Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Solar dynamo cycle variations with a rotational period

Using the non-linear mean-field dynamo models we calculate the magnetic cycle parameters, like the dynamo cycle period, the amplitude of the total magnetic energy, and the Poynting flux luminosity from the surface for the solar analogs with rotation periods of range from 1 to 30 days. We do simulations both for the kinematic and non-kinematic dynamo models. The kinematic dynamo models, which take into account the non-linear $\alpha$-effect and the loss of the magnetic flux due to magnetic buoyancy, show a decrease of the magnetic cycle with the decrease of the stellar rotation period. The stars with a rotational period of less than 10 days show the non-stationary long-term variations of the magnetic activity. The non-kinematic dynamo models take into account the magnetic field feedback on the large-scale flow and heat transport inside the convection zone. They show the non-monotonic variation of the dynamo period with the rotation rate. The models for the rotational periods fewer than 10 days show the non-stationary evolution with a slight increase in the primary dynamo period with the increase of the rotation rate. The non-kinematic models show the growth of the dynamo generated magnetic flux with the increase of the rotation rate. There is a dynamo saturation for the star rotating with a period of two days and less. The saturation of the magnetic activity parameters is accompanied by depression of the differential rotation.
Augmented Memory Replay in Reinforcement Learning With Continuous Control

Online reinforcement learning agents are currently able to process an increasing amount of data by converting it into a higher order value functions. This expansion of the information collected from the environment increases the agent’s state space enabling it to scale up to more complex problems but also increases the risk of forgetting by learning on redundant or conflicting data. To improve the approximation of a large amount of data, a random mini-batch of the past experiences that are stored in the replay memory buffer is often replayed at each learning step. The proposed work takes inspiration from a biological mechanism which acts as a protective layer of higher cognitive functions found in mammalian brain: active memory consolidation mitigates the effect of forgetting previous memories by dynamically processing the new ones. Similar dynamics are implemented by the proposed augmented memory replay or AMR algorithm. The architecture of AMR, based on a simple artificial neural network is able to provide an augmentation policy which modifies each of the agents experiences by augmenting their relevance prior to storing them in the replay memory. The function approximator of AMR is evolved using genetic algorithm in order to obtain the specific augmentation policy function that yields the best performance of a learning agent in a specific environment given by its received cumulative reward. Experimental results show that an evolved AMR augmentation function capable of increasing the significance of the specific memories is able to further increase the stability and convergence speed of the learning algorithms dealing with the complexity of continuous action domains.
Heating up an environment around black holes and inside de Sitter space

We study quantum fields on spacetimes having a bifurcate Killing horizon by allowing the possibility that left and right (ingoing and outgoing) modes have different temperatures. An example of such a state is the Unruh vacuum in a black hole background, in which ingoing modes are in the zero temperature state, while the outgoing ones are at the Hawking temperature. We construct the corresponding Wightman functions and study their properties with arbitrary and different temperatures for both types of movers. We consider, in particular, the Rindler for both massless and massive fields, the static de Sitter, and Schwarzschild black hole backgrounds for massive fields. We find that in all three cases, when any of the temperatures are different from the canonical one (Unruh, Hawking, and Gibbons-Hawking, correspondingly) the correlation functions have extra singularities at the horizon.
Towards testing sterile neutrino dark matter with the 
Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma
 mission

 The recently launched Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma space observatory (SRG), carrying two X-ray telescopes on board, ART-XC and eROSITA, is expected to contribute considerably to cosmology by investigating cosmic large scale structure properties associated with galaxy clusters, providing a major improvement in cosmological constraints as compared to the results from earlier X-ray, Sunyaev-Zeldovich and optical galaxy cluster surveys.  These studies can further refine the parameters of Standard Cosmological Model (ΛCDM), the SRG has also high potential in testing specific particle physics models of dark energy and We concentrate on a particular candidate of dark matter—sterile neutrinos—unstable because of mixing with active neutrinos and consequently exhibiting a two-body radiative decay into active neutrino and photon Constraints on the parameters of sterile neutrinos. The green color indicates the allowed region of sterile neutrino parameter space consistent with X-ray searches (solid lines indicate the upper limits), cosmological limits from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (dashed line refers to the lower bounds) and cosmological constraints from MW satellite galaxy counts (dashed line).
Nonequilibrium effects on the electron-phonon coupling constant in metals

Understanding of the energy exchange between electrons and phonons in metals is important for micro- and nano-manufacturing and system design. The electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling constant is to describe such exchange strength, yet its variation remains still unclear at micro- and nanoscale where the non-equilibrium effects are significant. In this work, an e-ph coupling model is proposed by transforming the full scattering terms into relaxation time approximation forms in the coupled electron and phonon Boltzmann transport equations. Consequently, the non-equilibrium effects are included in the calculation of e-ph coupling constant. The coupling model is verified by modeling the ultrafast dynamics in femtosecond pump-probe experiments on metal surface, which shows consistent results with the full integral treatment of scattering terms. The e-ph coupling constant is strongly reduced due to both the temporal non-equilibrium between different phonon branches and the spatial non-equilibrium of electrons in confined space. The present work will promote not only a fundamental understanding of the e-ph coupling constant but also the theoretical description of coupled electron and phonon transport at micro- and nanoscale.
An automated heterogeneous robotic system for radiation surveys: Design and field testing

During missions involving radiation exposure, unmanned robotic platforms may embody a valuable tool, especially thanks to their capability of replacing human operators in certain tasks to eliminate the health risks associated with such an environment. Moreover, rapid development of the technology allows us to increase the automation rate, making the human operator generally less important within the entire process. This article presents a multirobotic system designed for highly automated radiation mapping and source localization. Our approach includes a three‐phase procedure comprising sequential deployment of two diverse platforms, namely, an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) and an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), to perform aerial photogrammetry, aerial radiation mapping, and terrestrial radiation mapping. The central idea is to produce a sparse dose rate map of the entire study site via the UAS and, subsequently, to perform detailed UGV‐based mapping in limited radiation‐contaminated regions. To accomplish these tasks, we designed numerous methods and data processing algorithms to facilitate, for example, digital elevation model‐based terrain following for the UAS, automatic selection of the regions of interest, obstacle map‐based UGV trajectory planning, and source localization. The overall usability of the multirobotic system was demonstrated by means of a 1‐day, authentic experiment, namely, a fictitious car accident including the loss of several radiation sources. The ability of the system to localize radiation hotspots and individual sources has been verified.
Distribution of Zinc fractions in surface Alfisol after five years of Conservation agriculture practices in Rainfed Pigeonpea

The experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Bheemarayanagudi. This experiment consisting of five treatments viz., conventional tillage (T1), zero tillage raised bed with mulch (T2), zero tillage raised bed without mulch (T3), zero tillage with mulch (T4) and zero tillage without mulch (T5). Sequential extraction was employed to estimate various chemical pool of zinc viz. water soluble plus exchangeable zinc, organically bound zinc, amorphous bound zinc, crystalline bound zinc, manganese oxide bound zinc and residual zinc. Among these fractions water soluble plus exchangeable zinc was recorded the highest in T2 (1.04%) and marginally recorded in other treatments like T4 (0.67%), T4 (0.67%), T3 (0.65%), T5 (2.02%) and the lowest recorded in T1 (0.49%) and the highest organically bound zinc was recorded in T4 (3.34%), marginally recorded in treatments like T2 (2.45%), T3 (2.23%), T5 (2.02%) and the lowest recorded in T1 (0.80%). Amorphous bound zinc was the highest in T2 (2.73%), marginally it was in T4 (2.35%), T3 (2.25%), T5 (2.40%) and lowest recorded in T1 (1.54%). Crystalline bound zinc was in highest recorded in T2 (1.58%) and other treatments like T4 (1.44%), T3 (1.10%), T5 (1.52%) and the lowest recorded in T1 (1.065%). The highest manganese oxide bound zinc value found in T2 (1.48%) and other treatments like T3 (1.26%), T4 (1.12%), T5 (1.29%) and the lowest recorded in T1 (1.02%) and also residual zinc was dominant fraction among the zinc fraction, it was 95.44% in T1 and it was recorded the highest among treatments and other treatments like T3 (93.18%), T4 (91.16%), T5 (92.88%) and T2 (90.86%) respectively.
An acheulian balancing act: a multivariate examination of size and shape in handaxes from Amanzi Springs, Eastern Cape, South Africa

'Landscapes of Human Evolution' is an edited volume in honour of John Gowlett. John has a wide range of research interests primarily focused on the human genus Homo, and is a world leader in understanding the cognitive and behavioural preconditions necessary for the emergence of complex behaviours such as language and art. Variation in handaxe shape has been a focal point for interpreting Acheulian assemblages and implications for behavioural and cognitive capacities in early hominins. The work of John Gowlett has had a significant impact on this research in examining the influence of size on handaxe forms. This has advanced multivariate methods for investigating the covariance of size and shape in these tools. Gowlett’s approach has been applied to a number of East African sites, albeit never extensively operationalised in South Africa. Here we provide a multivariate approach towards the function of allometry in South African handaxe assemblages with specific focus on Amanzi Springs. Our findings suggest continuity in allometric trends across Africa with some differences between eastern and southern sites.
Bayesian Frequentists: Examining the Paradox Between What Researchers Can Conclude Versus What They Want to Conclude From Statistical Results

A majority of statistically educated scientists draw incorrect conclusions based on the most commonly used statistical technique: null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). Frequentist techniques are often claimed to be incorrectly interpreted as Bayesian outcomes, which suggests that a Bayesian framework may fit better to inferences researchers frequently want to make (Briggs, 2012). The current study set out to test this proposition. Firstly, we investigated whether there is a discrepancy between what researchers think they can conclude and what they want to be able to conclude from NHST. Secondly, we investigated to what extent researchers want to incorporate prior study results and their personal beliefs in their statistical inference. Results show the expected discrepancy between what researchers think they can conclude from NHST and what they want to be able to conclude. Furthermore, researchers were interested in incorporating prior study results, but not their personal beliefs, into their statistical inference.
Data Types and the Phylogeny of Neoaves

The phylogeny of Neoaves, the largest clade of extant birds, has remained unclear despite intense study. The difficulty associated with resolving the early branches in Neoaves is likely driven by the rapid radiation of this group. However, conflicts among studies may be exacerbated by the data type analyzed. For example, analyses of coding exons typically yield trees that place Strisores (nightjars and allies) sister to the remaining Neoaves, while analyses of non-coding data typically yield trees where Mirandornites (flamingos and grebes) is the sister of the remaining Neoaves. Our understanding of data type effects is hampered by the fact that previous analyses have used different taxa, loci, and types of non-coding data. Herein, we provide strong corroboration of the data type effects hypothesis for Neoaves by comparing trees based on coding and non-coding data derived from the same taxa and gene regions. A simple analytical method known to minimize biases due to base composition (coding nucleotides as purines and pyrimidines) resulted in coding exon data with increased congruence to the non-coding topology using concatenated analyses. These results improve our understanding of the resolution of neoavian phylogeny and point to a challenge—data type effects—that is likely to be an important factor in phylogenetic analyses of birds (and many other taxonomic groups). Using our results, we provide a summary phylogeny that identifies well-corroborated relationships and highlights specific nodes where future efforts should focus.
Composition and specific gravity of milk of West African Dwarf sheep as affected by stage of lactation and parity

Twelve matured lactating ewes weighing between 16 and 24 kg live weight were used to evaluate the effects of stage of lactation and parity on milk composition and specific gravity of milk of West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep in a semi-intensive system of management. Stage of lactation was divided into 4: early, mid, late and very late respectively with 3 weeks interval. The animals were of parities 1 and 2 and were allowed to graze on an established paddock in the University Farm for 5 hours and supplemented with concentrate (17% CP, 5% BW) daily. Animals were hand milked once daily at 8.00 am for 12 weeks. Stage of lactation significantly (P < 0.05) affected specific gravity of milk while parity did not have any significant effect. Daily milk mass and daily milk volume decreased linearly from early to very late stage of lactation; 158.276 to 34.411 g and 156.054 to 34.410 cm3 respectively. Average composition of milk components were 3.78%, 4.49%, 0.76%, 4.99%, 9.02% and 14.00% for protein, lactose, ash, fat, solid non-fat and total solids respectively. Stage of lactation significantly (P<0.001) affected milk protein, lactose, fat, solid non-fat and total solid except ash. However, parity did not significantly affect any of these milk constituents. The contents of total solids, solid non-fat, fat and protein were positively correlated with. On the other hand, phenotypic correlations between lactose, protein and fat were negative. It was concluded that stage of lactation exerts significant influence on specific gravity and composition of milk of WAD sheep while parity did not. Keywords: stage of lactation, parity, specific gravity, ewe milk, composition
Transport of Gaseous Hydrogen Peroxide and Ozone into Bulk Water vs. Electrosprayed Aerosol

Production and transport of reactive species through plasma–liquid interactions play a significant role in multiple applications in biomedicine, environment, and agriculture. Experimental investigations of the transport mechanisms of typical air plasma species: hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and ozone (O3) into water are presented. Solvation of gaseous H2O2 and O3 from an airflow into water bulk vs. electrosprayed microdroplets was measured, while changing the water flow rate and applied voltage, during different treatment times and gas flow rates. The solvation rate of H2O2 and O3 increased with the treatment time and the gas–liquid interface area. The total surface area of the electrosprayed microdroplets was larger than that of the bulk, but their lifetime was much shorter. We estimated that only microdroplets with diameters below ~40 µm could achieve the saturation by O3 during their lifetime, while the saturation by H2O2 was unreachable due to its depletion from air. In addition to the short-lived flying microdroplets, the longer-lived bottom microdroplets substantially contributed to H2O2 and O3 solvation in water electrospray. This study contributes to a better understanding of the gaseous H2O2 and O3 transport into water and will lead to design optimization of the water spray and plasma-liquid interaction systems.
Historical and Projected Changes in the Southern Hemisphere Surface Westerlies

The Southern Hemisphere (SH) surface westerlies fundamentally control regional patterns of air temperature, storm tracks, and precipitation while also regulating ocean circulation, heat transport and carbon uptake. Wind‐forced ocean perturbation experiments commonly apply idealized poleward wind shifts ranging between 0.5 and 10 degrees of latitude and wind intensification factors of between 10% and 300%. In addition, changes in winds are often prescribed ad hoc as a zonally uniform anomaly that neglects important regional and seasonal differences. Here we quantify historical and projected SH westerly wind changes based on examination of CMIP5, CMIP6, and reanalysis data. We find a significant reduction in the location bias of the CMIP6 ensemble and an associated reduction in the projected poleward shift compared to CMIP5. Under a high emission scenario, we find a projected end of 21st Century ensemble mean wind increase of ∼10% and a poleward shift of ∼0.8° latitude, although there are important seasonal and regional variations.
Advances in accounting for biodiversity and ecosystems: A typology focusing upon the environmental results imperative

Les recherches en comptabilite sur le theme de la biodiversite et des ecosystemes constituent un champ nouveau et en plein essor. Pour la premiere fois, quatre grands domaines d’innovation en la matiere sont ici identifies et discutes conjointement, sur la base de leurs differences de perimetres (entreprise, de l’ecosysteme ou national) et de finalites (logiques de comptabilites de gestion ou de bilan). L’importance de poursuivre le developpement du domaine emergent des « comptabilites de gestion ecosysteme-centrees », qui rend possible l’evaluation et le suivi des resultats environnementaux, est mise en lumiere. La typologie proposee apporte une forme de reponse au defi majeur de l’articulation entre les comptabilites privees et les comptabilites collectives dans le champ des comptabilites sociales et environnementales.
Iterative Receiver Design for the Estimation of Gaussian Samples in Impulsive Noise

Impulsive noise is the main limiting factor for transmission over channels affected by electromagnetic interference. We study the estimation of (correlated) Gaussian signals in an impulsive noise scenario. In this work, we analyze some of the existing, as well as some novel estimation algorithms. Their performance is compared, for the first time, for different channel conditions, including the Markov–Middleton scenario, where the impulsive noise switches between different noise states. Following a modern approach in digital communications, the receiver design is based on a factor graph model and implements a message passing algorithm. The correlation among signal samples, as well as among noise states brings about a loopy factor graph, where an iterative message passing scheme should be employed. As is well known, approximate variational inference techniques are necessary in these cases. We propose and analyze different algorithms and provide a complete performance comparison among them, showing that the expectation propagation, transparent propagation, and parallel iterative schedule approaches reach a performance close to optimal, at different channel conditions.
Job Seekers’ Perceptions and Employment Prospects: Heterogeneity, Duration Dependence, and Bias

This paper uses job seekers’ elicited beliefs about job finding to disentangle the sources of the decline in job-finding rates by duration of unemployment. We document that beliefs have strong predictive power for job finding, but are not revised downward when remaining unemployed and are subject to optimistic bias, especially for the long-term unemployed. Leveraging the predictive power of beliefs, we find substantial heterogeneity in job finding with the resulting dynamic selection explaining most of the observed negative duration dependence in job finding. Moreover, job seekers’ beliefs underreact to heterogeneity in job finding, distorting search behavior and increasing long-term unemployment. (JEL D83, E24, J22, J64, J65)
On Unbiased Score Estimation for Partially Observed Diffusions

We consider the problem of statistical inference for a class of partially-observed diffusion processes, with discretely-observed data and finite-dimensional parameters. We construct unbiased estimators of the score function, i.e. the gradient of the log-likelihood function with respect to parameters, with no time-discretization bias. These estimators can be straightforwardly employed within stochastic gradient methods to perform maximum likelihood estimation or Bayesian inference. As our proposed methodology only requires access to a time-discretization scheme such as the Euler–Maruyama method, it is applicable to a wide class of diffusion processes and observation models. Our approach is based on a representation of the score as a smoothing expectation using Girsanov theorem, and a novel adaptation of the randomization schemes developed in Mcleish [2011], Rhee and Glynn [2015], Jacob et al. [2020a]. This allows one to remove the time-discretization bias and burn-in bias when computing smoothing expectations using the conditional particle filter of Andrieu et al. [2010]. Central to our approach is the development of new couplings of multiple conditional particle filters. We prove under assumptions that our estimators are unbiased and have finite variance. The methodology is illustrated on several challenging applications from population ecology and neuroscience.