for a satellite based climate data record. SARAH has been also compared to its legacy version, the satellite based CM-SAF MVIRI climate data record. Overall, SARAH shows a significant higher accuracy and homogeneity than its legacy version. With its high accuracy and temporal and spatial resolution SARAH is well suited for regional climate monitoring and analysis as well as for solar energy applications.
The long-period AM CVn star SDSS J155252.48+32 0150.9

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has been instrumental in obtaining a homogeneous sample of the rare AM CVn stars: mass-transferring binary white dwarfs. As part of a campaign of spectroscopic follow-up on candidate AM CVn stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we have obtained time-resolved spectra of the g = 20.2 candidate SDSS J155252.48+320150.9 on the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory. We report an orbital period P-orb = 3376.3 +/- 0.3 s, or 56.272 +/- 0.005 min, based on an observed 'S-wave' in the helium emission lines of the spectra. This confirms the ultracompact nature of the binary. Despite its relative closeness to the orbital period minimum for hydrogen-rich donors, there is no evidence for hydrogen in the spectra. We thus classify SDSS J1552 as a new bona fide AM CVn star, with the second-longest orbital period after V396 Hya (P = 65.5 min). The continuum of SDSS J1552 is compatible with either a blackbody or helium atmosphere of T-eff = 12 000-15 000 K. If this represents the photosphere of the accreting white dwarf, as is expected, it puts the accretor at the upper end of the temperature range predicted by thermal evolution models. This suggests that SDSS J1552 consists of (or formerly consisted of) relatively high-mass components.
Volume entropy of hyperbolic buildings

We characterize the volume entropy of a regular building as the topological pressure of the geodesic flow on an apartment. We show that the entropy maximizing measure is not Liouville measure for any regular hyperbolic building. As a consequence, we obtain a strict lower bound on the volume entropy in terms of the branching numbers and the volume of the boundary polyhedrons.
Arrangements for Information Technology Governance: A Theory of Multiple Contingencies

A key issue facing information systems researchers and practitioners has been the difficulty in IT governance arrangements refers to the patterns of authority for key IT activities in business firms, including IT infrastructure, IT use, and project management. During the last 20 years, three primary modes of IT governance have become prevalent: centralized, decentralized, and the federal mode. These modes vary in the extent to which corporate IS, divisional IS, and line management are vested with authority for the key IT activities. While a significant volume of research has examined the influence of contingency factors on the choice of a specific mode of IT governance, most of this research has examined the singular effects of the contingency factors. The assumption underlying these studies is as though the organizational contingencies act in isolation in influencing the mode of IT governance. However, in reality, business firms are subject to the pulls and pressures of multiple, rather than singular, contingency forces. Therefore, to acknowledge this reality, this study applies the theory of multiple contingencies to examine how contingency forces influence the mode of IT governance. The theory argues that contingency forces interact with each other by either amplifying, dampening, or overriding their mutual influences on the IT governance mode. Three scenarios of multiple, interacting contingencies are identified: reinforcing, conflicting, and dominating. Each of these scenarios of multiple contingencies is hypothesized to influence a particular mode of IT governance. Utilizing rich data from case studies of eight firms, empirical evidence is presented to support these hypotheses. Implications of the multiple contingencies theory for research and for practice are presented.
Landscape influences on breeding bird communities in hardwood fragments in South Carolina

Results from studies on the effects of forest fragmentation on bird communities in ur- ban-agricultural landscapes may not be applicable to forested landscapes such as the Southeastern Coastal Piain. During 1993-1994, we measured parameters of avian com- munities in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina in hardwood stands surrounded by agri- cultural habitat (field-enclosed stands; FES) and in hardwood stands surrounded by pine (Pinus spp.)-forested habitat (pine-enclosed stands; PES). Total species richness was greater in FES than PES in both years (P 0.05), but was associated positively with stand area. Total bird abundance was greater in FES than in PES (P < 0.001 ). Abundance of tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor), Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), and northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) was greater (P < 0.01 ) in FES than PES in 21 year, and abundance of red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceous) and summer tanager (Piranga rubra) was greater (P < 0.02) in PES than FES in 1 year. Ten species had greater probabilities of occurrence in FES than PES (P < 0.05), whereas red-eyed vireo was the only species more likely to occur in PES than in FES. Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) and ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) occurred in PES but not in FES. The presence of a surrounding pine forest apparently increased the suit- ability of PES for some area-sensitive species, but decreased suitability for several edge species.
Husband-to-wife sexual coercion in cross-border marriage: A relationship power perspective

Despite the proliferation of literature on cross-border marriages, most previous studies have focused on the vulnerability of female marriage migrants due to their immigrant status; few have examined the role of husbands’ power motive in their well-being. To fill this gap, this study investigates the roles of household power structure and the husband’s power motive in husband-to-wife sexual coercion in cross-border marriages in Hong Kong. We hypothesize that as men in cross-border marriages are often socially disadvantaged and stigmatized in the public discourse, they may attempt to use sexual coercion as a form of compensatory masculinity to reclaim power in the private sphere. Using couple-level data from a representative sample in Hong Kong (N = 871 couples), the results show that cross-border couples have a higher risk of husband-to-wife sexual coercion and that couple power dynamics fully mediate the difference in the prevalence of sexual coercion in local and cross-border marriages. These suggest that men’s high power motive and perpetration of sexual violence are intimately related. Future studies should pay attention to the disadvantaged background and negative labels applied to the men in cross-border marriage when studying the well-being of female marriage migrants and couple dynamics in cross-border marriage migration.
A Comprehensive Analysis of Android Security and Proposed Solutions

The increasing popularity of smart devices have led users to complete all of their daily work with these devices. Users are now able to shop online, share information with the applications that they install on their smart devices. Installed applications gain access to various sensitive information, such as the user's contact list, phone number, location. However, there is no control mechanism in place that can check whether these applications are safe to install. Therefore, applications are installed according to the users' decisions, without any limitations or warnings. As a result, users become the target of malicious applications, and the personal security and privacy are compromised. In this study, we investigate the security solutions that aim to protect the privacy and security of Android users. We reveal the shortcomings of mobile security solutions and shed light on the research community. Additionally, we present the taxonomy of Android-based mobile security solutions.