Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The stellar content of low redshift BL Lacertae host galaxies from multicolour imaging

Context. We present B -band imaging of 18 low redshift ($z \leq 0.3$) BL Lac objects for which their host galaxies were previously resolved in the R -band and the near-infrared H -band. For a subset of the objects, U - and V -band imaging also is presented. Aims. These multiwavelength data are used to investigate the blue–red–near-infrared colours and the colour gradients of the host galaxies of BL Lacs in comparison with other elliptical galaxies with and without nuclear activity. Methods. For all the BL Lacs observed in the B - and V -bands, and all objects at $z U -band, the host galaxy is clearly resolved. In all cases galaxies are well represented by an elliptical model, with average absolute magnitude $M_B = -21.6\pm0.7$ and average scale length $R_{\rm e} = 7.6\pm 3.2$ kpc. BL Lac host galaxies are therefore luminous (massive) elliptical galaxies, in agreement with previous studies in other bands. Results. The best-fit B -band Kormendy relation of ($\mu_{\rm e} = 3.3 \log R_{\rm e}$ (kpc) + 18.4 mag arcsec -2 ) is in reasonable agreement with that obtained for normal ellipticals and radio galaxies. This structural and dynamical similarity indicates that all massive elliptical galaxies can experience nuclear activity without significant perturbation of their global structure. The distributions of the integrated blue/near–infrared colour (with average $B-H = 3.5\pm0.5$) and colour gradient (with average Δ ($B-R$)/$\Delta (\log r) = -0.14\pm 0.75$) of the BL Lac hosts are much wider than those for normal ellipticals, and most BL Lac objects have bluer hosts and/or steeper colour gradients than those in normal ellipticals. Conclusions. The blue colours are likely caused by a young stellar population component, and indicates a link between star formation caused by an interaction/merging event and the onset of the nuclear activity. This result is corroborated by stellar population modelling, indicating a presence of young/intermediate age populations in the majority of the sample, in agreement with low redshift quasar hosts. The lack of strong signs of interaction may require a significant time delay between the event with associated star formation episodes and the start of the nuclear activity.
Species undersampling in tropical bat surveys: effects on emerging biodiversity patterns.

Undersampling is commonplace in biodiversity surveys of species-rich tropical assemblages in which rare taxa abound, with possible repercussions for our ability to implement surveys and monitoring programmes in a cost-effective way. We investigated the consequences of information loss due to species undersampling (missing subsets of species from the full species pool) in tropical bat surveys for the emerging patterns of species richness (SR) and compositional variation across sites. For 27 bat assemblage data sets from across the tropics, we used correlations between original data sets and subsets with different numbers of species deleted either at random, or according to their rarity in the assemblage, to assess to what extent patterns in SR and composition in data subsets are congruent with those in the initial data set. We then examined to what degree high sample representativeness (r ≥ 0·8) was influenced by biogeographic region, sampling method, sampling effort or structural assemblage characteristics. For SR, correlations between random subsets and original data sets were strong (r ≥ 0·8) with moderate (ca. 20%) species loss. Bias associated with information loss was greater for species composition; on average ca. 90% of species in random subsets had to be retained to adequately capture among-site variation. For nonrandom subsets, removing only the rarest species (on average c. 10% of the full data set) yielded strong correlations (r > 0·95) for both SR and composition. Eliminating greater proportions of rare species resulted in weaker correlations and large variation in the magnitude of observed correlations among data sets. Species subsets that comprised ca. 85% of the original set can be considered reliable surrogates, capable of adequately revealing patterns of SR and temporal or spatial turnover in many tropical bat assemblages. Our analyses thus demonstrate the potential as well as limitations for reducing survey effort and streamlining sampling protocols, and consequently for increasing the cost-effectiveness in tropical bat surveys or monitoring programmes. The dependence of the performance of species subsets on structural assemblage characteristics (total assemblage abundance, proportion of rare species), however, underscores the importance of adaptive monitoring schemes and of establishing surrogate performance on a site by site basis based on pilot surveys.
Systemic Oxidative Stress and Conversion to Dementia of Elderly Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is regarded as a prodromal phase of late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). It has been proposed that oxidative stress (OxS) might be implicated in the pathogenesis of LOAD. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a redox imbalance measured as serum level of hydroperoxides (i.e., by-products of lipid peroxidation) and/or serum antioxidant capacity might be predictive of the clinical progression of MCI to LOAD. The levels of these two markers were measured in 111 patients with MCI (follow-up: 2.0 ± 0.6 years), 105 patients with LOAD, and 118 nondemented healthy controls. Multivariate analysis adjusted for potential confounding factors, including age, gender, smoking, and comorbidities, showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) in baseline levels of OxS in MCI and LOAD as compared to cognitive healthy controls. No differences in either of OxS markers were found by comparing MCI patients who converted (n = 29) or not converted (n = 82) to LOAD. Overall, these results suggest that systemic OxS might be a precocious feature of MCI and LOAD. However, the role of OxS as an early prognostic marker of progression to LOAD needs further investigations.
Job characteristics, work involvement, and job performance of public servants

Purpose The primary purpose of this study is to assess the predicting role of job characteristics on job performance. Dimensions in the job characteristics construct are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. Further, work involvement is tested as a mediator in the hypothesized link. Design/methodology/approach A total of 256 public servants reported on their job characteristics and work involvement while supervisory ratings were used to assess their level of job performance. SPSS version 14 and AMOS 16 were used for statistical analyses of the data. A hypothesized structural equation model was tested to examine both direct and indirect influence of job characteristics on job performance. Findings The findings revealed that task significance and feedback significantly influence job performance and the relationships are mediated by work involvement. Skill variety, however, has a significant and direct influence on public servants’ job performance. Research limitations/implications The research results have provided support for the key theoretical propositions. Specifically, this study has managed to substantiate some empirical evidences in partial support of the job characteristics theory. Practical implications As for practical implication, the significant and positive impact of skill variety, task significance and feedback on job performance suggests the importance of these job characteristics dimensions in promoting high level of job performance among public servants. Originality/value This study aims to provide additional empirical evidence in support of the job characteristics theory. The theoretical framework of this study managed to substantiate empirical evidence in partial support of the job characteristics theory.
J ENA E CONOMIC R ESEARCH P APERS

So-called open source software (OSS) is marked by free access to the software and its source code. Copyright-based OSS licenses permit users to use, change, improve and re-distribute the software, which is designed and developed in a public, collaborative manner. High quality OSS products like Linux, Apache etc. are developed by thousands of volunteers, who often do not receive direct monetary reward. Thus, OSS seems to be an example of a ‘private provision of a public good’, and some argue that OSS is a ‘new intellectual property paradigm’ for the digital economy. Therefore, OSS has been in the focus of economic research for some years. However, it is still not known which institutional and cultural factors favor OSS development, although the differences of countries in OSS activities can not be solely explained by GDP, education and internet access. For this reason, we perform a cross-country study analyzing how the number of OSS developers per inhabitants and the level of OSS activity of a country depends on institutional and cultural factors. We make use of data about OSS developers registered at SourceForge, and are able to assign 94% of them to their countries. We then run regressions with several institutional and cultural factors. Our findings are that a culture characterized by individualism/self-determination is in favor of OSS. Also, social capital in terms of interpersonal trust has a positive impact on the number of OSS developers as well as on the OSS activity level. The openness to nov-elty is relevant only with respect to scientific progress, i.e. an optimistic view of scientific progress is significantly positive. While the attitude towards competition was never significant, less regulated countries have more OSS activists and activity. Furthermore, the protection of intellectual property rights has (if all) a positive impact. Our study
Certain behaviors: Response selection and certainty-related processing in humans and rhesus monkeys

Humans and other animals constantly evaluate their decisions in order to learn and behave adaptively. Experimentally, such evaluation processes are accessed using metacognitive reports. When made after decisions, metacognitive reports might reflect not only different levels of decision certainty, but also two certainty directions (certainty of being correct and certainty of being incorrect). It is important to test if such bi-directional processing can be measured because, for adaptive decision-making, information about being incorrect is as important as information about being correct. We were able to capture bi-directional certainty readouts by asking subjects to bet money on their perceptual decision accuracy using a six-grade wager scale (post-decision wagering, PDW). To isolate trial-specific aspects of metacognitive judgments, we used pre-decision wagering trials (wagering before the perceptual decision) to subtract, from PDW trials, wagering influences resulting from non-trial-specific assessment of expected difficulty and psychological biases. This novel measure of metacognitive ability allowed independent quantification of certainty of being correct and certainty of being incorrect readouts. Bi-directional certainty readouts were associated with increased sensitivity during wagering in comparison to perceptual decisions (i.e. high metacognitive efficiency), suggesting a link between post-decisional evidence accumulation and metacognitive efficiency. We also show that both readouts increased on easier trials, demonstrating that certainty of being incorrect is not confounded with low certainty. The quantification of bi-directional certainty by the same implicit graded response scale suggests that both readouts represent similar, or even the same, metacognitive process.
Surprising behaviors in flapping locomotion with passive pitching

To better understand the role of wing and fin flexibility in flapping locomotion, we study through experiment and numerical simulation a freely moving wing that can “pitch” passively as it is actively heaved in a fluid. We observe a range of flapping frequencies corresponding to large horizontal velocities, a regime of underperformance relative to a clamped (nonpitching) flapping wing, and a surprising, hysteretic regime in which the flapping wing can move horizontally in either direction (despite left/right symmetry being broken by the specific mode of pitching). The horizontal velocity is shown to peak when the flapping frequency is near the immersed system’s resonant frequency. Unlike for the clamped wing, we find that locomotion is achieved by vertically flapped symmetric wings with even the slightest pitching flexibility, and the system exhibits a continuous departure from the Stokesian regime. The phase difference between the vertical heaving motion and consequent pitching changes continuously with .
Models of Distributed-Shared-Memory on an Interconnection Network for Broadcast Communication

Due to advances in fiber-optics and VLSI technology, interconnection networks which allow multiple simultaneous broadcasts are becoming feasible. This paper examines the performance of distributed-shared-memory (DSM) systems based on the Simultaneous Optical Multiprocessor Exchange Bus (SOME-Bus) using queuing network models and develops theoretical results which predict processor utilization, message latency and other useful measures. It also presents simulation results which compare the performance of the SOME-Bus, the mesh and the torus using queuing-network models. The SOME-Bus is a low-latency, high-bandwidth, fiber-optic interconnection network which directly links arbitrary pairs of processor nodes without contention, and can efficiently interconnect over one hundred nodes. It contains a dedicated channel for the data output of each node, eliminating the need for global arbitration and providing bandwidth that scales directly with the number of nodes in the system. Each of the N nodes has an array of receivers, with one receiver dedicated to each node output channel. No node is ever blocked from transmitting by another transmitter or due to contention for shared switching logic. The entire N-receiver array can be integrated on a single chip at a comparatively minor cost resulting in o(N) complexity. The SOME-Bus has much more functionality than a crossbar by supporting multiple simultaneous broadcasts of messages, allowing cache consistency protocols to complete much faster. The effect of collective communications due to cache coherence is examined. Results reveal that the performance of the SOME-Bus interconnection network is the least affected by large communication times, compared to the other two architectures considered here. Even in the presence of intense coherence traffic, processor utilization and message latency is much less affected than in the other architectures.
Longitudinal Post-High School Outcomes of Young Adults with Learning Disabilities or Emotional/Behavioral Disorders

Abstract Using data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), this study compared the post-high school outcomes of young adults with learning disabilities (LD) or emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) in 1990 and 2005. These cohort comparisons reveal how the results of special education have changed over that time period as evidenced in the post-high school outcomes of nationally representative samples of youth. The extended data collection time period of NLTS2 (2001–2009) also enabled an assessment of the evolution in the post-high school outcomes of young adults with LD or EBD who had been out of high school up to 8 years. The post-high school outcomes considered included high school completion, postsecondary education enrollment and completion, employment status and wages, and community integration as illustrated by living arrangements and criminal justice system involvement. Findings for both the NLTS/NLTS2 cohort comparisons and the longitudinal analyses from NLTS2 indicate progress in efforts to improve outcomes for youth and young adults with LD or EBD but also underscore the work ahead in setting these groups on a path to successful adulthood. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mobile Systems

In this study we propose a uniform framework to carry out functional and performance analysis of mobile systems. In particular, we rely on a recent process calculus suitable to express mobility:-calculus. Since its semantics is given in SOS style, the behaviour of processes is conveniently represented through transition systems: directed and labelled graphs whose nodes are states of the system and whose arcs represent computational steps. Standard techniques to determine functional properties of processes like equivalence of diierent speciications, deadlocks detection and reachability analysis are available and extensively described in the literature. On the other hand, less space has been devoted to the study of quantitative aspects of systems in this framework. We here show how a transition system can be directly mapped into a continuous time Markov chain on which quantitative aspects are studied with standard techniques. The probabilistic information needed to build the generator matrix of the Markov chain are inserted in the syntax of the calculus yielding a stochastic extension of-calculus. As an application of this framework we consider here the Internet protocol (IP) for mobility support.
Temporal discounting in major depressive disorder

Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with abnormalities in financial reward processing. Previous research suggests that patients with MDD show reduced sensitivity to frequency of financial rewards. However, there is a lack of conclusive evidence from studies investigating the evaluation of financial rewards over time, an important aspect of reward processing that influences the way people plan long-term investments. Beck's cognitive model posits that patients with MDD hold a negative view of the future that may influence the amount of resources patients are willing to invest into their future selves. Method We administered a delay discounting task to 82 participants: 29 healthy controls, 29 unmedicated participants with fully remitted MDD (rMDD) and 24 participants with current MDD (11 on medication). Results Patients with current MDD, relative to remitted patients and healthy subjects, discounted large-sized future rewards at a significantly higher rate and were insensitive to changes in reward size from medium to large. There was a main effect of clinical group on discounting rates for large-sized rewards, and discounting rates for large-sized rewards correlated with severity of depressive symptoms, particularly hopelessness. Conclusions Higher discounting of delayed rewards in MDD seems to be state dependent and may be a reflection of depressive symptoms, specifically hopelessness. Discounting distant rewards at a higher rate means that patients are more likely to choose immediate financial options. Such impairments related to long-term investment planning may be important for understanding value-based decision making in MDD, and contribute to ongoing functional impairment.
The 2001 April Burst Activation of SGR 1900+14: X-Ray Afterglow Emission

After nearly two years of quiescence, the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 1900+14 again became burst-active on 2001 April 18, when it emitted a large flare, preceded by few weak and soft short bursts. After having detected the X- and gamma-prompt emission of the flare, BeppoSAX pointed its narrow field X-ray telescopes to the source in less than 8 hr. In this paper we present an analysis of the data from this and from a subsequent BeppoSAX observation, as well as from a set of RXTE observations. Our data show the detection of an X-ray afterglow from the source, most likely related to the large hard X-ray flare. In fact, the persistent flux from the source, in 2-10 keV, was initially found at a level ~5 times higher than the usual value. Assuming an underlying persistent (constant) emission, the decay of the excess flux can be reasonably well described by a t -0.9 law. A temporal feature (a ~ day long bump) is observed in the decay light curve approximately 1 day after the burst onset. This feature is unprecedented in SGR afterglows. We discuss our results in the context of previous observations of this source and derive implications for the physics of these objects.
Examining Cognitive Predictors of Parental Rescue Behavior and Potential Malleability of Behavior Using a Psychoeducation Intervention

Over-controlling parenting practices, particularly parents’ tendency to “rescue” children from experiencing distress, both limit children’s exposure to anxiety-provoking situations and restrict opportunities for development of adaptive coping skills (Barlow, 2002; Suveg et al., 2006). Research is just emerging regarding internal factors, such as maladaptive beliefs about child anxiety, that may lead parents to engage in rescue behavior. Additionally, much of this recent work is limited by its exclusive use of informant-report methodology. A primary goal of the present study was therefore to examine associations between parent beliefs about child anxiety and rescue behavior using an experimental design. Parental rescue behavior was precisely operationalized as the speed at which parents intervened to rescue an increasingly distressed child facing an anxiety-provoking situation, which was presented in an audio clip (Aschenbrand & Kendall, 2012). An additional aim of the present study was to (a) evaluate whether a brief psychoeducational intervention would impact immediate parent behavior during the audio paradigm and (b) examine whether the intervention would interact with parental experiential avoidance, a cognitive factor assumed to be more pliable than longstanding beliefs, to do so. A nonclinical sample of 310 parents was recruited from an online crowdsourcing platform, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The hypothesis that parental negative beliefs about anxiety would relate positively to parents’ speed of rescue in the audio recording was supported. The hypothesis that participants who received psychoeducation versus benign information would delay their rescue response was also supported. The hypothesis that parental experiential avoidance would moderate the association between the intervention and rescue behavior was not supported. However, parental unwillingness to experience child distress, a component of experiential avoidance, was found to relate to parents’ latency to rescue at the trend level. Findings contribute to recent work identifying cognitive factors that contribute to countertherapeutic parent behavior (e.g., Settipani & Kendall, 2015) and indicate the importance of psychoeducation in family-based treatment of child anxiety. Results are discussed in light of research on parent beliefs, behavior, and treatment of anxiety; directions for future research are proposed. INDEX WORDS: Parent beliefs, Parent behavior, Rescue, Psychoeducation, Child anxiety EXAMINING COGNITIVE PREDICTORS OF PARENTAL RESCUE BEHAVIOR AND POTENTIAL MALLEABILITY OF BEHAVIOR USING A PSYCHOEDUCATION INTERVENTION