Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
STAR FORMATION IN LUMINOUS H ii REGIONS IN M33

We present a multiwavelength (ultraviolet, infrared, optical, and CO) study of a set of luminous H ii regions in M33: NGC 604, NGC 595, NGC 592, NGC 588, and IC131. We study the emission distribution in the interiors of the H ii regions to investigate the relation between the dust emission at 8 μm and 24 μm and the location of the massive stars and gas. We find that the 24 μm emission is closely related to the location of the ionized gas, while the 8 μm emission is more related to the boundaries of the molecular clouds consistently with its expected association with photodissociation regions. Ultraviolet emission is generally surrounded by the Hα emission. For NGC 604 and NGC 595, where CO data are available, we see a radial gradient of the emission distribution at the wavelengths studied here: from the center to the boundary of the H ii regions we observe ultraviolet, Hα, 24 μm, 8 μm, and CO emission distributions. We quantify the star formation for our H ii regions using the integrated fluxes at the set of available wavelengths, assuming an instantaneous burst of star formation. We show that a linear combination of 24 μm and Hα emission better describes the star formation for these objects than the dust luminosities by themselves. For NGC 604, we obtain and compare extinction maps derived from the Balmer decrement and from the 24 μm and Hα emission line ratio. Although the maps show locally different values in extinction, we find similar integrated extinctions derived from the two methods. We also investigate here the possible existence of embedded star formation within NGC 604.
Performance Funding and Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Assessment of Financial Incentives and Baccalaureate Degree Production

Pay-for-performance has become a state finance policy du jour for public postsecondary institutions. A total of 35 states currently distribute varying amounts of appropriations to colleges and universities based on outcome measures. This study uses a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental technique to assess the impact of performance-based funding on public 4-year Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It also includes separate analyses on the older and newer models of performance funding throughout the United States. This study finds little evidence of a significant effect on improvement in baccalaureate degree attainment in public 4-year HBCUs that receive some apportionment of state appropriations through performance-based funding.
NFκB activation by modified vaccinia virus as a novel strategy to enhance neutrophil migration and HIV-specific T-cell responses

Significance Although poxvirus vectors are widely used in preclinical and clinical trials as candidate vaccines for multiple pathogens, how these vectors affect the host immune response is not clear. In this study, we developed a poxvirus vector based on the attenuated New York vaccinia virus (NYVAC), which is able to target a central host-cell signaling pathway, NFκB. In mice, the modified NYVAC acts on the immune system by increasing specific neutrophil migration via NFκB activation and in turn enhances CD8 T-cell responses to HIV antigens delivered by the viral vector. We show that these inherent properties define a mechanism for poxvirus-induced immune responses and offer novel approaches to vaccine vector design. Neutrophils are antigen-transporting cells that generate vaccinia virus (VACV)-specific T-cell responses, yet how VACV modulates neutrophil recruitment and its significance in the immune response are unknown. We generated an attenuated VACV strain that expresses HIV-1 clade C antigens but lacks three specific viral genes (A52R, K7R, and B15R). We found that these genes act together to inhibit the NFκB signaling pathway. Triple ablation in modified virus restored NFκB function in macrophages. After virus infection of mice, NFκB pathway activation led to expression of several cytokines/chemokines that increased the migration of neutrophil populations (Nα and Nβ) to the infection site. Nβ cells displayed features of antigen-presenting cells and activated virus-specific CD8 T cells. Enhanced neutrophil trafficking to the infection site correlated with an increased T-cell response to HIV vector-delivered antigens. These results identify a mechanism for poxvirus-induced immune response and alternatives for vaccine vector design.
Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions Among Indian Call Center Agents: Exploring the Role of Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence has been found to be related to job satisfaction and turnover for employees at all levels and is being explored by researchers in cross-cultural settings. The present study investigated the role of emotional intelligence in predicting job satisfaction and turnover for call center agents in India. Study participants were 299 call center agents in Bangalore and New Delhi, who were administered a questionnaire measuring their emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Analyses revealed that emotional intelligence was positively related to job satisfaction, and job satisfaction mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and turnover intentions. Implications of the study are discussed, including leadership and development practices to enhance emotional intelligence among employees in jobs requiring high levels of emotional investment, as well as the use of the culturally adapted emotional intelligence self-report measure developed by Singh (2004).
Embedded Implementation of a SIP Server Gateway with Forward Error Correction to a Mobile Network

The emergence of the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services requires interconnection between different technologies. In this paper we present an embedded Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Proxy Gateway (GW) to a Mobile Network with Forward Error Corrections (FEC). Our server registers, locates and forwards the calls of an end user providing intelligent routing for user tracking. In addition, FEC along with a Markov-Chain loss model has been integrated into the server to perform a range of tests. Results prove that under high packet loss rate the embedded SIP server GW improves the speech quality.
Endogenous Risk Structure of Interest Rates

In this paper we investigate the behavior of credit yield spreads in an equilibrium framework in which the risk-free interest rate and yields on risky debt are jointly and endogenously determined. The model is one of a partially observable pure exchange economy in which debt is a contingent claim on the cash flow. We find that an increase in risk aversion or an increase in uncertainty about growth prospects results in widening yield spreads, as does a worsening of the state of the economy. We also examine the effect of stochastic risk-free rates on credit yield dynamics by comparing our model to an economy with a log-normal dividend process and a constant risk-free rate. Our approach provides a new perspective to help understand the behavior of credit spreads and to reconcile discrepancies between theoretical predictions and empirical findings about credit spreads.
WHAT IS DRIVING THE H i VELOCITY DISPERSION?

We explore what dominant physical mechanism sets the kinetic energy contained in neutral, atomic (H i) gas. Both supernova (SN) explosions and magnetorotational instability (MRI) have been proposed to drive turbulence in gas disks and we compare the H i line widths predicted from turbulence driven by these mechanisms to direct observations in 11 disk galaxies. We use high-quality maps of the H i mass surface density and line width, obtained by The H i Nearby Galaxy Survey. We show that all sample galaxies exhibit a systematic radial decline in the H i line width, which appears to be a generic property of H i disks and also implies a radial decline in kinetic energy density of H i. At a galactocentric radius of r25—often comparable to the extent of significant star formation—there is a characteristic value of the H i velocity dispersion of 10 ± 2 km s−1. Inside this radius, galaxies show H i line widths well above the thermal value (corresponding to ∼8 km s−1) expected from a warm H i component, implying that turbulence drivers must be responsible for maintaining this line width. Therefore, we compare maps of H i kinetic energy to maps of the star formation rate (SFR)—a proxy for the SN rate—and to predictions for energy generated by MRI. We find a positive correlation between kinetic energy of H i and SFR; this correlation also holds at fixed , as expected if SNe were driving turbulence. For a given turbulence dissipation timescale, we can estimate the energy input required to maintain the observed kinetic energy. The SN rate implied by the observed recent SFR is sufficient to maintain the observed velocity dispersion, if the SN feedback efficiency is at least ϵSN ≃ 0.1 × (107 yr/τD), assuming τD ≃ 107 yr for the turbulence dissipation timescale. Beyond r25, this efficiency would have to increase to unrealistic values, ϵ ≳ 1, suggesting that mechanical energy input from young stellar populations does not supply most kinetic energy in outer disks. On the other hand, both thermal broadening and turbulence driven by MRI can plausibly produce the velocity dispersions and kinetic energies that we observe in this regime (≳r25).
Pro-Environmental Behaviours among Agricultural Students: An Examination of the Value-Belief-Norm Theory

The present study attempted to understand pro-environmental behaviours among university students in the developing country of Iran. The Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theoretical framework was used in this study. Data were obtained from 295 agricultural students at BuAli Sina University using a self-administered survey. The data were then analyzed using the Partial Least Squares approach. The structural equation modelling findings showed that the VBN theory model could effectively be applied for the prediction of pro-environmental behaviour among university students in non-Western and developing countries, which in turn affirmed the validity of this theory in intercultural settings. The variables’ causal order in the VBN theory likewise was affirmed, i.e. each individual variable had a significant relationship with the next variable throughout the causal chain. Furthermore, as hypothesized, variables mediated relationships between their antecedent and outcome variables in the causal chain. These results suggest that the VBN theory is a useful framework for understanding proenvironmental behaviours in a non-Western developing country.
Task Failure during Exercise to Exhaustion in Normoxia and Hypoxia Is Due to Reduced Muscle Activation Caused by Central Mechanisms While Muscle Metaboreflex Does Not Limit Performance

To determine whether task failure during incremental exercise to exhaustion (IE) is principally due to reduced neural drive and increased metaboreflex activation eleven men (22 ± 2 years) performed a 10 s control isokinetic sprint (IS; 80 rpm) after a short warm-up. This was immediately followed by an IE in normoxia (Nx, PIO2:143 mmHg) and hypoxia (Hyp, PIO2:73 mmHg) in random order, separated by a 120 min resting period. At exhaustion, the circulation of both legs was occluded instantaneously (300 mmHg) during 10 or 60 s to impede recovery and increase metaboreflex activation. This was immediately followed by an IS with open circulation. Electromyographic recordings were obtained from the vastus medialis and lateralis. Muscle biopsies and blood gases were obtained in separate experiments. During the last 10 s of the IE, pulmonary ventilation, VO2, power output and muscle activation were lower in hypoxia than in normoxia, while pedaling rate was similar. Compared to the control sprint, performance (IS-Wpeak) was reduced to a greater extent after the IE-Nx (11% lower P < 0.05) than IE-Hyp. The root mean square (EMGRMS) was reduced by 38 and 27% during IS performed after IE-Nx and IE-Hyp, respectively (Nx vs. Hyp: P < 0.05). Post-ischemia IS-EMGRMS values were higher than during the last 10 s of IE. Sprint exercise mean (IS-MPF) and median (IS-MdPF) power frequencies, and burst duration, were more reduced after IE-Nx than IE-Hyp (P < 0.05). Despite increased muscle lactate accumulation, acidification, and metaboreflex activation from 10 to 60 s of ischemia, IS-Wmean (+23%) and burst duration (+10%) increased, while IS-EMGRMS decreased (−24%, P < 0.05), with IS-MPF and IS-MdPF remaining unchanged. In conclusion, close to task failure, muscle activation is lower in hypoxia than in normoxia. Task failure is predominantly caused by central mechanisms, which recover to great extent within 1 min even when the legs remain ischemic. There is dissociation between the recovery of EMGRMS and performance. The reduction of surface electromyogram MPF, MdPF and burst duration due to fatigue is associated but not caused by muscle acidification and lactate accumulation. Despite metaboreflex stimulation, muscle activation and power output recovers partly in ischemia indicating that metaboreflex activation has a minor impact on sprint performance.
The Relationship Between Maternal Distress and Adjustment Problems in Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An Examination of Family Routines and Communication as Moderators

v INTRODUCTION . 1 METHOD . 11 Participants . 11 Procedure . 13 Measures . 14 RESULTS . 19 Descriptive Statistics . 19 Correlational Analyses . 21 Regression Analyses . 23 DISCUSSION . 30 REFERENCES . 36 APPENDIX A. CONSENT FORM . 48 APPENDIX B. DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE . 50 APPENDIX C. ADOLESCENT ROUTINES QUESTIONNAIRE: PARENT REPORT . 51 APPENDIX D. ASSENT FORM . 53 APPENDIX E. ADOLESCENT ROUTINES QUESTIONNAIRE: SELF-REPORT . 54 APPENDIX F. IRB APPROVAL . 56 VITA . 57
Engagement with Health Care Providers Affects Self- Efficacy, Self-Esteem, Medication Adherence and Quality of Life in People Living with HIV

The engagement of patients with their health care providers (HCP) improves patients’ quality of life (QOL), adherence to antiretroviral therapy, and life satisfaction. Engagement with HCP includes access to HCP as needed, information sharing, involvement of client in decision making and self-care activities, respect and support of the HCP for the client’s choices, and management of client concerns. This study compares country-level differences in patients’ engagement with HCP and assesses statistical associations relative to adherence rates, self-efficacy, self-esteem, QOL, and symptom self-reporting by people living with HIV (PLHIV). A convenience sample of 2,182 PLHIV was enrolled in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Namibia, and China. Cross-sectional data were collected between September 2009 and January 2011. Inclusion criteria were being at least 18 years of age, diagnosed with HIV, able to provide informed consent, and able to communicate in the local language with site researchers. In the HCP scale, a low score indicated greater provider engagement. Country comparisons showed that PLHIV in Namibia had the most HCP engagement (OR 2.80, p < 0.001) and that PLHIV in China had the least engagement (OR −7.03, p < 0.0001) compared to the PLHIV in the Western countries. Individuals having better HCP engagement showed better self-efficacy for adherence (t = −5.22, p < 0.0001), missed fewer medication doses (t = 1.92, p ≤ 0.05), had lower self-esteem ratings (t = 2.67, p < 0.01), fewer self-reported symptoms (t = 3.25, p < 0.0001), and better overall QOL physical condition (t = −3.39, p < 0.001). This study suggests that promoting engagement with the HCP is necessary to facilitate skills that help PLHIV manage their HIV. To improve ART adherence, HCPs should work on strategies to enhance self-efficacy and self-esteem, therefore, exhibiting fewer HIV-related symptoms and missing less medication doses to achieve better QOL.
Indirect reciprocity: The concept and psychological mechanisms

The paper has an exploratory character and provides an overview of selected perspectives on both downstream (“as you scratch someone else’s back, I will scratch yours”) and upstream (“pay it forward”) versions of indirect reciprocity. Sociobiologists’ point of view is presented, as their work has contributed to the fact that the reciprocity of openness to a third party has become a subject of research in other scientific fields. Next, the concept of downstream and upstream indirect reciprocity is explained, according to the nomenclature used by selected mathematical biologists and economists. Finally, a psychological view of both forms of indirect reciprocity (positive and negative) is given through theoretical considerations, examples of empirical studies, as well as selected mechanisms and determinants that may underlie the phenomenon.
Taking the time? Explaining effortful participation among low-cost online survey participants

Recent research has shown that Amazon MTurk workers exhibit substantially more effort and attention than respondents in student samples when participating in survey experiments. In this paper, I examine when and why low-cost online survey participants provide effortful responses to survey experiments in political science. I compare novice and veteran MTurk workers to participants in Qualtrics’s qBus, a comparable online omnibus program. The results show that MTurk platform participation is associated with substantially greater effort across a variety of indicators of effort relative to demographically-matched peers. This effect endures even when compensating for the amount of survey experience accumulated by respondents, suggesting that MTurk workers may be especially motivated due to an understudied self-selection mechanism. Together, the findings suggest that novice and veteran MTurk workers alike are preferable to comparable convenience sample participants when performing complex tasks.
COUPLED OSCILLATOR PLANNING MODEL OF SPEECH TIMING AND SYLLABLE STRUCTURE

A fundamental problem in understanding speech production is how the temporal coherence of the speech units associated with a given lexical unit is maintained despite changes due to speaking rate, prosodic embedding, and transient perturbations. To address this, a dynamical model of temporal planning of speech has been developed [21, 13, 26, 27). In this model, each speech unit (constriction gesture) is associated with a planning oscillator, or clock, and the oscillators within the ensemble associated with a particular lexical item are coupled to one another in a pattern represented as a coupling graph. Given this model, it is possible to account for syllable structure in terms of intrinsic modes of coupling and the topology of the coupling graph. Onset consonant gestures are hypothesized to be coupled in-phase to the tautosyllabic vowel (regardless of how many there are in an onset), while coda consonant gestures are coupled in an anti-phase pattern. This topology can account simultaneously for regularities in relative timing and variability, and examples of this will be discussed. Despite successes obtained with the model, it is clear that there are examples in which the same syllable structure can exhibit different patterns of timing, depending, e.g., on the place of articulation of the consonants in the cluster [10], manner [7,17] or language. In this paper, we will also illustrate how these different patterns of timing can be modeled using coupling graphs with differing topologies and/or with different quantitative specification of coupling strength associated with the graph’s edges.
Comparing the intra-annual wood formation of three European species (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea and Pinus sylvestris) as related to leaf phenology and non-structural carbohydrate dynamics.

Monitoring cambial phenology and intra-annual growth dynamics is a useful approach for characterizing the tree growth response to climate change. However, there have been few reports concerning intra-annual wood formation in lowland temperate forests with high time resolution, especially for the comparison between deciduous and coniferous species. The main objective of this study was to determine how the timing, duration and rate of radial growth change between species as related to leaf phenology and the dynamics of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) under the same climatic conditions. We studied two deciduous species, Fagus sylvatica L. and Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. , and an evergreen conifer, Pinus sylvestris L. During the 2009 growing season, we weekly monitored (i) the stem radial increment using dendrometers, (ii) the xylem growth using microcoring and (iii) the leaf phenology from direct observations of the tree crowns. The NSC content was also measured in the eight last rings of the stem cores in April, June and August 2009. The leaf phenology, NSC storage and intra-annual growth were clearly different between species, highlighting their contrasting carbon allocation. Beech growth began just after budburst, with a maximal growth rate when the leaves were mature and variations in the NSC content were low. Thus, beech radial growth seemed highly dependent on leaf photosynthesis. For oak, earlywood quickly developed before budburst, which probably led to the starch decrease quantified in the stem from April to June. For pine, growth began before the needles unfolding and the lack of NSC decrease during the growing season suggested that the substrates for radial growth were new assimilates of the needles from the previous year. Only for oak, the pattern determined from the intra-annual growth measured using microcoring differed from the pattern determined from dendrometer data. For all species, the ring width was significantly influenced by growth duration and not by growth rate, which differs from previous studies. The observed between-species difference at the intra-annual scale is key information for anticipating suitability of future species in temperate forests.
STRING THEORY EFFECTS ON FIVE-DIMENSIONAL BLACK HOLE PHYSICS

We review recent developments in understanding quantum/string corrections to BPS black holes and strings in five-dimensional supergravity. These objects are solutions to the effective action obtained from M-theory compactified on a Calabi–Yau threefold, including the one-loop corrections determined by anomaly cancellation and supersymmetry. We introduce the off-shell formulation of this theory obtained through the conformal supergravity method and review the methods for investigating supersymmetric solutions. This leads to quantum/string corrected attractor geometries, as well as asymptotically flat black strings and spinning black holes. With these solutions in hand, we compare our results with analogous studies in four-dimensional string-corrected supergravity, emphasizing the distinctions between the four- and five-dimensional theories.