Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gas inflow in barred galaxies: effects of secondary bars

We report results of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of gas flows in barred galaxies, with a focus on gas dynamics in the central kiloparsec. In a single bar with an inner Lindblad resonance, we find either near-circular motion of gas in the nuclear ring, or a spiral shock extending towards the galaxy centre, depending on the sound speed in the gas. From a simple model of a dynamically possible doubly barred galaxy with resonant coupling, we infer that the secondary bar is likely to end well inside its corotation. Such a bar cannot create shocks in the gas flow, and therefore will not reveal itself in colour maps through straight dust lanes: the gas flows induced by it are different from those caused by the rapidly rotating main bars. In particular, we find that secondary stellar bars are unlikely to increase the mass inflow rate into the galactic nucleus.
Simulating Fundamental Tax Reform in the U . S .

This paper uses a new, large-scale, dynamic life-cycle simulation model to compare the welfare and macroeconomic effects of five fundamental alternatives to the U.S. federal income tax: a proportional income tax, a proportional consumption tax, a flat tax, a flat tax with transition relief, and a progressive variant of the flat tax called the X tax. The model incorporates intragenerational heterogeneity and detailed specification of alternative tax systems. It predicts significant long-run increases in output from the wholesale replacement of the progressive federal income-tax with a low-rate proportional consumption tax. In the long run, middleand upper-income groups gain from this policy. But their gains come at the expense of the current and future poor, who suffer from the removal of the current tax structure’s progressivity, and the wealthiest members of initial, older generations, who are hurt by the policy’s implicit capital levy. The flat tax adds a standard deduction to the consumption tax. This feature improves outcomes for the current and future poor. But it does so at an additional cost; long-run output increases less than half as much as under the proportional consumption tax, and middle-income groups experience a welfare loss, even in the long run. Moreover, the flat tax continues to leave some of the initial elderly worse off. Although one can insulate these individuals through transition relief, doing so further reduces the long-run gains from tax reform. Switching to a proportional income tax without deductions or exemptions is an alternative way to reform the federal income tax. Although the policy raises long-run output to roughly the same extent as the flat tax, eliminating the federal income tax’s progressivity hurts the poor, whether they are initially alive or are born after the reform. The X tax, a flat tax with a progressive subsidy to wages, makes everyone better off in the long run and also raises long-run output by more than the standard flat tax. But its higher tax rate on existing capital hits initial older generations particularly hard. Nearly all of the reforms analyzed would be approved by a majority of the existing adult population, based on the impact on their individual well-being. However, the degree of approval bears little relationship to a policy’s long-run benefits.
Assessment of Emotional Intelligence in the Family

The authors evaluated the self-reported emotional intelligence (SEI) in mothers, fathers, and children of 73 families. The sample was composed of 73 fathers, 73 mothers, and 156 children (71 male and 85 female). In addition, the perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) among the family members was examined and the possible relationships were analyzed. The SEI and the PEI were evaluated with the Trait Meta Mood Scale–24. Three factors composed this measure: attention, clarity, and emotional repair. The results showed that the parents’ SEI correlated with the children’s SEI in two of the three EI factors (attention and clarity). However, the parents’ PEI of their children and the children’s PEI of their parents correlated significantly in the three factors, as well as the children’s SEI and their PEI of their parents and the parents’ SEI and their PEI of their children. That is, parents and children see each other in a similar way. The regression analyses confirmed that the children’s SEI was predicted first by the children’s PEI of their parents, over and above the children’s own SEI and the parents’ SEI. The parents’ PEI of their children also had predictive power for the attention their children believed they paid to their emotions. Neither the children’s gender nor age demonstrated sufficient predictive power on their SEI. The repercussions of these results in the field of education and family therapy are discussed.
The Work Importance Study: Recent Changes of Values in Croatia

Cet article analyse l'evolution des valeurs en Croatie, un pays qui a subi des changements politiques, sociaux et economiques majeurs depuis 1990. On a utilise l'Echelle des Valeurs importantes pour le travail (W.I.S.), une serie d'echelles type Likert permettant d'evaluer 19 valeurs. En novembre 1993, l'Echelle des Valeurs a ete administree a 446 lyceens de Zagreb. Ces donnees sont comparees avec d'autres datant de 1983 fournies par 949 lyceens croates. Au printemps 1994, l'Echelle des Valeurs a ete passee par 298 etudiants relevant de diverses disciplines. Ces donnees sont elles-memes comparees avec celles recueillies en 1983 aupres d'un echantillon de 348 etudiants des memes disciplines. La comparaison entre 1983 et 1993-94 montre que les deux groupes de valeurs ont significativement change aussi bien pour les etudiants que pour les lyceens: les valeurs utilitaires et individualistes ont gagne en importance. On a essaye d'interpreter ces changements a la lumiere de la situation socio-economique actuelle de la Croatie. Que peut-on en tirer a propos du probleme general de la stabilite des phenomenes psychosociaux?
Siderophore-mediated iron uptake in fluorescent Pseudomonas: characterization of the pyoverdine-receptor binding site of three cross-reacting pyoverdines.

Two Pseudomonas fluorescens and one Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, although producing structurally different pyoverdines, demonstrated highly efficient cross-reactions when tested for pyoverdine-mediated iron uptake. A ferripyoverdine receptor-deficient mutant of the P. aeruginosa strain was unable to use any of the three pyoverdines. Moreover, the three strains presented each a specific outer membrane siderophore-receptor pattern. Thus, the capacity of using heterologous pyoverdines was related not to the presence of supplementary specific ferripyoverdine receptors but to the existence within the respective pyoverdine-peptide chains of a common dipeptide motif which should act as the receptor-binding site for the three pyoverdines. Other pyoverdines sharing the same motif but at another position within the peptide chain were not efficient in iron transport, demonstrating the importance of the spatial position of the binding site.
A Nonlinear Harmonic Model for Fitting Satellite Image Time Series: Analysis and Prediction of Land Cover Dynamics

Numerous efforts have been made to develop models to fit multispectral reflectance and vegetation index (VI) time series from satellite images for diverse land cover classes. The common objective of these models is to derive a set of measurable parameters that are able to characterize and to reproduce the land cover dynamics of natural- and human-induced ecosystems. Good-fitting models should therefore match different waveforms and be insensitive to sharp and localized variations, generally due to atmospheric disturbances. In this paper, we propose a model-based approach to identify and predict important dynamics for indiscriminate land cover classes. Our method relies on an original nonlinear harmonic model that remarkably matches intra-annual time series of multispectral reflectances and Vis obtained from satellite images. The proposed model is characterized by the following: 1) parsimonious, comprising only five parameters; 2) readily identifiable (in the maximum likelihood sense) from only few observations; 3) robust to noise; and 4) versatile, since it can reproduce a wide variety of intra-annual land cover dynamics as a deterministic function of time. To demonstrate the relevance of our approach, we use a time series of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer eight-day composite images acquired in Portugal over a one-year period at a 500-m nominal spatial resolution. For 13 different land cover classes, which are representatives of Mediterranean landscapes, we evaluate the data-model adequacy of our model and compare it with several other approaches. We then address a particularly interesting and promising application of our method using rice crops and shrublands as case studies. We not only show that phenological attributes can be accurately estimated from the fitted time series, but we also demonstrate that it is possible to make early predictions of phenological attribute dates and magnitudes from our expected model adjusted to only few anterior observations.
Single-electron tunneling transistor implementation of periodic symmetric functions

This paper investigates the implementation of generic periodic symmetric functions (PSFs) with single-electron tunneling transistors (SETTs). The PSF implementation scheme we propose fully utilizes the SETT Coulomb oscillation effect and can properly operate at T>0K, and only a pair of complementary SETTs is required for the implementation of any PSF. Based on the novel PSF block, we propose an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) scheme that requires n PSFs for an n-bit ADC implementation. To demonstrate our approach, a 4-b ADC and a 7|3 counter were designed and verified at 10 K by means of simulation.
The development of compassionate and caring leadership among adolescents

Background: Fostering the innate need to lead, teach and care for others is fundamental to creating a just and moral society. The nurturing begins early in life and becomes especially vital during the adolescent years, when peer pressure and the need to belong are heightened. Unfortunately, many youths believe leadership is associated with being good-looking, athletic, wealthy or smart. Leadership development is viewed differently, as an inclusive process where everyone can be a leader. Purpose: To describe how youth leadership evolved in two education programs serving low-income minority youth. Both programs are designed to foster leadership qualities in adolescent youth. They provide opportunities for ‘veteran’ program participants to develop leadership skills by teaching sport and life skills to younger kids from various community agencies and programs. Many youth leaders attend one of the local schools, while some are either in alternative schools or pursuing a General Education Development Certificate (GED). Participants and settings: One of the programs operates at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) and the other at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The program at UNCG is called the Youth Leader Corps program. The one at UIC is called the Apprentice Teacher Program. Research design: A description of program participants' previous involvement in values-based sport clubs during their elementary and middle school years is provided. The clubs provided the initial leadership experiences that prepared them to take on larger leadership roles. Four developmental stages of youth leadership are proposed. These stages are: (1) needs-based leadership; (2) focusing on planning and teaching; (3) reflective leadership; and (4) compassionate leadership. Data collection: Numerous data sources were used—one was interviews (focus and individual) with youth leaders, their assistants, campers and program leaders, another was the leaders' written reflections of their teaching. A leader's assistant provided written (and oral) feedback to the leaders after each lesson. A final source of data came from the program leaders' field notes and informal interactions between the leaders and staff. Data analysis: Case studies were presented showing each stage of leadership development. The extent that certain issues impact adolescent growth across these stages is also described. Findings: Four case studies illustrating each of the four stages are presented. The four cases illustrate the transformation of adolescents from being self-serving participants to being caring and compassionate leaders. The ability to progress through these stages is related to the youth leaders' personal needs and their levels of moral development. Conclusions: The youth leaders sometimes regressed to a lower stage of leadership, but they also sometimes moved beyond their current stage to an advanced stage. It was also evident that their personal lives greatly influenced their comfort in extending their leadership and compassion to younger participants.
Effects of exposure to low level radiofrequency fields on acetylcholine release in hippocampus of freely moving rats

Some central cholinergic effects have been reported in animals after acute exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic field at low intensity. We studied acetylcholine (ACh) release in the brain of freely moving rats exposed for 1 h during the day to a 2.45 GHz continuous wave radiofrequency field (RF) (2 or 4 mW/cm2) or exposed for 1 or 14 h during the night to a 800 MHz field modulated at 32 Hz (AM 200 mW/cm2). Measurements were performed by microdialysis using a membrane implanted through the upper CA1 region of the hippocampus. After irradiation with the 2.45 GHz RF, rats exposed at 2 mW/cm2 did not show a significant modification of Ach release, whereas those exposed at 4 mW/cm2 showed a significant 40% decrease in mean ACh release from hippocampus. This decrease was maximal at 5 h post exposure. Exposure to the 800 MHz RF for 1 h did not cause any significant effect, but exposure for 14 hrs induced a significant 43% decrease in ACh release during the period 11 p.m. –4 a.m. compared to control rats. In the control group we observed an increase of ACh release at the beginning of the night, which was linked to the waking period of rats. This normal increase was disturbed in rats exposed overnight to the 800 MHz RF. This work indicates that neurochemical modification of the hippocampal cholinergic system can be observed during and after an exposure to low intensity RF. Bioelectromagnetics 23:249–255, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Stage-specific Proteomes from Onchocerca ochengi, Sister Species of the Human River Blindness Parasite, Uncover Adaptations to a Nodular Lifestyle

Despite 40 years of control efforts, onchocerciasis (river blindness) remains one of the most important neglected tropical diseases, with 17 million people affected. The etiological agent, Onchocerca volvulus, is a filarial nematode with a complex lifecycle involving several distinct stages in the definitive host and blackfly vector. The challenges of obtaining sufficient material have prevented high-throughput studies and the development of novel strategies for disease control and diagnosis. Here, we utilize the closest relative of O. volvulus, the bovine parasite Onchocerca ochengi, to compare stage-specific proteomes and host-parasite interactions within the secretome. We identified a total of 4260 unique O. ochengi proteins from adult males and females, infective larvae, intrauterine microfilariae, and fluid from intradermal nodules. In addition, 135 proteins were detected from the obligate Wolbachia symbiont. Observed protein families that were enriched in all whole body extracts relative to the complete search database included immunoglobulin-domain proteins, whereas redox and detoxification enzymes and proteins involved in intracellular transport displayed stage-specific overrepresentation. Unexpectedly, the larval stages exhibited enrichment for several mitochondrial-related protein families, including members of peptidase family M16 and proteins which mediate mitochondrial fission and fusion. Quantification of proteins across the lifecycle using the Hi-3 approach supported these qualitative analyses. In nodule fluid, we identified 94 O. ochengi secreted proteins, including homologs of transforming growth factor-β and a second member of a novel 6-ShK toxin domain family, which was originally described from a model filarial nematode (Litomosoides sigmodontis). Strikingly, the 498 bovine proteins identified in nodule fluid were strongly dominated by antimicrobial proteins, especially cathelicidins. This first high-throughput analysis of an Onchocerca spp. proteome across the lifecycle highlights its profound complexity and emphasizes the extremely close relationship between O. ochengi and O. volvulus. The insights presented here provide new candidates for vaccine development, drug targeting and diagnostic biomarkers.
Scalable and Adaptive Online Joins

Scalable join processing in a parallel shared-nothing environment requires a partitioning policy that evenly distributes the processing load while minimizing the size of state maintained and number of messages communicated. Previous research proposes static partitioning schemes that require statistics beforehand. In an online or streaming environment in which no statistics about the workload are known, traditional static approaches perform poorly. This paper presents a novel parallel online dataflow join operator that supports arbitrary join predicates. The proposed operator continuously adjusts itself to the data dynamics through adaptive dataflow routing and state repartitioning. The operator is resilient to data skew, maintains high throughput rates, avoids blocking behavior during state repartitioning, takes an eventual consistency approach for maintaining its local state, and behaves strongly consistently as a black-box dataflow operator. We prove that the operator ensures a constant competitive ratio 3:75 in data distribution optimality and that the cost of processing an input tuple is amortized constant, taking into account adaptivity costs. Our evaluation demonstrates that our operator outperforms the state-of-the-art static partitioning schemes in resource utilization, throughput, and execution time.
Fathering through Sport

Abstract At a time when ‘fathers’, ‘fatherhood’ and ‘fathering’ are highly contested concepts in westernised societies, leisure is significant as a primary site for men to respond to the increased expectation that fathers will be actively involved with their children. Sport, with its lengthy tradition of paternal participation with children, is a particularly appropriate leisure form for deconstructing how the emergence of ideologies of ‘new’ fatherhood may be played out in leisure settings. On the one hand, sport offers a relatively familiar, secure and comfortable site in which men can use an established competence to engage with their children; on the other, participating in their children's sport may allow fathers to fulfil current expectations of involved fathering. Drawing on data from a qualitative study with fathers (n=8) of boys who were members of a youth football team, the paper explores the role that leisure plays as a site for fathering. It examines the context within which fathers seek to spend time with their children, the nature of their involvement in their children's sport, and the function that leisure plays within their performance of fatherhood. The study finds that fathers have a strong consciousness of ideologies of involved fathering and that these are strong influences on their involvement in their children's leisure. While embracing these ideologies, fathers nonetheless experience difficulty and tension in reconciling them with the continuing demands of ‘traditional’ fathering. The study concludes that these tensions raise a number of further questions for leisure studies scholars to address, and that by doing so they may contribute to the broader understanding of contemporary fatherhood.
COMPARING THE VALIDITY OF AUTOMATED AND HUMAN ESSAY SCORING

This study sought to provide further evidence of the validity of automated, or computer-based, scores of complex performance assessments, such as direct tests of writing skill that require examinees to construct responses rather than select them from a set of multiple choices. While several studies have examined agreement between human scores and automated scoring systems, only a few have provided evidence of the relationship of automated scores to other, independent indicators of writing skill. This study examined relationships of each of two sets of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE®) Writing Assessment scores ∼ those given by human raters and those generated by e-rater (the system being researched for possible application in a variety of assessments that require natural language responses) — to several independent, nontest indicators of writing skill, such as academic, outside, and perceived success with writing. Analyses revealed significant, but modest, correlations between the nontest indicators and each of the two methods of scoring. That automated and human scores exhibited reasonably similar relations with the nontest indicators was taken as evidence that the two methods of scoring reflect similar aspects of writing proficiency. These relations were, however, somewhat weaker for automated scores than for scores awarded by humans.
Spline Extensions for the MAPLE Plot System

Traditionally computer algebra systems use lines and polygons to represent mathematical func tions graphically While these geometric primitives can easily be rendered on conventional raster graphics hardware a smooth representation using splines would provide a wider range of trade o s between image quality and rendering performance Since modern computer graphics hardware directly supports rendering of spline objects their use becomes more and more interesting In this thesis we examine the possibilities for replacing traditional representations of functions and graphs by spline representations We describe the use of B splines for interpolation and approx imation and discuss several approaches for generating parameterizations for these tasks Finally we present some novel results regarding the use of rational splines for curve and surface tting
Invariance properties of interval dynamical systems

This article analyses the flow (positive) invariance of different types of time-dependent sets with respect to the dynamics of interval systems (state-space models described by interval matrices) in both discrete and continuous time. The investigated sets have general shapes, defined in terms of Hőlder vector p-norms, . The time dependence of the sets is separately considered arbitrary and exponentially decreasing. We develop procedures that explore set invariance by using (i) a single test matrix, introduced as a majorant of the interval matrix and (ii) all the distinct vertices of the matrix polytope corresponding to the interval matrix. In case (i) we provide sufficient conditions for all p, , whereas the necessity is guaranteed only for ; in case (ii) we formulate necessary and sufficient conditions valid for all p, . Our analysis shows that the existence of invariant sets (with arbitrary or exponential time-dependence, defined by a p-norm) approaching the state-space origin for infinite time horizon implies the asymptotic stability. Some examples are presented to provide intuitive support for the theoretical concepts and to illustrate the applicability of the main results.