Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaming up with temps: the impact of temporary workers on team social networks and effectiveness

ABSTRACT Temporary workers offer immediate benefits to the bottom line; yet, it is unclear how incorporating temporary workers into teams affects how they function. We apply social identity theory to propose that temporary workers significantly reduce individual- and team-level networks and team effectiveness but that commitment to the leader and intergroup competition can help temporary and permanent employees work together more effectively. Using a sample of employees nested in teams (Study 1, n = 312), we found that status differences affected member interactions resulting in sparser advice and friendship networks for temporary workers compared to their permanent counterparts. At the team level (Study 2, n = 58), these team member differences or contract diversity impacted team functioning through advice networks, such that, teams with greater contract diversity had sparser networks and were less effective. Further, commitment to the leader was found to moderate the negative impact of contract diversity on advice and friendship network density. With the increasing use of temporary worker and the prevalent use of teams, these findings have broader implications for HR functions and present possible avenues to mitigate the negative consequences of temporary workers.
Analysing Bidding Trends in Online Auctions

Online auctions such as eBay are becoming increasingly more important mechanisms for people to buy and sell items online. In general, e-commerce is becoming fundamental to transacting business around the globe. With the added convenience of online transactions also comes the risk of electronic fraud. Although companies such as eBay have operated for the last 10 - 15 years, very little auction data has been collected and made publicly available or analysed, to the knowledge of the authors. Before any assertions about the amount of fraud in online auctions can be made, the underlying nature and structure of online auctions must be understood. In this paper we present definitions of a good auction from the viewpoints of the stake holders of the auction (e.g., bidder, seller, auctioneer, etc.) and then provide an analysis of auction data methodically collected from live eBay auctions. We collected data from 1005 auctions for three commonly available electronic devices. We show that the number of bids per auction is independent of the duration of the auction, and that the proportion of proxy bids is also approximately constant, for the duration of the auction. However, the final bid price achieved during the auction is shown to be related to the duration. Although these results are preliminary, we believe that they provide a significant insight into online auction behaviour.
The Evolution of Teacher Conceptions of STEM Education Throughout an Intensive Professional Development Experience

ABSTRACT National reform documents are calling for an upsurge in the development of integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula to simultaneously increase the number of kindergarten through Grade 12 (K–12) students involved in STEM-related coursework and increase the competitiveness of the United States in the STEM-related workforce. With this emphasis on the development of STEM curricula, there is also a need to improve the understanding of education professionals as to what teachers’ conceptions of integrated STEM currently are. This study explored how teachers’ conceptions of integrated STEM developed over the course of a 3-week-long summer professional development whose focus was on bringing integrated STEM education to science classrooms. Our findings revealed a total of 8 distinct conceptions as represented by teachers’ drawn models that shifted in usage over the course of the 3 weeks. Overall, these conceptions started as simple models that grew to more complex models. These findings provide insight into (a) how K–12 science teachers conceptualize STEM integration and (b) how, if at all, these conceptions change over the course of a professional development program. Our findings also indicate the sensitive nature of conceptions of STEM integration that can be influenced by professional development experiences.
Numerical modelling of two‐dimensional and axisymmetric gravity currents

A series of two‐dimensional (2D), axisymmetric and three‐dimensional (3D) numerical flow simulations using an implicit large Eddy simulation (ILES) are carried out for gravity‐driven fluid flows. The results are compared directly with experiments undertaken to test the model. Two‐dimensional results show that the Large Eddy algorithm is successful in modelling a gravity current's large scale structure. Examination of the 3D results shows that macroscopic features of the flow (the lobe and cleft instability) observed at the interface between the light and dense fluid are also modelled well. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychological processes linking organizational commitment and change-supportive intentions

Purpose With employees’ support of organizational changes being vital for today’s organizations, the purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of how organizational commitment is linked to change-supportive intentions. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB, Ajzen, 1991), mediated effects of affective organizational commitment were empirically tested to explore the underlying psychological processes. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted in the context of a complex change process at a production facility of a large international manufacturing company (n=667). Data from the change survey were analyzed employing Hayes’ (2012) PROCESS macro. Findings The results showed that organizational commitment relates to change-supportive intentions directly and, as suggested by the TPB, its effects are mediated via change-related attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Furthermore, results suggest additional effects of change recipients’ age and occupational status. Practical implications Employing the TPB offers specific insights for tailored interventions to create conditions facilitating organizational changes. The results indicate that commitment lays the ground for employees’ change reactions. Moreover, the psychological processes suggested by the TPB serve as additional levers for explaining change-supportive intentions. Originality/value The study provides valuable information on the relationship between commitment and change-supportive intentions. Specifically, affective organizational commitment is shown to be an important resource in times of change, as it relates to more positive psychological reactions to change.
Transient dwarfism of soil fauna during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum

Soil organisms, as recorded by trace fossils in paleosols of the Willwood Formation, Wyoming, show significant body-size reductions and increased abundances during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Paleobotanical, paleopedologic, and oxygen isotope studies indicate high temperatures during the PETM and sharp declines in precipitation compared with late Paleocene estimates. Insect and oligochaete burrows increase in abundance during the PETM, suggesting longer periods of soil development and improved drainage conditions. Crayfish burrows and molluscan body fossils, abundant below and above the PETM interval, are significantly less abundant during the PETM, likely because of drier floodplain conditions and lower water tables. Burrow diameters of the most abundant ichnofossils are 30–46% smaller within the PETM interval. As burrow size is a proxy for body size, significant reductions in burrow diameter suggest that their tracemakers were smaller bodied. Smaller body sizes may have resulted from higher subsurface temperatures, lower soil moisture conditions, or nutritionally deficient vegetation in the high-CO2 atmosphere inferred for the PETM. Smaller soil fauna co-occur with dwarf mammal taxa during the PETM; thus, a common forcing mechanism may have selected for small size in both above- and below-ground terrestrial communities. We predict that soil fauna have already shown reductions in size over the last 150 years of increased atmospheric CO2 and surface temperatures or that they will exhibit this pattern over the next century. We retrodict also that soil fauna across the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic boundary events show significant size decreases because of similar forcing mechanisms driven by rapid global warming.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) A catalogue of low-mass X-ray binaries

We present a catalogue of low-mass X-ray binaries. The catalogue is an updated version of the catalogue of van Paradijs (1995). This new catalogue contains 150 sources, 31 new low-mass X-ray binaries in addition to the 119 sources listed in van Paradijs’ catalogue. The aim of this catalogue is to help the reader gain easy access to the recent literature (up to about August 2000) on individual sources, and to provide of some basic information on the X-ray sources and their counterparts in other wavelength ranges (UV, optical, IR, and radio). In cases where there is some doubt about the low-mass nature of the X-ray binary, this is mentioned. In an appendix we list the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs), which nowadays are no longer thought to be low-mass X-ray binaries.
RODOS and decision conferencing on early phase protective actions in Finland

This work was undertaken in order to study the utilisation of decision conferencing and of the RODOS system when considering early phase protective actions in the case of a nuclear accident. Altogether four meetings with various people were organised. The meetings were attended by competent national safety authorities and technical level decision-makers, i.e., those who are responsible for preparing advice or making presentations of matters for decision-makers responsible for practical implementation of actions. In the first set of meetings the aim was to elicit the factors/attributes that have to be considered when making a decision on sheltering, evacuation and iodine tablets. No uncertainties nor a threat phase were considered but everything was assumed to happen as described in the given scenario. The theme in the second set of meetings was to study the implications of probabilities. All information was calculated with the support of the RODOS system. In the early phases of a nuclear accident time is limited. Prestructured generic value trees or a list of possible attributes can help to save time. A possible approach is to present a large generic value tree. Either the decision-makers select the attributes that are suitable for the case in hand or the facilitator offers a choice between more structured value trees. The decisionmakers then just examine the suggested value trees, check the generic tree to make sure that no important factors have been omitted and choose the appropriate one. As in previous RODOS exercises, the participants felt that RODOS could be used for providing information but found it more problematic to use decision analysis methods when deciding on countermeasures in the early phase of a nuclear accident. Furthermore, it was noted that understanding the actual meaning of ‘soft’ attributes, such as socio-psychological impacts or political cost, was not a straightforward issue. Consequently, the definition of attributes in advance would be beneficial. The incorporation of uncertainties also proved to be difficult. The participants felt uneasy about probabilities and they focused rather on the worst possible consequences of the accident. All in all the results from this study are promising. Further meetings, however, have to be organised in order to deepen insight into the features of the decision-making process in the early phases of an accident and to familiarise decision-makers with decision analysis techniques. And more research is needed on how to implement decision conferencing in nuclear emergency management.
Bacteria Hunt: A multimodal, multiparadigm BCI game

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) allow users to control applications by brain activity. Among their possible applications for non-disabled people, games are promising candidates. BCIs can enrich game play by the mental and affective state information they contain. During the eNTERFACE’09 workshop we developed the Bacteria Hunt game which can be played by keyboard and BCI, using SSVEP and relative alpha power. We conducted experiments in order to investigate what difference positive vs. negative neurofeedback would have on subjects’ relaxation states and how well the different BCI paradigms can be used together. We observed no significant difference in mean alpha band power, thus relaxation, and in user experience between the games applying positive and negative feedback. We also found that alpha power before SSVEP stimulation was significantly higher than alpha power during SSVEP stimulation indicating that there is some interference between the two BCI paradigms.
Relationship of Oxidative Stress in Hepatitis B Infection Activity with HBV DNA and Fibrosis

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate oxidative stress in various clinical forms of hepatitis B infection and to investigate its role in the development of the chronic form of the disease. Methods Ninety-three patients with inactive hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg) carrier state (IHBCS), 65 patients with chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB), and 42 healthy adults were included in the study. The following values were measured and compared in patient groups: total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidative stress (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI), sulfhydryl (SH), lipid peroxidation (LOOH), catalase (CAT), and ceruloplasmin. In patients with chronic hepatitis B, these values were compared with HBV DNA and fibrosis levels. Results ALT, TOS, LOOH, and OSI levels were higher in the CHB group compared to the other groups (P<0.001). Catalase levels increased in the CHB and IHBCS groups compared to the control group (P<0.001). Total aminooxidant and ceruloplasmin levels were found to be lowest in the CHB group and highest in the control group (P<0.001). Sulfhyrdyl was higher in the control group compared to the other groups (P<0.001). In the CHB group, there was no correlation between the HBV DNA and OSI (P>0.05). Conclusions These finding suggested that oxidative stress is associated with hepatitis B activity.
Revocable Attribute-based Key Agreement Protocol without Random Oracles

In this paper, we present a two-party attribute-based key agreement protocol, which is secure in the standard model (without random oracle s ), under the truncated decision q-ABDHE assumption. Then we give a modified version of this scheme, in which the users can be revoked efficiently. The attribute-based key agreement protocol is based on the attribute-based encryption scheme, which is a generalization of identity-based cryptosystems, incorporates attributes as inputs to its cryptographic primitives. These kinds of schemes not only preserve the advantages of traditional identity-based key agreement protocol, but also provide some new properties, such as hiding the identity information of the individual, increasing the flexibility of key management, and providing efficient means to revoke users from the system.
The climate time scale in the approach to radiative‐convective equilibrium

In this paper, we discuss the importance of the surface boundary condition (fixed versus interactive surface temperature) for the long time scale of approach to Radiative‐Convective Equilibrium (RCE). Using a simple linearized two‐variable model for surface‐atmosphere interaction, we derive an analytic expression for τC, a long climate relaxation time scale that remains well defined and much longer than either mixing time scale of Tompkins and Craig (1998b), even in the limit that the heat capacity of the surface vanishes. We show that the size of τC is an intrinsic property of the coupling between the atmosphere and surface, and not a result of the thermal inertia of the surface alone. When the surface heat capacity is low, τC can be several times longer than expected, due to the effects of moisture on the effective heat capacity of the atmosphere. We also show that the theoretical expression for τC is a good predictor of best fit exponential relaxation time scales in a single‐column model with full physics, across a range of surface temperatures and surface heat capacities.
A Test for Comprehension of False Belief in Chimpanzees

Four chimpanzees, 11 autistic adults and 41 children aged 3-6 years old were tested on a nonverbal mechanical analogue of a false belief task under two conditions (true belief and false belief). The task was first benchmarked against a conventional false belief task (the Smartie task) using the children and the autistic subjects. The children and the autistic subjects exhibited the classic results on both tasks: all were able to cope with true belief tasks, but only the oldest children were able to cope with false belief tasks. Taken as a whole, the chimpanzees performed significantly better than the autistic subjects and were not significantly worse than 4-5 year children on the mechanical analogue task. However, only one chimpanzee performed at significantly better than chance levels on both versions of the mechanical analogue task. We infer from these results that chimpanzees' mentalising abilities are, at best, equivalent to those of human children around the age at which they just begin to acquire theory of mind.
Emergent Readers and the Joy of Reading: A Finnish Perspective

Good reading skills are an essential part of everyday life. This article presents two Finnish projects JEKKU (2010-2011) and LUKUINTO (2012-2015) that aim to enhance children’s engagement and success in reading. The research results of these studies are described in this article from three perspectives: reading skills, reading materials, and reading interventions. The main aim of this article is to highlight how helping children to read and enjoy reading is not complicated. Our studies show that children who are interested in what they read, and experience pleasure and success while reading, are provided with comfortable reading places and enough time to concentrate on reading, read more and become confident readers. The basics of reading skills and the attitudes towards reading are created in the early years, so it is important to concentrate on making these reading experiences more interesting and enjoyable for all young children. This article is not a traditional research article, but collects the results of the two projects together and strives to give concrete tools for reading enhancement to all educators.
Adaptive resource allocation for embedded parallel applications

Parallel and distributed computer architectures are increasingly being considered for application in a wide variety of computationally intensive embedded systems. Many such applications impose highly dynamic demands for resources (processors, memory, and communication network), because their computations are data-dependent, or because the applications must constantly interact with a rapidly changing physical environment, or because the applications themselves are adaptive. This paper presents a set of dynamic resource allocation techniques aimed at maintaining high levels of application performance in the presence of varying resource demands. It focuses on a class of applications structured as multiple pipelines of data-parallel stages, as this structure is common to many sensor-based applications. We discuss the issues involved in resource management for such applications, and present preliminary results from our implementations on Intel Paragon. Our approach uses feedback control-a real-time monitoring system is used to detect significant performance shortfalls, and resources are reallocated among the application components in an attempt to improve performance. The main contribution of this work is that it combines real-time monitoring of an application's performance with dynamic resource allocation, and focuses on practical implementations rather than simulation and analysis.
Optimization of Dynamic Matching Models

The bipartite matching model was born in the work of Gale and Shapley, who proposed the stable marriage problem in the 1960s. In this paper we consider a dynamic setting, modeled as a multi-class queueing network or MDP model. The goal is to compute a policy for the matching model that is optimal in the average cost sense. Computation of an optimal policy is not possible in general, but we obtain insight by considering relaxations. The main technical result is a form of \heavy trac" asymptotic optimality. For a parameterized family of models in which the network load approaches capacity, a variant of the MaxWeight policy is approximately optimal, with bounded regret, even though the average cost grows without bound. Numerical results demonstrate that the policies introduced in this paper typically have much lower cost when compared to polices considered in prior work.
Effect of palmitic acid and linoleic acid on expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in human bone marrow endothelial cells (HBMECs)

Introduction The amount and type of fatty acids (FAs) in the diet influence the risk of atherosclerosis. Palmitic acid and linoleic acid exist at high levels in Iranian edible oils. In this study, we investigated the effect of palmitic acid and linoleic acid on expression of soluble and cell-associated forms of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in human bone marrow endothelial cells (HBMECs). Material and methods The endothelial cells were induced with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and thereafter incubated with palmitic or linoleic acid. The level of soluble and cell-associated VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 were analyzed using ELISA and western blot. Results Our findings indicated that palmitic acid up-regulates the expression of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in HBMECs when these cells are induced with TNF-α or LPS. In addition, the results suggest that linoleic acid could sustain up-regulated ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 in activated endothelial cells. Conclusions Chronic activation of endothelial cells in the presence of palmitic and linoleic may account for pathogenesis of cardiovascular events. These findings provide further support for the detrimental effects of these fatty acids, especially palmitic acid, in promotion and induction of cardiovascular diseases which are prevalent in the Iranian population.
School Racial Climate and Academic Outcomes in African American Adolescents: The Protective Role of Peers

Using a risk and resilience framework, the current investigation explored the relationship between school racial climate and academic outcomes among African American adolescents. Additionally, this study examined whether positive peer characteristics (e.g., peer support; peer academic values) were a protective factor for African American youth who reported perceiving a negative school racial climate. Participants were 126 middle school students (65% female), ranging in age from 11 to 15 years, who resided in the Midwestern region of the United States. Moderating relationships partially supported hypotheses. Findings revealed that peer values moderated the association between interracial interactions and African American adolescents’ academic values, as well as the relationship between fairness and racial equity and classroom effort. Results suggest that peer academic values may be an important contextual factor for understanding the association between school racial climate and academic outcomes. Implications of findings for prevention programming are discussed.