Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Testing the Theory of Multitasking: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment in Chinese Factories

A well-recognized problem in the multitasking literature is that workers might substantially reduce their effort on tasks that produce unobservable outputs as they seek the salient rewards to observable outputs. Since the theory related to multitasking is decades ahead of the empirical evidence, the economic costs of standard incentive schemes under multitasking contexts remain largely unknown. This study provides empirical insights quantifying such effects using a field experiment in Chinese factories. Using more than 2200 data points across 126 workers, we find sharp evidence that workers do trade off the incented output (quantity) at the expense of the non-incented one (quality) as a result of a piece rate bonus scheme. Consistent with our theoretical model, treatment effects are much stronger for workers whose base salary structure is a flat wage compared to those under a piece rate base salary. While the incentives result in a large increase in quantity and a sharp decrease in quality for workers under a flat base salary, they result only in a small increase in quantity without affecting quality for workers under a piece rate base salary.
Peritraumatic Reaction Courses During War in Individuals With Serious Mental Illness: Gender, Mental Health Status, and Exposure.

OBJECTIVE We assessed in vivo symptom courses of early psychological responses during war and investigated the influence of exposure, gender, and a prior diagnosis of severe mental illness (SMI). METHOD Participants were 181 highly exposed individuals from the general population and community psychiatric rehabilitation centers. A 30-day twice-daily Internet-smartphone-based intensive assessment two weeks into the 2014 Israel-Gaza war estimated peritraumatic symptom clusters, sense of threat, negative emotions and cognitions, and siren exposure during two periods that varied in exposure level. Piecewise growth curve modeling procedures were performed. RESULTS We found different courses for most variables, gender, and SMI status. Women were more reactive two weeks into the war but reduced their reactivity level at a faster pace than males, reaching lower symptom levels one month later. Women's courses were characterized by arousal, negative emotionality, sense of threat, and reactivity to siren exposure. No-SMI men had a stable course followed by a significant reduction in arousal, negative emotions, avoidance, and perceived threat during a "return to routine" lower-level intensity period of the war. Individuals with SMI had higher reactivity levels at study onset; but while women with SMI improved over time, men with SMI worsened. SMI reactivity was characterized by negative cognitions, intrusions, and avoidance. CONCLUSIONS Early reactions during prolonged exposure to war are variable, dynamic, and affected by exposure context. Symptoms, emotions, and cognitions develop differentially over time and are affected by gender and mental health status. The identification of various early stress courses should inform primary intervention strategies.
Ultrastructural organisation of HCV from the bloodstream of infected patients revealed by electron microscopy after specific immunocapture

Objective HCV particles are associated with very low-density lipoprotein components in chronically infected patients. These hybrid particles, or ‘lipo-viro particles’ (LVPs), are rich in triglycerides, and contain the viral RNA, the capsid protein, E1E2 envelope glycoproteins and apolipoproteins B and E. However, their specific ultrastructural organisation has yet to be determined. We developed a strategy for the preparation of any viral sample that preserves the native structure of the LVPs, facilitating their precise morphological characterisation. Design Using a strategy based on the direct specific immunocapture of particles on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids, we characterised the precise morphology of the viral particle by TEM. Results The LVP consists of a broad nucleocapsid surrounding an electron-dense centre, presumably containing the HCV genome. The nucleocapsid is surrounded by an irregular, detergent-sensitive crescent probably composed of lipids. Lipid content may determine particle size. These particles carry HCV E1E2, ApoB and ApoE, as shown in our immuno-EM analysis. Our results also suggest that these putative LVPs circulate in the serum of patients as part of a mixed population, including lipoprotein-like particles and complete viral particles. Conclusions Twenty-five years after the discovery of HCV, this study finally provides information about the precise morphological organisation of viral particles. It is truly remarkable that our TEM images fully confirm the ultrastructure of LVPs predicted by several authors, almost exclusively from the results of molecular biology studies.
The effect of prebiotics in the management of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia

Background: Breast milk oligosaccharides such as galacto‐oligosaccharides (scGOS) and fructo‐oligosaccharides (lcFOS) can influence the intestinal microbial flora. The latter, in turn, can modulate several intestinal and extraintestinal functions, including bilirubin metabolism. Supplementing infant formula with a prebiotic mixture might then be a novel and safe intervention to manage mild neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia.
Sensing nitroaromatic analytes with a bifluorene-cored dendrimer

A first generation dendrimer comprised of a 9,9,9',9'-tetra-n-hexyl substituted 2,2'-bifluorene core, biphenyl dendrons, and 2-ethylhexyloxy surface groups can rapidly detect high electron affinity, explosive-related analytes such as pnitrotoluene and 2,4-dinitrotoluene. Stern-Volmer analysis of the dendrimer in solution showed that the quenching could be either collisional or static but not a combination of the two mechanisms. The Stern-Volmer analysis was found to be critically dependent on correcting for the absorption of the analyte at the excitation wavelength and the inner filter effect. Films of the dendrimer were found to have a measurable decrease in the PL for all the nitroaromatic analytes in seconds. The luminescence of the films could be recovered on removal of the analyte. It was found that both thin (25 nm) and thick (80 nm) films showed a rapid response to the analytes but for the less volatile analytes the final level of quenching was less for the thicker films.
Time Domain Simulation of the Vibration of a Steam Generator Tube Subjected to Fluidelastic Forces Induced by Two-Phase Cross-Flow

Having previously verified the quasi-steady model under two-phase flow laboratory conditions, the present work investigates the feasibility of practical application of the model to a prototypical steam generator (SG) tube subjected to a nonuniform two-phase flow. The SG tube vibration response and normal work-rate induced by tube-support interaction are computed for a range of flow conditions. Similar computations are performed using the Connors model as a reference case. In the quasi-steady model, the fluid forces are expressed in terms of the quasi-static drag and lift force coefficients and their derivatives. These forces have been measured in two-phase flow over a wide range of void fractions making it possible to model the effect of void fraction variation along the tube span. A full steam generator tube subjected to a nonuniform two-phase flow was considered in the simulations. The nonuniform flow distribution corresponds to that along a prototypical steam-generator tube based on thermal-hydraulic computations. Computation results show significant and important differences between the Connors model and the two-phase flow based quasi-steady model. While both models predict the occurrence of fluidelastic instability, the predicted pre-instability and post instability behavior is very different in the two models. The Connors model underestimates the flow-induced negative damping in the pre-instability regime and vastly overestimates it in the post instability velocity range. As a result the Connors model is found to underestimate the work-rate used in the fretting wear assessment at normal operating velocities, rendering the model potentially nonconservative under these practically important conditions. Above the critical velocity, this model largely overestimates the work-rate. The quasi-steady model on the other hand predicts a more moderately increasing work-rate with the flow velocity. The work-rates predicted by the model are found to be within the range of experimental results, giving further confidence to the predictive ability of the model. Finally, the two-phase flow based quasi-steady model shows that fluidelastic forces may reduce the effective tube damping in the pre-instability regime, leading to higher than expected work-rates at prototypical operating velocities.
Enhancement of the Multipactor Threshold Inside Nonrectangular Iris

Multipactor breakdown is studied inside the capacitive iris of a rectangular waveguide with a skewed slot along its longitudinal cross section. Both the iris length and height are assumed to be small compared to the electromagnetic wavelength. Therefore, the quasi-static approximation is applied so as to describe the RF field distribution inside the iris gap, whereas a 2-D model is used to analyze the electron motion. The peculiarities of RF field structure are studied using the conformal mapping approach, which shows that the electric field lines can be approximated by circular arcs when the iris length is much larger than its height. The electron motion inside the iris gap is analyzed using different analytical approaches as well as numerical simulations. The simplest analytical consideration is based on the general theory of multipactor between curved surfaces. Within the more sophisticated model, the fringing field effect on electron motion inside the iris is calculated assuming circular structure of electric field lines. It is demonstrated within all approaches that the electron losses within the iris gap increase considerably with the skew angle, deviating from the rectangular iris shape. As a result, the multipactor becomes impossible at a relatively small value of this angle.
Tensile behavior of polypropylene blended with bimodal distribution of styrene‐ethylene‐butadiene‐styrene particle size

The objective is to characterize the effects of the bimodal distribution of rubber particles and its blend ratio on the mechanical properties of the thermoplastic polypropylene blended with two different styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymer at the intermediate and high strain rates. Tensile tests are conducted at the nominal strain rates from 3 × 10−1 to 102 (1/s). Phase morphology is investigated to estimate the bimodal rubber particle size distribution. In addition, the in situ observation is conducted during uniaxially stretching within transmission electron microscopy step by step to investigate the deformation events depending on the elongation of samples. The elastic modulus increased gradually as the blend ratio of large rubber particle increased. An increase in the rupture strain and the strain energy up to failure was found for the bimodal rubber particle distributed blend system where the blend ratios of small rubber particle and large rubber particle were same. This is because the smaller particles dominant blend systems show the bandlike craze deformation while the localized plastic deformation is taken place in the larger particles dominated blend systems. The synergistic effect of these rubber particles gives rise to a strong increase in the ductility of these bimodal rubber particle distributed polypropylene systems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008
Sex differences in facial emotion recognition across varying expression intensity levels from videos

There has been much research on sex differences in the ability to recognise facial expressions of emotions, with results generally showing a female advantage in reading emotional expressions from the face. However, most of the research to date has used static images and/or ‘extreme’ examples of facial expressions. Therefore, little is known about how expression intensity and dynamic stimuli might affect the commonly reported female advantage in facial emotion recognition. The current study investigated sex differences in accuracy of response (Hu; unbiased hit rates) and response latencies for emotion recognition using short video stimuli (1sec) of 10 different facial emotion expressions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, happiness, contempt, pride, embarrassment, neutral) across three variations in the intensity of the emotional expression (low, intermediate, high) in an adolescent and adult sample (N = 111; 51 male, 60 female) aged between 16 and 45 (M = 22.2, SD = 5.7). Overall, females showed more accurate facial emotion recognition compared to males and were faster in correctly recognising facial emotions. The female advantage in reading expressions from the faces of others was unaffected by expression intensity levels and emotion categories used in the study. The effects were specific to recognition of emotions, as males and females did not differ in the recognition of neutral faces. Together, the results showed a robust sex difference favouring females in facial emotion recognition using video stimuli of a wide range of emotions and expression intensity variations.
Shifting Identities and Blurring Boundaries: The Emergence of "Third Space" Professionals in UK Higher Education.

This paper adds to earlier reviews by the author of the changing roles and identities of contemporary professional staff in UK higher education (Whitchurch, 2004; 2006a; 2006b), and builds on a categorisation of professional staff identities as having bounded, cross-boundary, and unbounded characteristics (Whitchurch, 2008, forthcoming). Drawing on a study of fifty-four professional managers in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, it describes a further category of blended professionals, who have mixed backgrounds and portfolios, comprising elements of both professional and academic activity. The paper goes on to introduce the concept of third space as an emergent territory between academic and professional domains, which is colonised primarily by less bounded forms of professional. The implications of these developments for institutions and for individuals are considered, and some international comparisons drawn. Finally, it is suggested that third space working may be indicative of future trends in professional identities, which may increasingly coalesce with those of academic colleagues who undertake project- and managementoriented roles, so that new forms of third space professional are likely to continue to emerge.
Investigating Heat Loss through Vestibule Doors for a Non-Residential Building

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of air flow movement through high use front entrance doors of a college building with large flows of people. The objectives were to visualize and quantify the resultant energy losses through the entrance doors, coupled with investigating any potential improvements that can be obtained through improved design. The findings of the study suggest that the heat loss from the front entrance design can contribute to up to 2.8% of the buildings’ energy loads. It was also seen that a vestibule creates a tunnel effect for cold ambient air to enter the building without hot air escaping from the vestibule. Rather hot stale air exits through openings at the ceiling height. Potential solutions with entrance design are investigated and their results compared to the outcomes of a similar model designed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).
Construction of Agropyron Gaertn. genetic linkage maps using a wheat 660K SNP array reveals a homoeologous relationship with the wheat genome

Summary Agropyron Gaertn. (P genome) is a wild relative of wheat that harbours many genetic variations that could be used to increase the genetic diversity of wheat. To agronomically transfer important genes from the P genome to a wheat chromosome by induced homoeologous pairing and recombination, it is necessary to determine the chromosomal relationships between Agropyron and wheat. Here, we report using the wheat 660K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array to genotype a segregating Agropyron F1 population derived from an interspecific cross between two cross‐pollinated diploid collections ‘Z1842’ [A. cristatum (L.) Beauv. ] (male parent) and ‘Z2098’ [A. mongolicum Keng] (female parent) and 35 wheat–A. cristatum addition/substitution lines. Genetic linkage maps were constructed using 913 SNP markers distributed among seven linkage groups spanning 839.7 cM. The average distance between adjacent markers was 1.8 cM. The maps identified the homoeologous relationship between the P genome and wheat and revealed that the P and wheat genomes are collinear and relatively conserved. In addition, obvious rearrangements and introgression spread were observed throughout the P genome compared with the wheat genome. Combined with genotyping data, the complete set of wheat–A. cristatum addition/substitution lines was characterized according to their homoeologous relationships. In this study, the homoeologous relationship between the P genome and wheat was identified using genetic linkage maps, and the detection mean for wheat–A. cristatum introgressions might significantly accelerate the introgression of genetic variation from Agropyron into wheat for exploitation in wheat improvement programmes.
A prospective analysis of endoloops and endostaples for closing the stump of the appendix in children.

AIM The aim of this study was to compare endoloops and endostaples for closing the stump of the appendix during laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) for uncomplicated appendicitis in children. METHODS All LA performed for appendicitis from 2005 to 2009 were analyzed prospectively. Cases of complicated appendicitis such as perforated appendicitis or intra-abdominal abscess were excluded, leaving 75 cases closed with loops and 81 cases closed with staples. Choice of technique was determined by the attending surgeon's preference. All patients were managed according to the same pre-, intra-, and postoperative protocols. RESULTS There were no significant differences between mean age at surgery, gender ratio, preoperative mean white blood cell count and mean C-reactive protein, histopathologic findings, mean duration of surgery, and mean hospitalization. There were no intra-operative complications in either group, but one loop case required conversion to open surgery (P = NS). There were no significant differences in the incidences of intra-abdominal abscess, transient ileus, small bowel obstruction, and wound infection. The postoperative readmission rate for management of complications was 4.0% for loop cases and 2.5% for staple cases (P = NS). Overall, using staples for a standard LA (anesthesia and stump closure) was U.S. $405 more expensive than when loops were used. CONCLUSION This is the first prospective study comparing endoloops with endostaples for closing the stump of the appendix during LA for uncomplicated appendicitis in children. Although stapling proved to be more expensive, the choice of technique should reflect the surgeon's experience and confidence to ensure that the patient has the safest possible LA.
MERITXELL: The Multifrequency Experimental Radiometer with Interference Tracking for Experiments over Land and Littoral—Instrument Description, Calibration and Performance

MERITXELL is a ground-based multisensor instrument that includes a multiband dual-polarization radiometer, a GNSS reflectometer, and several optical sensors. Its main goals are twofold: to test data fusion techniques, and to develop Radio-Frequency Interference (RFI) detection, localization and mitigation techniques. The former is necessary to retrieve complementary data useful to develop geophysical models with improved accuracy, whereas the latter aims at solving one of the most important problems of microwave radiometry. This paper describes the hardware design, the instrument control architecture, the calibration of the radiometer, and several captures of RFI signals taken with MERITXELL in urban environment. The multiband radiometer has a dual linear polarization total-power radiometer topology, and it covers the L-, S-, C-, X-, K-, Ka-, and W-band. Its back-end stage is based on a spectrum analyzer structure which allows to perform real-time signal processing, while the rest of the sensors are controlled by a host computer where the off-line processing takes place. The calibration of the radiometer is performed using the hot-cold load procedure, together with the tipping curves technique in the case of the five upper frequency bands. Finally, some captures of RFI signals are shown for most of the radiometric bands under analysis, which evidence the problem of RFI in microwave radiometry, and the limitations they impose in external calibration.
Quantum-path analysis and phase matching of high-order harmonic generation and high-order frequency mixing processes in strong laser fields

We study phase-matching conditions for high-order harmonic generation as well as high-order sum- and difference-frequency mixing processes in strong laser fields, using a graphical approach described in Balcou et al (1997 Phys. Rev. A 55 3204-10). This method is based on the analysis of the different quantum paths that contribute, with different phase properties, to the single-atom response. We propose a simple numerical method to disentangle the quantum paths contributing to the generation process. We present graphical maps of the phase matching around the laser focus, which allow one to predict the geometries that optimize the conversion efficiency of the process considered. The method is applied to the study of sum- and difference-frequency mixing processes. The qualitative predictions of the graphical phase-matching approach are confirmed by numerical propagation calculations.
Feasibility Study of Gait Recognition Using Points in Three-Dimensional Space

This study investigated the feasibility of gait recognition using points on the body in threedimensional (3D) space based on comparisons of four different feature vectors. To obtain the point trajectories on the body in 3D, gait motion data were captured from 10 participants using a 3D motion capture system, and four shoes with different heel heights were used to study the effects of heel height on gait recognition. Finally, the recognition rates were compared using four methods and different heel heights.