Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COSMIC INFRARED BACKGROUND FLUCTUATIONS IN DEEP SPITZER INFRARED ARRAY CAMERA IMAGES: DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS

This paper provides a detailed description of the data reduction and analysis procedures that have been employed in our previous studies of spatial fluctuation of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) using deep Spitzer Infrared Array Camera observations. The self-calibration we apply removes a strong instrumental signal from the fluctuations that would otherwise corrupt the results. The procedures and results for masking bright sources and modeling faint sources down to levels set by the instrumental noise are presented. Various tests are performed to demonstrate that the resulting power spectra of these fields are not dominated by instrumental or procedural effects. These tests indicate that the large-scale (≳30′) fluctuations that remain in the deepest fields are not directly related to the galaxies that are bright enough to be individually detected. We provide the parameterization of these power spectra in terms of separate instrument noise, shot noise, and power-law components. We discuss the relationship between fluctuations measured at different wavelengths and depths, and the relations between constraints on the mean intensity of the CIB and its fluctuation spectrum. Consistent with growing evidence that the ∼1–5 μm mean intensity of the CIB may not be as far above the integrated emission of resolved galaxies as has been reported in some analyses of DIRBE and IRTS observations, our measurements of spatial fluctuations of the CIB intensity indicate the mean emission from the objects producing the fluctuations is quite low (≳1 nW m−2 sr−1 at 3–5 μm), and thus consistent with current γ-ray absorption constraints. The source of the fluctuations may be high-z Population III objects, or a more local component of very low luminosity objects with clustering properties that differ from the resolved galaxies. Finally, we discuss the prospects of the upcoming space-based surveys to directly measure the epochs inhabited by the populations producing these source-subtracted CIB fluctuations, and to isolate the individual fluxes of these populations.
Aggression, social cognitions, anger and sadness in bullies and victims.

BACKGROUND The present study aimed to investigate children's social information processing (SIP) and emotions in the bullying situation, taking into account reactive and proactive aggression. More specifically, we investigated the way in which children interpret social information, which goals they select, how they evaluate their responses and which emotions they express in hypothetical situations. METHOD The participants comprised 242 Dutch children (120 girls and 122 boys; mean age: 117.2 months), who were assigned by means of peer nominations (Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, et al., 1996) to one of the following roles: bully (n=21), follower of the bully (n=38), victim (n=35), defender of the victim (n=48), outsider (n=52) and not involved (n=32). Sixteen children (including 3 bully/victims) were not given any role. The reactive and proactive aggression scale (Dodge, & Coie, 1987) was filled out by teachers in order to test the association between these types of aggression and involvement in bullying. Children were presented with ambiguous scenarios and responded to questions about attribution of intent, goal selection and emotions (anger and sadness). In addition, two questionnaires were administered to children: one assessed perceived self-efficacy in performing aggression, inhibiting aggression and using verbal persuasion skills, and the other assessed expected outcomes from behaving aggressively or prosocially. RESULTS Results showed that while reactive aggression was common in bullies and victims, proactive aggression was only characteristic of bullies. Both bullies and victims, compared to the other children, scored higher on hostile interpretation, anger, retaliation and ease of aggression. Bullies and followers claimed that it was easy for them to use verbal persuasion, while victims turned out to be the saddest group. All children, irrespective of their role in the peer group, thought that aggressive as well as prosocial behavior was more likely to produce desired results from a friendly peer than from an aggressive one. CONCLUSIONS Bullies and victims seem to be similar in reactive aggression, SIP, and in the expression of anger, but the motivations which lead to their behavior may be different, as well as the final outcomes of their acts.
Aliso: a Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany Kalinia, a New North American Genus for a Species Long Misplaced in Eragrostis (poaceae, Chloridoideae) Kalinia, a New North American Genus for a Species Long Misplaced in Eragrostis (poaceae, Chloridoideae)

Eragrostis obtusiflora (Poaceae, Chloridoideae), a species distributed from the southwestern United States to central Mexico, has long been recognized for exhibiting morphological and anatomical features atypical of Eragrostis. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear internal transcribed spacer sequences and plastid sequences demonstrate that E. obtusiflora should be excluded from Eragrostis (Eragrostideae) and instead be placed in Cynodonteae, although its position within this tribe was unresolved. Additional data, including anatomical and micromorphological characters, suggest a close relationship with Distichlis. However, differences in spikelet and rhizome characters prevent its inclusion in Distichlis. Therefore, the species is transferred to a newly described genus, Kalinia, as K. obtusiflora.
A Complete Characterization of Secure Human-Server Communication

Establishing a secure communication channel between two parties is a nontrivial problem, especially when one or both are humans. Unlike computers, humans cannot perform strong cryptographic operations without supporting technology, yet this technology may itself be compromised. We introduce a general communication topology model to facilitate the analysis of security protocols in this setting. We use it to completely characterize all topologies that allow secure communication between a human and a remote server via a compromised computer. These topologies are relevant for a variety of applications, including online banking and Internet voting. Our characterization can serve to guide the design of novel solutions for applications and to quickly exclude proposals that cannot possibly offer secure communication.
A wideband implantable antenna with circularly polarization

A wideband, circularly polarized (CP) patch antenna is designed for biomedical telemetry application. The operating band is Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) of 2.4GHz. By cutting a cross-shaped slot on the ground plane and truncating a pair of corners on the radiating patch ring, the presented antenna can acquire enhancement for impedance and axial ratio (AR) bandwidths. The simulated impedance and AR bandwidths in the HFSS phantom are 16.15%and 6.09%, respectively. The total volume of the antenna is 127mm3.
Development of Active Trac Management Strategies for Minnesota Freeway Corridors

In this study, the effectiveness of the Interstate-35W variable advisory speed limit system on the improvement of the traffic flow was evaluated with the real traffic data. The analysis results indicate there was significant reduction in the average maximum deceleration and also the traffic time reliability was substantially improved during a peak hour period. Based on the assessment results, an enhanced version was developed to be able to reflect more effectively the time-variant road traffic conditions in determining the variable speed limits in real time. The coordinated adaptive metering strategy, developed in the previous phase of this research, is also enhanced and implemented in the field in this research. The field test results of the new metering system with the Highway 100 northbound corridor indicate substantial improvements in both the mainline and ramp traffic performance compared with those from the old stratified algorithm.
Assessing audiotactile interactions: Spatiotemporal factors and role of visual experience

This thesis investigated the crossmodal interactions occurring between hearing and touch. Chapters 1 to 6 present the background to this topic and an introduction to the underlying mechanisms of crossmodal perception. Chapter 1 provides a historical overview on the pioneering studies in this issue, whereas in the successive ones the main behavioural evidence on is described. Specific aspects are presented across the chapters, with Chapter 2 presenting the studies using detection/discrimination tasks, intensity tasks, or investigating texture perception or crossmodal sensory illusions and pseudosynaesthetic correspondences. In the subsequent chapters, more specific aspects are taken into consideration, such as the temporal (Chapter 3) and the spatial (Chapter 4) constraints characterizing audiotactile interactions. In Chapter 5, special attention is given to the neural substrates of the audiotactile sensory interplay, in both humans and monkeys. Since there is considerable evidence showing that visual deprivation influences how touch and hearing interact, Chapter 6 will be devoted to explore this topic in more detail. The following chapters present the experimental studies designed to empirically investigate different aspects of audiotactile interactions. Chapter 7 contains experimental studies examining the potential existence of a sensory dominance between hearing and touch, by investigating different portions of the peripersonal space and/or spatial arrangement of the stimuli. Chapter 8 is focused on evaluate the capability of humans in matching the frequency pattern of auditory, tactile and crossmodal stimuli. The spatial factors affecting audiotactile interactions will be explored in Chapter 9, by evaluating how the perception of apparent motion in one modality is biased by the presentation of apparent moving stream in the other modality. The investigation of crossmodal compatibility effects is the topic of Chapter 10. Since visual deprivation has been proved to influence how touch and hearing interact, the last chapter (Chapter 11) will be devoted to compare either spatial or temporal perception, as well as the construction of frames of reference for tactile processing - in relation with auditory stimulation- in blind and sighted individuals.
Comparing the relative importance of evaluation criteria in proprietary and open‐source enterprise application software selection – a conjoint study of ERP and Office systems

Until recently, organizations willing to acquire application systems have had no choice but to adopt proprietary software. With the advent of open‐source software (OSS), a new model for developing and distributing software has entered the stage. OSS has evolved from a generally horizontal infrastructure towards more highly visible applications in vertical domains, giving information systems (IS) managers more degrees of freedom in their selection of enterprise application software (EAS). Although a large body of research exists on the relative importance of evaluation criteria for proprietary EAS, the role of OSS in the EAS evaluation process has received little attention so far. To address this research gap, this study represents the first empirical investigation to compare the relative importance of evaluation criteria in proprietary and open‐source EAS selection. Through an online survey, we evaluated the responses of IS managers of 358 organizations to a conjoint study spawning 8592 trade‐off pair comparisons and 3580 purchase evaluations on proprietary and open‐source enterprise resource planning (ERP) and Office software packages. The results show that the relative importance of evaluation criteria significantly varies between proprietary and open‐source ERP systems. Implementation factors such as ease of implementation and support are much more crucial in the evaluation of open‐source than of proprietary ERP systems, which is generally due to IS managers' risk mitigation behaviour. Interestingly, there are no major differences in the ranking of evaluation criteria between proprietary and open‐source Office systems. We conclude our paper with a detailed discussion of our findings and their implications for researchers, companies, EAS vendors and open‐source communities.
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Phenotype, C. difficile and NOD2 Genotype Are Associated with Shifts in Human Ileum Associated Microbial Composition

We tested the hypothesis that Crohn’s disease (CD)-related genetic polymorphisms involved in host innate immunity are associated with shifts in human ileum–associated microbial composition in a cross-sectional analysis of human ileal samples. Sanger sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and 454 sequencing of 16S rRNA gene hypervariable regions (V1–V3 and V3–V5), were conducted on macroscopically disease-unaffected ileal biopsies collected from 52 ileal CD, 58 ulcerative colitis and 60 control patients without inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) undergoing initial surgical resection. These subjects also were genotyped for the three major NOD2 risk alleles (Leu1007fs, R708W, G908R) and the ATG16L1 risk allele (T300A). The samples were linked to clinical metadata, including body mass index, smoking status and Clostridia difficile infection. The sequences were classified into seven phyla/subphyla categories using the Naïve Bayesian Classifier of the Ribosome Database Project. Centered log ratio transformation of six predominant categories was included as the dependent variable in the permutation based MANCOVA for the overall composition with stepwise variable selection. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were conducted to measure the relative frequencies of the Clostridium coccoides – Eubacterium rectales group and the Faecalibacterium prausnitzii spp. Empiric logit transformations of the relative frequencies of these two microbial groups were included in permutation-based ANCOVA. Regardless of sequencing method, IBD phenotype, Clostridia difficile and NOD2 genotype were selected as associated (FDR ≤0.05) with shifts in overall microbial composition. IBD phenotype and NOD2 genotype were also selected as associated with shifts in the relative frequency of the C. coccoides – E. rectales group. IBD phenotype, smoking and IBD medications were selected as associated with shifts in the relative frequency of F. prausnitzii spp. These results indicate that the effects of genetic and environmental factors on IBD are mediated at least in part by the enteric microbiota.
The Religiously Unaffiliated in Germany, 1949–2013: Contrasting Patterns of Social Change in East and West

ABSTRACT In this case study of Germany, we use repeated cross-sectional surveys to analyze the temporal structure, gender gap, and educational gradient of the unaffiliated in the post-war period in the West. The continuing institutional role for religion in the West and the rapid de-institutionalization and subsequent re-institutionalization of religion in the East informs the comparison of the unaffiliated in East and West since unification. Stronger age effects in the East, persistent period effects in the West, and cohort effects combine with a stronger educational gradient and larger gender gap in the West to define the contrasting features of the changes in religious affiliation.
Stress at School? A Qualitative Study on Illegitimate Tasks during Teacher Training

What do I expect when stating that “I am going to be a teacher”? Social roles, including professional roles, often become part of people's identity and thus, of the self. As people typically strive for maintaining a positive sense of self, threats to one's role identity are likely to induce stress. In line with these considerations, Semmer et al. recently (e.g., Semmer et al., 2007, 2015) introduced “illegitimate tasks” as a new concept of stressors. Illegitimate tasks, which are defined as unnecessary or unreasonable tasks, threaten the self because they signal a lack of appreciation regarding one's professional role. Teacher training is a phase of role transition in which the occurrence of illegitimate tasks becomes likely. A holistic understanding of these tasks, however, has been missing up to now. Is there already a professional role identity during teacher training that is vulnerable to threats like the illegitimacy of tasks? What are typical illegitimate tasks in the context of teacher training? In order to close this research gap, 39 situations taken from 16 interviews with teaching trainees were analyzed in the present study on the basis of qualitative content analysis. Seminars and standing in to hold lessons for other teachers were identified as most prevalent illegitimate tasks. More specifically, unnecessary tasks could be classified as sub challenging, inefficient and lacking in organization (e.g., writing reports about workshops no one will ever read). Unreasonable tasks appeared overextending, fell outside responsibility, and lacked supervisory support. Training interventions focusing upon task design and supervisory behavior are suggested for improvement.
References and Notes Materials and Methods Som Text Fig. S1 Table S1 References a Microrna in a Multiple- Turnover Rnai Enzyme Complex

RNA detected 2 and 3 days postinfiltration, respectively, corresponded to the SCL6-IV(b) RNA product. Relatively small proportions of SCL6-IV mRNA were cleaved after coexpression with empty vector (Fig. 2B, top, lanes 4 and 5), IGR-mi39 (lanes 6 and 7), and 35S:AS-IGR-mi39 constructs (lanes 10 and 11), which can be explained by the basal or low levels of miRNA 39 in these samples. No cleavage products were detected with the SCL6-IV 5Ј-end probe (Fig. 2B), suggesting that the 5Ј fragment was less stable than the 3Ј fragment [SCL6-IV(b)]. Identical results were obtained when the SCL6-III mRNA was used as a target in coexpression assays (23). To determine whether cleavage of SCL6-IV mRNA depends on perfect complementa-rity with miRNA 39, we introduced three mismatches into the sequence complementary to miRNA 39 in SCL6-IV RNA (construct 35S:SCL6-IV/mut39) (Fig. 3). Whereas the wild-type SCL6-IV mRNA was cleaved efficiently in the presence of the miRNA 39 – producing 35S:IGR-mi39 construct (Fig. 3, lanes 8, 9, 18, and 19), the SCL6-IV/mut39 mRNA was completely resistant to cleavage (lanes 10, 11, 20, and 21). Furthermore, the low level of cleavage of SCL6-IV mRNA in the presence of the empty vector construct was inhibited by the mutations (Fig. 3, lanes 4 to 7), confirming that this activity was due to low levels of endogenous miRNA 39 in N. benthamiana tissue. The finding of miRNA-directed cleavage of several SCL mRNA targets in Arabidopsis indicates that there are at least two functional classes of miRNAs. Members of the small temporal RNA (stRNA)–like class, including C. elegans lin-4 and let-7 miRNAs, down-regulate translation of target mRNAs but do not direct RNA target degradation or site-specific cleavage (7, 8, 10, 11). The stRNA class members do not interact with perfect complementarity to their natural targets, which may explain why they do not exhibit siRNA-like activity (24). In contrast, members of a class represented by Arabidopsis miRNA 39 interact with perfect complemen-tarity and appear to mimic siRNA function to guide cleavage. We propose that miRNA 39 incorporates into a RISC-like complex identical or similar to the RISC complex that mediates target cleavage during RNA silencing (21, 22). Support for this concept also comes from the finding that engineered miRNA-target combinations with perfect complementarity result in target RNA cleav-age (25, 26). Finally, miRNA 39 –guided cleavage of mRNAs has several possible consequences , including developmentally coordinated inactivation of SCL mRNAs. Internal cleavage might also …
Aggregate Jump and Volatility Risk in the Cross-Section of Stock Returns

type="main"> We examine the pricing of both aggregate jump and volatility risk in the cross-section of stock returns by constructing investable option trading strategies that load on one factor but are orthogonal to the other. Both aggregate jump and volatility risk help explain variation in expected returns. Consistent with theory, stocks with high sensitivities to jump and volatility risk have low expected returns. Both can be measured separately and are important economically, with a two-standard-deviation increase in jump (volatility) factor loadings associated with a 3.5% to 5.1% (2.7% to 2.9%) drop in expected annual stock returns.
Echo-chambers in online news consumption: Evidence from survey and navigation data in Spain

Whether people live in echo-chambers when they consume political information online has been the subject of much academic and public debate. This article contributes to this debate combining survey and web-tracking online data from Spain, a country known for its high political parallelism. We find that users spend more time in outlets of their political leanings but, generally, they engage in considerable cross-partisan media exposure, especially those in the left. In addition, we use a quasi experiment to test how major news events affect regular patterns of news consumption, and particularly, selective exposure. We find that the nature of news explains changes in users’ overall consumption behaviour, but this has less to do with the type of event than with the interest it arouses. More importantly, we find that users become more polarized along party lines as the level of news consumption and interest for news increases.
Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli in Yaks (Bos grunniens) from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are recognized as important human pathogens of public health concern. Many animals are the sources of STEC. In this study we determined the occurrence and characteristics of the STEC in yaks (Bos grunniens) from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, China. A total of 728 yak fecal samples was collected from June to August, 2012 and was screened for the presence of the stx 1 and stx 2 genes by TaqMan real-time PCR after the sample was enriched in modified Tryptone Soya Broth. Of the 138 (18.96%) stx 1 and/or stx 2-positive samples, 85 (61.59%) were confirmed to have at least 1 STEC isolate present by culture isolation, from which 128 STEC isolates were recovered. All STEC isolates were serotyped, genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and characterized for the presence of 16 known virulence factors. Fifteen different O serogroups and 36 different O:H serotypes were identified in the 128 STEC isolates with 21 and 4 untypable for the O and H antigens respectively. One stx 1 subtype (stx 1a) and 5 stx 2 subtypes (stx 2a, stx 2b, stx 2c, stx 2d and stx 2g) were present in these STEC isolates. Apart from lpfA O157/OI-141, lpfA O157/OI-154, lpfA O113, katP and toxB which were all absent, other virulence factors screened (eaeA, iha, efa1, saa, paa, cnf1, cnf2, astA, subA, exhA and espP) were variably present in the 128 STEC isolates. PFGE were successful for all except 5 isolates and separated them into 67 different PFGE patterns. For the 18 serotypes with 2 or more isolates, isolates of the same serotypes had the same or closely related PFGE patterns, demonstrating clonality of these serotypes. This study was the first report on occurrence and characteristics of STEC isolated from yaks (Bos grunniens) from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, China, and extended the genetic diversity and reservoir host range of STEC.