Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributional Effects of Net Metering Policies and Residential Solar Plus Behind-the-meter Storage Adoption

Net metering schemes (NEM), typically implemented to incentivize investment on distributed energy resources (DER), could be regressive, given that DER adopters in the U.S. are wealthier on average than non-adopters and due to the possibility that DER owners shift certain costs onto passive customers. By using a dataset containing close to 100,000 customers’ half-hourly load data and income quintiles from Chicago, IL, we simulate the operation of residential solar and behind-the-meter battery systems under 20%, 45% and 70% adoption levels and calculate both resulting bills for every client in the dataset, as well as cost shifts arising from the combination of NEM and the allocation of network and policy costs (i.e., residual costs) through volumetric charges (i.e., in $/kWh). Additionally, we consider different tariff designs. Results show that the combination of NEM schemes and recovery of residual costs through volumetric charges may cause important cost shifting effects from DER adopters onto non-adopters, rising equity and fairness concerns. Firstly, under NEM schemes, we calculate that adopter customers may, on average, obtain bill reductions of 71% when installing solar or solar plus storage, whereas non-adopters can see their bills increased 18% in high DER penetration scenarios (i.e., 45% penetration). Moreover, under the same NEM schemes, 45% adoption and considering solar plus storage adoption alone, we calculate that customers from the two lowest income quintiles may suffer bill increases in the 16-19% range on average, while removing NEM schemes reduces these increases to the 11-12% range.
QPEP: An Actionable Approach to Secure and Performant Broadband From Geostationary Orbit

—Satellite broadband services are critical infrastructures, bringing connectivity to the most remote regions of the globe. However, due to performance concerns, many geostation-ary satellite broadband services are unencrypted and vulnerable to long-range eavesdropping attacks. This paper delves into the underlying cause of these issues, presenting the case that the widespread use of Performance Enhancing Proxies (PEPs) for TCP optimization has created a security/performance trade-off. A review of previous mitigation proposals ﬁnds limited real-world adoption due to a variety of factors ranging from misaligned commercial incentives to the prevalence of unveriﬁed “black-box” encryption products. To address these shortcomings, we design and implement a fully open-source and encrypted-by-default PEP/VPN hybrid, called QPEP. Built around the QUIC standard, QPEP enables individuals to encrypt satellite trafﬁc without ISP involvement. Additionally, we present an open and replicable Docker-based testbed for benchmarking QPEP, and other PEP applications, through simulation. These experiments show that QPEP enables satellite customers to encrypt their TCP trafﬁc with up to 72% faster page load times (PLTs) compared to traditional VPN encryption. Even relative to other unencrypted PEPs, QPEP offers up to 54% faster PLTs while also protecting communications in transit. We brieﬂy discuss how QPEP might leverage bespoke modiﬁcations to the QUIC protocol for further optimization. Ultimately, our experiments suggest that QPEP’s hybrid architecture represents a promising new technique for bringing both security and performance to satellite broadband while avoiding costly alterations to status-quo networks.
Virtual origins in turbulent flows over complex surfaces

The effect of tangential slip and wall-normal transpiration on turbulent flows over different complex surfaces is investigated. For small texture sizes, we observe that the change in drag over both drag-increasing and -decreasing surfaces can be expressed as a linear function of the difference in virtual origins perceived by the mean flow and the turbulence, as anticipated by the theory. Turbulence over these surfaces remains smooth-wall-like, albeit with the position of the notional wall shifted to the virtual origin of turbulence. For texture sizes in this linear regime, the surfaces can be modeled using homogeneous Robin boundary conditions. For larger texture sizes, where drag-degrading effects such as Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities occur, we present preliminary work to model them using an impedance boundary condition between the wall-normal velocity and the pressure.
BEHAVIOR OF A COMPOSITE ENDOMYCORRHIZAL INOCULUM IN THE RHIZOSPHERE OF FIVE MYCOTROPHIC SPECIES

This work reports the results of the evolution of a composite inoculum containing 70 species in the rhizosphere of five mycotrophic plant species namely beans, maize, barley, wheat, and sorghum. The number of endomycorrhizal species isolated is respectively as follows: 19, 12, 11, 13, 12, one month after their inoculation. Analysis of the spores’ communities of endomycorrhizal fungi found in these mycotrophic species rhizosphere showed the dominance of Glomus intraradices, Gigaspora sp1, Glomus versiforme and Acaulospora sp1. Moreover, the comparison between the AM fungi of the initial inoculum species (70 species) and those isolated revealed the appearance of 10 species and the disappearance of 51. However, 19 species are faithful and capable of maintaining a constant activity with the roots of the plants studied.
K-12 teachers’ remote teaching self-efficacy during the pandemic

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between factors in the extended technology acceptance model (TAM) model and teachers' self-efficacy in remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the authors sought to listen to classroom teachers as they expressed their unbiased views of the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of teaching remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachA survey was employed to examine the relationship between factors in the extended TAM model and teachers' self-efficacy in remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic using the 49-item questionnaire. A multiple regression analysis using a stepwise procedure was used to examine the relationship between factors in the extended TAM model and teachers' self-efficacy. Three open-ended questions closely examined remote teaching during the pandemic, related to challenges, advantages and disadvantages.FindingsQualitative findings challenges included Internet connection, lack of interaction and communication and challenges with motivation and student engagement. Disadvantages included teachers’ level of self-efficacy in using technology to teach, lack of support and resources to teach online and the struggle to motivate and engage students. Perceived benefits included flexibility for the teacher and differentiation, rich resources and a way to support learners when in-person instruction is not possible.Research limitations/implicationsThe data suggest that instead, during COVID-19, many teachers were learning about the platforms simultaneously as they were instructing students.Practical implicationsTo ensure quality remote instruction and that students receive the support to make instruction equitable, teachers need to perceive that their instructional technology needs are met to focus on teaching, learning and needs of their students.Social implicationsTeachers need opportunities to explore the platforms and to experience success in this environment before they are exposed to the high stakes of preparing students to meet K-12 standards.Originality/valueInstructional delivery has not explored teacher motivational and instructional teaching self-efficacy related to satisfaction with the learning management system (LMS).
Cyber dating abuse : a study of social representations with Brazilian university students

The present study aimed at apprehending the social representations (SR) of Brazilian university students about digital Cyber Dating Abuse (CDA). A total of 447 participants participated in the study, responding to the Free Word Association Technique and the Cyber Dating Abuse Questionnaire (CDAQ). The data pointed to a high prevalence of involvement in CDA, both in victimization (87.6% control / monitoring, 34.7%, direct aggression); (92.6% control/monitoring, 25.1%, direct aggression). In addition, the results indicated that the structuring elements of SR were anchored in contemporary relational uncertainty and the conception of dominance within intimate relationships. Concerning the evocations of the peripheral nucleus, CDA was anchored in the violation of the rights to privacy and its causes and consequences, permeating psycho-affective and social aspects. Finally, the data revealed that "jealousy" presents itself as the central and organizing element of RS of this phenomenon, motivating abusive virtual actions.
Preprocedural Ultrasound Guidance for Combined Spinal-Epidural Anesthesia Results in Better Success Rates in Elderly Patients with Hip Fracture: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Combined spinal-epidural (CSE) anesthesia is considerably challenging for elderly patients with hip fractures. This study aimed to investigate the ability of a modified preprocedural ultrasound-guided technique to improve the success rate and efficacy of CSE anesthesia for elderly patients with hip fractures. Methods: This prospective, single-blind, parallel-group randomized controlled trial included 80 patients (aged ≥ 65 years) who were scheduled for elective hip fracture surgery with CSE anesthesia. Patients were randomly allocated into either the landmark group (n = 40) or the ultrasound group (n = 40). The primary outcome was first-pass success rate. Secondary outcomes included first-attempt success rate; number of needle insertion attempts; number of needle passes; locating, puncture, and total time; level of block; procedural adverse reactions and postoperative complications; and patient satisfaction score. Patients were blinded to group allocation.Results: All patients,40 in each group, completed the study and were included in the final analysis. The first-pass success rates for the landmark and ultrasound groups were 20% and 70%, respectively (P < 0.001). The first-attempt success rates in the landmark and ultrasound groups were 42.5% and 85%, respectively (P < 0.001). The number of needle insertion attempts and passes in the landmark group were 2 (1, 2) and 3 (2, 4), respectively; values of 1 (1, 1) and 1 (1, 2) were documented for the ultrasound group (median [interquartile range], all P < 0.001). The locating time (P < 0.001) and total time (P = 0.001) were longer in the ultrasound group, while puncture time was shorter (P = 0.003). No significant difference was found regarding the incidence of adverse reactions and complications. More patients in the ultrasound group had a satisfaction score of 4–5 (P = 0.007). Subgroup analysis demonstrated benefits for ultrasound in patients with scoliosis.Conclusions: Modified ultrasound-assisted CSE anesthesia increases first-pass and first-attempt success rates, and reduces needle insertion attempts, passes, and puncture time for elderly patients with hip fracture, especially those with scoliosis. This technique improves patient satisfaction and warrants consideration for application in clinical practice.Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Register, ChiCTR1900020819. Registered January 20, 2019, http://www.chictr. org.cn/showprojen.aspx? proj=34634
The 450 Day X-Ray Monitoring of the Changing-look AGN 1ES 1927+654

1ES 1927+654 is a nearby active galactic nucleus (AGN) that underwent a changing-look event in early 2018, developing prominent broad Balmer lines that were absent in previous observations. We have followed up this object in the X-rays with an ongoing campaign that started in 2018 May and that includes 265 NICER (for a total of 678 ks) and 14 Swift/XRT (26 ks) observations, as well as three simultaneous XMM-Newton/NuSTAR (158/169 ks) exposures. In the X-rays, 1ES 1927+654 shows a behavior unlike any previously known AGN. The source is extremely variable both in spectral shape and flux and does not show any correlation between X-ray and UV flux on timescales of hours or weeks/months. After the outburst, the power-law component almost completely disappeared, and the source showed an extremely soft continuum dominated by a blackbody component. The temperature of the blackbody increases with the luminosity, going from kT ∼ 80 eV (for a 0.3–2 keV luminosity of L 0.3−2 ∼ 1041.5 erg s−1) to ∼200 eV (for L 0.3−2 ∼ 1044 erg s−1). The spectra show evidence of ionized outflows and of a prominent feature at ∼1 keV, which can be reproduced by a broad emission line. The unique characteristics of 1ES 1927+654 in the X-ray band suggest that it belongs to a new type of changing-look AGN. Future X-ray surveys might detect several more objects with similar properties.
Quantum Spin-Valley Hall Kink States: From Concept to Realization

Tong Zhou,1, ∗ Shuguang Cheng,2 Hua Jiang,3 Zhongqin Yang,4 and Igor Žutić1, † 1Department of Physics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA 2Department of Physics, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China 3School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China 4State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences (MOE) and Department of Physics and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China (Dated: February 12, 2021)
Holographic entanglement negativity for a single subsystem in conformal field theories with a conserved charge

We utilize a holographic construction to compute the entanglement negativity for bipartite mixed state configurations of a single subsystem in CFTd s with a conserved charge dual to bulk AdSd+1 geometries. In this context, we obtain the holographic entanglement negativity for single subsystems with long rectangular strip geometries in CFTd s with a conserved charge dual to bulk non extremal and extremal Reissner–Nordström (RN)- AdSd+1 black holes at the leading order in a perturbation theory. We demonstrate that the holographic entanglement negativity computed involves the elimination of thermal contributions at the leading order confirming earlier results in the literature. This also conforms to quantum information theory expectations and constitutes further consistency checks for the holographic construction.
Reconstruction of the dark sectors' interaction: A model-independent inference and forecast from GW standard sirens

Interacting dark matter (DM) - dark energy (DE) models have been intensively investigated in the literature for their ability to ﬁt various data sets as well as to explain some observational tensions persisting within the Λ CDM cosmology. In this work, we employ the Gaussian processes (GP) algorithm to perform a joint analysis by using the geometrical cosmological probes such as Cosmic chronometers, Supernova Type Ia, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, and the H0LiCOW lenses sample to infer a reconstruction of the coupling function between the dark components in a general framework, where the DE can assume a dynamical character via its equation of state. In addition to the joint analysis with these data, we simulate a catalogue with standard siren events from binary neutron star mergers, within the sensitivity predicted by the Einstein Telescope, to reconstruct the dark sector coupling with more accuracy in a robust way. We ﬁnd that the particular case, where 𝑤 = − 1 is ﬁxed on the DE nature, has a statistical preference for an interaction in the dark sector at late times. In the general case, where 𝑤 ( 𝑧 ) is analysed, we ﬁnd no evidence for such dark coupling, and the predictions are compatible with the Λ CDM paradigm. When the mock events of the standard sirens are considered to improve the kernel in GP predictions, we ﬁnd a preference for an interaction in the dark sector at late times.
Generating Coherent and Diverse Slogans with Sequence-to-Sequence Transformer

Previous work in slogan generation focused on generating novel slogans by utilising templates mined from real slogans. While some such slogans can be catchy, they are often not coherent with the company’s focus or style across their marketing communications because the templates are mined from other companies’ slogans. We propose a sequence-to-sequence transformer model to generate slogans from a brief company description. A naïve sequence-to-sequence model ﬁne-tuned for slogan generation is prone to introducing false information, especially unrelated company names appearing in the training data. We use delexicalisa-tion to address this problem and improve the generated slogans’ quality by a large margin. Furthermore, we apply two simple but effective approaches to generate more diverse slogans. Firstly, we train a slogan generator conditioned on the industry. During inference time, by changing the industry, we can obtain different “ﬂavours” of slogans. Secondly, instead of using only the company description as the input sequence, we sample random paragraphs from the company’s website. Surprisingly, the model can generate meaningful slogans, even if the input sequence does not resemble a company description. We validate the effectiveness of the proposed method with both quantitative evaluation and qualitative evaluation. Our best model achieved a ROUGE-1/-2/-L F 1 score of 53.13/33.30/46.49. Besides, human evaluators assigned the generated slogans an average score of 3.39 on a scale of 1-5, indicating the system can generate plausible slogans with a quality close to human-written ones (average score 3.55).
Pairing and the spin susceptibility of the polarized unitary Fermi gas in the normal phase

We theoretically study the pairing behavior of the unitary Fermi gas in the normal phase. Our analysis is based on the static spin susceptibility, which characterizes the response to an external magnetic field. We obtain this quantity by means of the complex Langevin approach and compare our calculations to available literature data in the spin-balanced case. Furthermore, we present results for polarized systems, where we complement and expand our analysis at high temperature with high-order virial expansion results. The implications of our findings for the phase diagram of the spin-polarized unitary Fermi gas are discussed, in the context of the state of the art.
Robust Generalization and Safe Query-Specializationin Counterfactual Learning to Rank

Existing work in counterfactual Learning to Rank (LTR) has focussed on optimizing feature-based models that predict the optimal ranking based on document features. LTR methods based on bandit algorithms often optimize tabular models that memorize the optimal ranking per query. These types of model have their own advantages and disadvantages. Feature-based models provide very robust performance across many queries, including those previously unseen, however, the available features often limit the rankings the model can predict. In contrast, tabular models can converge on any possible ranking through memorization. However, memorization is extremely prone to noise, which makes tabular models reliable only when large numbers of user interactions are available. Can we develop a robust counterfactual LTR method that pursues memorization-based optimization whenever it is safe to do? We introduce the Generalization and Specialization (GENSPEC) algorithm, a robust feature-based counterfactual LTR method that pursues per-query memorization when it is safe to do so. Generalization and Specialization (GENSPEC) optimizes a single feature-based model for generalization: robust performance across all queries, and many tabular models for specialization: each optimized for high performance on a single query. GENSPEC uses novel relative high-confidence bounds to choose which model to deploy per query. By doing so, GENSPEC enjoys the high performance of successfully specialized tabular models with the robustness of a generalized feature-based model. Our results show that GENSPEC leads to optimal performance on queries with sufficient click data, while having robust behavior on queries with little or noisy data.
New dimension bounds for $\alpha\beta$ sets

In this paper we obtain new lower bounds for the upper box dimension of αβ sets. As a corollary of our main result, we show that if α is not a Liouville number and β is a Liouville number, then the upper box dimension of any αβ set is 1. We also use our dimension bounds to obtain new results on affine embeddings of self-similar sets. Mathematics Subject Classification 2010 : 11J04, 11K06, 28A80.
The luminous red nova AT 2018bwo in NGC45 and its binary yellow supergiant progenitor

Luminous Red Novae (LRNe) are astrophysical transients associated with the partial ejection of a binary system's common envelope (CE) shortly before its merger. Here we present the results of our photometric and spectroscopic follow-up campaign of AT2018bwo (DLT18x), a LRN discovered in NGC45, and investigate its progenitor system using binary stellar-evolution models. The transient reached a peak magnitude of $M_r=-10.97\pm0.11$ and maintained this brightness during its optical plateau of $t_p = 41\pm5$days. During this phase, it showed a rather stable photospheric temperature of ~3300K and a luminosity of ~$10^{40}$erg/s. The photosphere of AT2018bwo at early times appeared larger and cooler than other similar LRNe, likely due to an extended mass-loss episode before the merger. Towards the end of the plateau, optical spectra showed a reddened continuum with strong molecular absorption bands. The reprocessed emission by the cooling dust was also detected in the mid-infrared bands ~1.5 years after the outburst. Archival Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescope data taken 10-14 years before the transient event suggest a progenitor star with $T_{prog}\sim 6500$K, $R_{prog}\sim 100R_{\odot}$ and $L_{prog}\sim 2\times10^4L_{\odot}$, and an upper limit for optically thin warm (1000 K) dust mass of $M_d<10^{-6}M_{\odot}$. Using stellar binary-evolution models, we determined the properties of binary systems consistent with the progenitor parameter space. For AT2018bwo, we infer a primary mass of 12-16 $M_{\odot}$, which is 9-45% larger than the ~11$M_{\odot}$ obtained using single-star evolution models. The system, consistent with a yellow-supergiant primary, was likely in a stable mass-transfer regime with -2.4
Text Compression-Aided Transformer Encoding

Text encoding is one of the most important steps in Natural Language Processing (NLP). It has been done well by the self-attention mechanism in the current state-of-the-art Transformer encoder, which has brought about significant improvements in the performance of many NLP tasks. Though the Transformer encoder may effectively capture general information in its resulting representations, the backbone information, meaning the gist of the input text, is not specifically focused on. In this paper, we propose explicit and implicit text compression approaches to enhance the Transformer encoding and evaluate models using this approach on several typical downstream tasks that rely on the encoding heavily. Our explicit text compression approaches use dedicated models to compress text, while our implicit text compression approach simply adds an additional module to the main model to handle text compression. We propose three ways of integration, namely backbone source-side fusion, target-side fusion, and both-side fusion, to integrate the backbone information into Transformer-based models for various downstream tasks. Our evaluation on benchmark datasets shows that the proposed explicit and implicit text compression approaches improve results in comparison to strong baselines. We therefore conclude, when comparing the encodings to the baseline models, text compression helps the encoders to learn better language representations.