Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evolution of the dust-to-metals ratio in high-redshift galaxies probed by GRB-DLAs

Context. Several issues regarding the nature of dust at high redshift remain unresolved: its composition, its production and growth mechanisms, and its effect on background sources. Aims. We provide a more accurate relation between dust depletion levels and dust-to-metals ratio (DTM), and to use the DTM to investigate the origin and evolution of dust in the high-redshift Universe via Gamma-ray burst damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (GRB-DLAs). Methods. We use absorption-line measured metal column densities for a total of 19 GRB-DLAs, including five new GRB afterglow spectra from VLT/X-shooter. We use the latest linear models to calculate the dust depletion strength factor in each DLA. Using these values we calculate total dust and metal column densities to determine a DTM. We explore the evolution of DTM with metallicity, and compare it to previous trends in DTM measured with different methods. Results. We find significant dust depletion in 16 of our 19 GRB-DLAs, yet 18 of the 19 have a DTM significantly lower than the Milky Way. We find that DTM is positively correlated with metallicity, which supports a dominant ISM grain-growth mode of dust formation. We find a substantial discrepancy between the dust content measured from depletion and that derived from the total V-band extinction, $A_V$ , measured by fitting the afterglow SED. We advise against using a measurement from one method to estimate that from the other until the discrepancy can be resolved.
Influence of the Void Environment on Chemical Abundances in Dwarf Galaxies and Implications for Connecting Star Formation and Halo Mass

We study how the void environment affects the chemical evolution of galaxies in the universe by comparing the oxygen and nitrogen abundances of dwarf galaxies in voids with dwarf galaxies in denser regions. Using spectroscopic observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we estimate the oxygen, nitrogen, and neon abundances of 889 void dwarf galaxies and 672 dwarf galaxies in denser regions. We use the Direct Te method for calculating the gas-phase chemical abundances in the dwarf galaxies because it is best suited for low-metallicity, low-mass (dwarf) galaxies. A substitute for the [O ii] λ3727 doublet is developed, permitting oxygen abundance estimates of SDSS dwarf galaxies at all redshifts with the Direct Te method. We find that void dwarf galaxies have about the same oxygen abundance and Ne/O ratio as dwarf galaxies in denser environments. However, we find that void dwarf galaxies have slightly higher neon (∼10%) abundances than dwarf galaxies in denser environments. The opposite trend is seen in both the nitrogen abundance and N/O ratio: void dwarf galaxies have slightly lower nitrogen abundances (∼5%) and lower N/O ratios (∼7%) than dwarf galaxies in denser regions. Therefore, we conclude that the void environment has a slight influence on dwarf galaxy chemical evolution. Our mass–N/O relationship shows that the secondary production of nitrogen commences at a lower stellar mass in void dwarf star-forming galaxies than in dwarf star-forming galaxies in denser environments. We also find that star-forming void dwarf galaxies have higher H i masses than the star-forming dwarf galaxies in denser regions. Our star-forming dwarf galaxy sample demonstrates a strong anti-correlation between the sSFR and N/O ratio, providing evidence that oxygen is produced in higher-mass stars than those which synthesize nitrogen. The lower N/O ratios and smaller stellar mass for secondary nitrogen production seen in void dwarf galaxies may indicate both delayed star formation as predicted by ΛCDM cosmology and a dependence of cosmic downsizing on the large-scale environment. A shift toward slightly higher oxygen abundances and higher H i masses in void dwarf galaxies could be evidence of larger ratios of dark matter halo mass to stellar mass in voids compared with denser regions.
First detection of radon progeny recoil tracks by MIMAC

The MIMAC experiment is a μ-TPC project for directional dark matter search. Directional detection strategy is based on the measurement of the WIMP flux anisotropy due to the solar system motion with respect to the dark matter halo. The main purpose of MIMAC project is the measurement of nuclear recoil energy and 3D direction from the WIMP elastic scattering on target nuclei. Since June 2012 a bi-chamber prototype is operating at the Modane underground laboratory. In this paper, we report the first ionization energy and 3D track observations of NRs produced by the radon progeny. This measurement shows the capability of the MIMAC detector and opens the possibility to explore the low energy recoil directionality signature.
EFFECT OF TWO REMINERALIZING AGENTS ON ARTIFICIAL DEMINERALIZED ENAMEL IRRADIATED WITH Er,Cr:YSGG LASER: IN-VITRO STUDY

Background: Dental caries is a widespread, noncommunicable disease affecting half of world’s population. Thus, prevention rather than mere treatment of dental caries has become a decisive goal in dentistry. Therefor the adequacy of laser (Erbium, chromium-doped yttrium, scandium, gallium and garnet) irradiation and remineralizing agent were tested on artificially demineralized enamel. Methodology: Twenty human molars were selected, scaled, polished and sectioned into two equal buccal and lingual sections (n=40). Surfaces were coated with acid resistance nail varnish except for enamel window of 4x4 mm. The specimens were embedded in demineralizing solution for 3 days. They were randomly divided into two groups (n=20) according to type of remineralizing agent, group (MI): MI paste plus and group (RE): Remin Pro. They were applied according to manufacturer’s instructions. The groups were then divided into two subgroups (n=10); groups (MIL) and (REL). In both groups specimens were treated first with Er, Cr: YSGG Laser then remineralizing agents were applied. The weight % of Calcium and Phosphate were measured using EDX. The measurements were done before any treatment (control group), after demineralization and after remineralization. Representative specimens were selected for scanning. Results: The results of the study showed that (MI, RE and MIL) weren’t able to restore the minerals compared to the control group. While REL group was the only group similar to the control group. In addition, the intergroup comparison showed that REL had the highest remineralization compared to other groups. Conclusions: The combined use of laser and remineralizing agents improved enamel remineralization
HIGH- AND LOW-MASS STAR-FORMING REGIONS FROM HIERARCHICAL GRAVITATIONAL FRAGMENTATION. HIGH LOCAL STAR FORMATION RATES WITH LOW GLOBAL EFFICIENCIES

We investigate the properties of “star-forming regions” in a previously published numerical simulation of molecular cloud formation out of compressive motions in the warm neutral atomic interstellar medium, neglecting magnetic fields and stellar feedback. We study the properties (density, total gas + stars mass, stellar mass, velocity dispersion, and star formation rate (SFR)) of the cloud hosting the first local, isolated “star formation” event and compare them with those of the cloud formed by the central, global collapse event. In this simulation, the velocity dispersions at all scales are caused primarily by infall motions rather than by random turbulence. We suggest that the small-scale isolated collapses may be representative of low- to intermediate-mass star-forming regions, with gas masses (Mgas) of hundreds of solar masses, velocity dispersions σv ∼ 0.7 km s−1, and SFRs ∼3 × 10−5 M☉ yr−1, while the large-scale, massive ones may be representative of massive star-forming regions, with Mgas of thousands of solar masses, σv∼ a few km s−1, and SFRs ∼3 × 10−4 M☉ yr−1. We also compare the statistical distributions of the physical properties of the dense cores appearing in the central region of massive collapse with those from a recent survey of the massive star-forming region in the Cygnus X molecular cloud, finding that the observed and simulated distributions are in general very similar. However, we find that the star formation efficiency per free-fall time (SFEff) of the high mass region, similar to that of OMC-1, is low, ∼0.04. In the simulated cloud, this is not a consequence of a “slow” SFR in a nearly hydrostatic cloud supported by turbulence, but rather of the region accreting mass at a high rate. Thus, we find that measuring a low SFEff may be incorrectly interpreted as implying a lifetime much longer than the core's local free-fall time, and an SFR much slower than that given by the free-fall rate, if the accretion is not accounted for. We suggest that rather than requiring a low value of the SFEff everywhere in the Galaxy, attaining a globally low specific SFR requires star formation to be a spatially intermittent process, so that most of the mass in a giant molecular cloud (GMC) is not participating in the SF process at any given time. Locally, the specific SFR of a star-forming region can be much larger than the global GMC's average.
Geographical Indications and Sustainable Development: An Assessment of Four Categories of Products from the Fruit and Vegetable Sector of the Eu

ABSTRACT Although the bibliography on GIs keeps increasing, there is skepticism regarding the impact and effectiveness of GI policy. This paper deals with four categories of products in the fruit and vegetable sector of the PDOs and PGIs of the EU. It examines their relationship with tradition and innovation and assesses their economic, social, and environmental impact using a mixed quantitative and qualitative method. The findings of this study suggest that PDOs/PGIs are anchored to the notion of tradition and exhibit an innovative character. Regarding sustainability, a spectrum of successful/moderately successful/‘failed’ products exist for each sustainability dimension
Generalized nonlocality criteria under the correlation symmetry

The most general class of non-locality criteria for N-partite d-chotomic systems with k number of measurement settings is derived under the constraint of measurement symmetries. It is the complete characterisation of the multi-partite non-locality when the correlation is assumed to be symmetric under the choice of measurement settings. The generalized non-locality condition is obtained using the correlation functions, which are derived from Fourier analysis of probability spectrums. It is found that the condition for the local hidden variable (LHV) model is violated by multipartite quantum states and general constraints for the quantum violation of maximally entangled state has been obtained.
The First APOKASC Catalog of Kepler Dwarf and Subgiant Stars

We present the first APOKASC catalog of spectroscopic and asteroseismic data for dwarfs and subgiants. Asteroseismic data for our sample of 415 objects have been obtained by the Kepler mission in short (58.5 s) cadence, and light curves span from 30 up to more than 1000 days. The spectroscopic parameters are based on spectra taken as part of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment and correspond to Data Release 13 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We analyze our data using two independent scales, the spectroscopic values from DR13 and those derived from SDSS griz photometry. We use the differences in our results arising from these choices as a test of systematic temperature uncertainties and find that they can lead to significant differences in the derived stellar properties. Determinations of surface gravity ( ), mean density ( ), radius (R), mass (M), and age (τ) for the whole sample have been carried out by means of (stellar) grid-based modeling. We have thoroughly assessed random and systematic error sources in the spectroscopic and asteroseismic data, as well as in the grid-based modeling determination of the stellar quantities provided in the catalog. We provide stellar properties determined for each of the two scales. The median combined (random and systematic) uncertainties are 2% (0.01 dex; ), 3.4% ( ), 2.6% (R), 5.1% (M), and 19% (τ) for the photometric scale and 2% ( ), 3.5% ( ), 2.7% (R), 6.3% (M), and 23% (τ) for the spectroscopic scale. We present comparisons with stellar quantities in the asteroseismic catalog by Chaplin et al. that highlight the importance of having metallicity measurements for determining stellar parameters accurately. Finally, we compare our results with those coming from a variety of sources, including stellar radii determined from TGAS parallaxes and asteroseismic analyses based on individual frequencies. We find a very good agreement for all inferred quantities. The latter comparison, in particular, gives strong support to the determination of stellar quantities based on global seismology, a relevant result for future missions such as TESS and PLATO.
ENERGY DEPENDENCE OF SYNCHROTRON X-RAY RIMS IN TYCHO’S SUPERNOVA REMNANT

Several young supernova remnants (SNRs) exhibit thin X-ray bright rims of synchrotron radiation at their forward shocks. Thin rims require strong magnetic field amplification beyond simple shock compression if rim widths are only limited by electron energy losses. But, magnetic field damping behind the shock could produce similarly thin rims with less extreme field amplification. Variation of rim width with energy may thus discriminate between competing influences on rim widths. We measured rim widths around Tycho's SNR in five energy bands using an archival 750 ks Chandra observation. Rims narrow with increasing energy and are well described by either loss-limited or damped scenarios, so X-ray rim width-energy dependence does not uniquely specify a model. But, radio counterparts to thin rims are not loss-limited and better reflect magnetic field structure. Joint radio and X-ray modeling favors magnetic damping in Tycho's SNR with damping lengths ∼1%–5% of remnant radius and magnetic field strengths ∼50–400 μG assuming Bohm diffusion. X-ray rim widths are ∼1% of remnant radius, somewhat smaller than inferred damping lengths. Electron energy losses are important in all models of X-ray rims, suggesting that the distinction between loss-limited and damped models is blurred in soft X-rays. All loss-limited and damping models require magnetic fields ≳20 μG, affirming the necessity of magnetic field amplification beyond simple compression.
The capture of dark matter particles through the evolution of low-mass stars

We studied the rate at which stars capture dark matter (DM) particles, considering different assumptions regarding the DM characteristics and, in particular, investigating how the stellar physics influences the capture rate. Two scenarios were considered: first, we assumed the maximal values for the spin-dependent and spin-independent DM particle-nucleon scattering cross sections allowed by the limits from direct detection experiments. Second, we considered that both scattering cross sections are of the same order, with the aim of studying the dependencies of the capture rate on stellar elements other than hydrogen. We found that the characteristics of the capture rate are very different in the two scenarios. Furthermore, we quantified the uncertainties on the computed capture rate (C{sub {chi}}) and on the ratio between the luminosities from DM annihilations and thermonuclear reactions (L{sub {chi}}/L{sub nuc}) derived from an imprecise knowledge of the stellar structure and DM parameters. For instance, while an uncertainty of 10% on the typical DM velocity leads to similar errors on the computed C{sub {chi}} and L{sub {chi}}/L{sub nuc}, the same uncertainty on the stellar mass becomes more relevant and duplicates the errors. Our results may be used to evaluate the reliability of the computed capture rate for themore » hypothetical use of stars other than the Sun as DM probes. « less
Discontinuous structure of regional and subregional urban systems: Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France (1800–2015)

In the prevailing literature in urban economics, conducting research on urban systems at the national scale tends to provide an elegant but reductive approach to the functioning of these systems, assuming, in particular, that city size distributions are continuous. Based on an alternative framework drawing from research in ecology and complex adaptive systems, this article questions this approach by testing the discontinuity hypothesis within regional urban systems in France using two methods and long-term census data (1800–2015). We found that the distribution of city sizes over the 200+ years of population data from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region was discontinuous for every year of data. The distributions consist of groups of similarly sized cities, separated by gaps (discontinuities) where there are no cities at all. The location and number of discontinuities were conservative over time, suggesting that the processes shaping size classes are conservative and largely independent of societal disturbances such as wars. The two methods used to identify discontinuities were highly congruent. Finally, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region is comprised of three former regions, Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes, each of which also had discontinuous city size distributions with conservative structures over time. The study results question the traditional expectations about the growth and development of urban systems.
Estimation of starting times of quasi-normal modes in ringdown gravitational waves with the Hilbert-Huang transform

It is known that a quasinormal mode (QNM) of a remnant black hole dominates a ringdown gravitational wave (GW) in a binary black hole (BBH) merger. To study properties of the QNMs, it is important to determine the time when the QNMs appear in a GW signal as well as to calculate its frequency and amplitude. In this paper, we propose a new method of estimating the starting time of the QNM and calculating the QNM frequency and amplitude of BBH GWs. We apply it to simulated merger waveforms by numerical relativity and the observed data of GW150914. The results show that the obtained QNM frequencies and time evolutions of amplitudes are consistent with the theoretical values within 1% accuracy for pure waveforms free from detector noise. In addition, it is revealed that there is a correlation between the starting time of the QNM and the spin of the remnant black hole. In the analysis of GW150914, we show that the parameters of the remnant black hole estimated through our method are consistent with those given by LIGO and a reasonable starting time of the QNM is determined.
GALAXY DISKS DO NOT NEED TO SURVIVE IN THE ΛCDM PARADIGM: THE GALAXY MERGER RATE OUT TO z ∼ 1.5 FROM MORPHO-KINEMATIC DATA

About two-thirds of present-day, large galaxies are spirals such as the Milky Way or Andromeda, but the way their thin rotating disks formed remains uncertain. Observations have revealed that half of their progenitors, six billion years ago, had peculiar morphologies and/or kinematics, which exclude them from the Hubble sequence. Major mergers, i.e., fusions between galaxies of similar mass, are found to be the likeliest driver for such strong peculiarities. However, thin disks are fragile and easily destroyed by such violent collisions, which creates a critical tension between the observed fraction of thin disks and their survival within the ΛCDM paradigm. Here, we show that the observed high occurrence of mergers among their progenitors is only apparent and is resolved when using morpho-kinematic observations that are sensitive to all the phases of the merging process. This provides an original way of narrowing down observational estimates of the galaxy merger rate and leads to a perfect match with predictions by state-of-the-art ΛCDM semi-empirical models with no particular fine-tuning needed. These results imply that half of local thin disks do not survive but are actually rebuilt after a gas-rich major merger occurring in the past nine billion years, i.e., two-thirds of the lifetime of the universe. This emphasizes the need to study how thin disks can form in halos with a more active merger history than previously considered and to investigate what is the origin of the gas reservoir from which local disks would reform.
$P-V$ criticality of charged dilatonic black holes

In this paper, we investigate the critical behavior of charged black holes of Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity in the presence of two Liouville-type potentials which make the solution asymptotically neither flat nor AdS and has a parameter $% \Lambda $ treated as a thermodynamic quantity that can vary. We obtain a Smarr-type relation for charged dilatonic black holes and find out that the volume is different from the geometrical volume. We study the analogy of the Van der Waals liquid-gas system with the charged dilatonic black hole system while we treat the black hole charge as a fixed external parameter. Moreover, we show that the critical values for pressure, temperature and volume are physical provided the coupling constant of dilaton gravity is less than one and the horizon is sphere. Finally, we calculate the critical exponents and show that they are universal and are independent of the details of the system although the thermodynamic quantities depend on the dilaton parameter and the dimension of the spacetime.
Decoupling of magnetic fields in collapsing protostellar envelopes and disc formation and fragmentation

Efficient magnetic braking is a formidable obstacle to the formation of rotationally supported disks (RSDs) around protostars in magnetized dense cores. We have previously shown, through 2D (axisymmetric) non-ideal MHD simulations, that removing very small grains (VSGs: ~10 \AA$~$to few 100 \AA) can greatly enhance ambipolar diffusion and enable the formation of RSDs. Here we extend the simulations of disk formation enabled by VSG removal to 3D. We find that the key to this scenario of disk formation is that the drift velocity of the magnetic field almost cancels out the infall velocity of the neutrals in the $10^2$-$10^3$ AU-scale "pseudo-disk" where the field lines are most severely pinched and most of protostellar envelope mass infall occurs. As a result, the bulk neutral envelope matter can collapse without dragging much magnetic flux into the disk-forming region, which lowers the magnetic braking efficiency. We find that the initial disks enabled by VSG removal tend to be Toomre-unstable, which leads to the formation of prominent spiral structures that function as centrifugal barriers. The piling-up of infall material near the centrifugal barrier often produces dense fragments of tens of Jupiter masses, especially in cores that are not too strongly magnetized. Some fragments accrete onto the central stellar object, producing bursts in mass accretion rate. Others are longer lived, although whether they can survive long-term to produce multiple systems remains to be ascertained. Our results highlight the importance of dust grain evolution in determining the formation and properties of protostellar disks and potentially multiple systems.