Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gravitational backreaction effects on the holographic phase transition

We study radion stabilization in the compact Randall-Sundrum model by introducing a bulk scalar field, as in the Goldberger and Wise mechanism, but (partially) taking into account the backreactions from the scalar field on the metric. Our generalization reconciles the radion potential found by Goldberger and Wise with the radion mass obtained with the so-called superpotential method where backreaction is fully considered. Moreover we study the holographic phase transition and its gravitational wave signals in this model. The improved control over backreactions opens up a large region in parameter space and leads, compared to former analysis, to weaker constraints on the rank N of the dual gauge theory. We conclude that, in the regime where the 1/N expansion is justified, the gravitational wave signal is detectable by LISA.
EPSL-The silicon isotope record of early silica diagenesis 1 1 Introduction

The heavy isotopes of silicon are strongly enriched in some of the youngest, early diagenetically formed porcellanite layers from the Southwest Indian Ridge (Pleistocene) and the Maud Rise (Pliocene). These porcellanite layers are composed of opal-CT and were formed by the conversion of amorphous silica (opal-A) from siliceous sediment via dissolution-reprecipitation. Their bulk δ 30 Sivalues range between 1.7 and 2.3‰. Detritus-poor siliceous sediment surrounding these layers is significantly lower at -0.3to 1.5‰. Sequential chemical extractions of bulk siliceous sediment show (i) preferential dissolution of diatoms featuring higher δ 30 Si than radiolaria and Al–Si components. The detailed investigation of porcellanite layers by micro-scale Si isotope and Al/Si analyses using UV femtosecond laser ablation ICP mass spectrometry show that (ii) precipitation of authigenic aluminum silicates enriched in light Si isotopes drives pore waters to even higher δ 30 Si. We suggest that the same processes redistributed stable silicon isotopes in precursor siliceous sediments of ancient chert. We infer that past environmental conditions can be reconstructed with high fidelity from the stable Si isotope composition of chert when initial seawater Si concentrations were high (such as in the Precambrian). Exchange of Si between layers during phase transformation (from opal-A to opal-CT and from opal-CT to quartz) is impeded when variable amounts of detrital minerals are present, because they control rates of silica phase transformation and hence the timing of dissolution–reprecipitation during burial. Please cite this article as: Michael Tatzel, Friedhelm von Blanckenburg, Marcus Oelze, Jan A. Schuessler, Gerhard Bohrmann The silicon isotope record of early silica diagenesis Earth and Planetary Science Letters 428 (2015) 293–303 Tatzel et al. (2015) EPSL The silicon isotope record of early silica diagenesis
Complying with BYOD Security Policies: A Moderation Model

As security concerns have become critical to organizations’ Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategy, it is important for employees to comply with organization’s security measures and policies. Based on the protection motivation theory, this study develops a theoretical model to identify the key factors that affect an employee’s intention to comply with organization’s BYOD security policies. This model also enriches general Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) by investigating how unique BYOD features may play moderating roles on the relationships between employee’s security perceptions and compliance intention. A survey of organization employees who were using their own devices in their workplace was conducted. The research model was tested using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. The results suggest that employees’ threat appraisal and coping appraisal affect their intention to comply with BYOD security policies. Further, mixed usage of device and company surveillance visibility are verified moderators. This study contributes to both academics and management practice.
On the Identification and Macroeconomic Effects of Discretionary Changes in Fiscal Policy

Empirical studies on the effects of fiscal adjustments apply different approaches to identify discretionary changes in fiscal policy. While the results of one strand of literature suggest that the effects of fiscal adjustments on GDP are small or even positive, particularly for spending cuts (expansionary austerity), this strand of literature is under criticism because of an incomplete cyclical adjustment strategy. I compare the macroeconomic effects of fiscal adjustments using five different identification strategies for a panel of 30 OECD countries over the period 1980 to 2012 and show that the strategy chosen for identifying fiscal policy has a crucial impact on the estimated effects. My results suggest that large fiscal adjustments (both revenue and spending based) lead to economic contractions, after appropriate controlling for cyclical effects and one-off capital transfers. These findings indicate that a great deal of previous empirical research on fiscal adjustments and expansionary austerity is based on an incomplete measure of fiscal policy and needs to be reevaluated.
[2] Leshnower BG, Myung RJ, Kilgo PD, Vassiliades TA, Vega JD, Thourani VH et al. Moderate hypothermia and unilateral selective antegrade cerebral perfusion: a contemporary cerebral protection strategy for aortic arch

et al. Moderate hypothermia and unilateral selective antegrade cerebral perfusion: a contemporary cerebral protection strategy for aortic arch surgery. Ann Thorac Surg 2010;90:547–54. [3] Urbanski PP, Siebel A, Zacher M, Hacker RW. Is extended aortic replacement in acute type A dissection justifiable? Ann Thorac Surg 2003;75: 525–9. [4] Urbanski PP, Lenos A, Bougioukakis P, Neophytou I, Zacher M, Diegeler A. Mild-to-moderate hypothermia in aortic arch surgery using circulatory arrest: a change of paradigm? Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2011 (in press), doi:10.1016/j.ejcts. 2011.03. 060. [5] Urbanski PP, Lenos A, Blume JC, Ziegler V, Griewing B, Schmitt R et al. Does anatomical completeness of the circle of Willis correlate with sufficient cross-perfusion during unilateral cerebral perfusion? Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2008;33:402–8. [6] Urbanski PP, Keller G. Neuromonitoring using near-infrared spectroscopy: still an interpretation problem. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2011 (in press), doi:10.1016/j.ejcts. 2011.03. 001.
Pelvic Inclination Angle during the Straight Leg Raise Test and Knee Extension Test

Background: Shortening of the hamstrings has been evaluated using methods such as the straight leg raise (SLR) test and knee extension test. The angle of pelvic inclination during the SLR and knee extension test has been reported; however, there no studies have compared differences in the angles of pelvic inclination measured by both tests in the same subject. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify the differences in the angle of pelvic inclination between the SLR and knee extension tests. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: The subjects included 20 healthy students (male, n=11; female, n=9). The SLR and knee extension tests were performed on the subject’s right lower leg. The angle of pelvic inclination at the starting position and the angle of pelvic inclination and the SLR angle and knee extension angle at the end of the SLR and knee extension tests were measured. This measurement was performed under two conditions. The angle of pelvic inclination was set as the degree of change in the pelvic angle from the position at the start of the test to that at the end of the final test in both tests. Results: The degree of change in the pelvic angle in the knee extension test was significantly smaller than that in the SLR test, under both fixed and non-fixed conditions. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that the knee extension test is superior for the evaluation of hamstring shortening because the compensatory movement (based on pelvic retroversion) during the test is smaller than that observed with the SLR test.
Appraisal of the realistic accuracy of molecular dynamics of high-pressure hydrogen

Molecular dynamics (MD) is a powerful method for studying the behaviour of materials at high temperature. In practice, however, its effectiveness in representing real systems is limited by the accuracy of the forces, finite size effects, quantization and equilibration methods. In this paper, we report and discuss some calculations carried out using MD on high-pressure hydrogen, reviewing a number of sources of error, of which the neglect of zero-point vibrations is quantitatively the largest. We show that simulations using ab initio MD with the PBE functional predict a large stability field for the molecular Cmca4 structure at pressures just above those achieved in current experiments above the stability range of the mixed molecular layered Phase IV. However, the various errors in the simulation all point towards a much smaller stability range, and the likelihood of a non-molecular phase based on low-coordination networks or chains of atoms.
SKILL DISCOVERY WITH WELL-DEFINED OBJECTIVES

While many skill discovery methods have been proposed to accelerate learning and planning, most are based on heuristic methods without clear connections to how the skills impact the agent’s objective. As such, the conditions under which the algorithms are effective is often unclear. We claim that we should pursue skill discovery algorithms with explicit relationships to the objective of the agent to understand in what scenarios skill discovery methods are useful. We analyze two scenarios, planning and reinforcement learning and show that we are able to give bounds to the performance of the option discovery algorithms. For planning, we show that the problem of finding a set of options which minimizes the planning time is NP-hard, and give a polynomial-time algorithm that is approximately optimal under certain conditions. For reinforcement learning, we target goal-based tasks with sparse reward where the agent has to navigate through the state-space to reach the goal state without any reward signals other than the goal state. We show that the difficulty of discovering a distant rewarding state in an MDP is bounded by the expected cover time of a random walk over the graph induced by the MDP’s transition dynamics. We therefore propose an algorithm which finds an option which provably diminishes the expected cover time.
Detecting two-party quantum correlations in quantum-key-distribution protocols (12 pages)

A necessary precondition for secure quantum key distribution is that sender and receiver can prove the presence of entanglement in a quantum state that is effectively distributed between them. In order to deliver this entanglement proof one can use the class of entanglement witness (EW) operators that can be constructed from the available measurements results. This class of EWs can be used to provide a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of quantum correlations even when a quantum state cannot be completely reconstructed. The set of optimal EWs for two well-known entanglement-based (EB) schemes, the six-state and the four-state EB protocols, has been obtained recently [M. Curty et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 217903 (2004). ] Here we complete these results, now showing specifically the analysis for the case of prepare and measure (PM) schemes. For this, we investigate the signal states and detection methods of the four-state and the two-state PM schemes. For each of these protocols we obtain a reduced set of EWs. More importantly, each set of EWs can be used to derive a necessary and sufficient condition to prove that quantum correlations are present in these protocols.
Evaluation of Depreciation Costs in Replacement Investments of Nuclear Power Plants

Replacement of nuclear power plants has the possibility of affecting the management of electric power suppliers. Therefore, in the nuclear policy, a depreciation method as an equalization method, which means that part of the investment cost is accumulated as an allowance, and after the start of operation, the depreciation cost in the replacement project is equalized, has been introduced in Japan. In this paper, we evaluate the replacement of nuclear power plants by taking into account the uncertainty of operating costs and the depreciation cost in order to examine the effect of the depreciation method on the decision criteria of the replacement. We found that the equalization method is effective for inducing the acceleration of the replacement. Furthermore, we show the relationship between the uncertainty and the depreciation method. It turns out that as uncertainty increases, the difference in investment threshold between the equalization method and the existing depreciation method decreases, and that in option value increases.
The role of dwarf galaxy interactions in shaping the Magellanic System and implications for Magellanic Irregulars

We present a novel pair of numerical models of the interaction history between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively) and our Milky Way (MW) in light of recent high-precision proper motions from the Hubble Space Telescope. Given the updated velocities, cosmological simulations of hierarchical structure formation favour a scenario where the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) are currently on their first infall towards our Galaxy. We illustrate here that the observed irregular morphology and internal kinematics of the Magellanic System (in gas and stars) are naturally explained by interactions between the LMC and SMC, rather than gravitational interactions with the MW. These conclusions provide further support that the MCs are completing their first infall to our system. In particular, we demonstrate that the Magellanic Stream, a band of H i gas trailing behind the Clouds 150° across the sky, can be accounted for by the action of LMC tides on the SMC before the system was accreted by the MW. We further demonstrate that the off-centre, warped stellar bar of the LMC, and its one-armed spiral can be naturally explained by a recent direct collision with its lower mass companion, the SMC. Such structures are key morphological characteristics of a class of galaxies referred to as Magellanic Irregulars, the majority of which are not associated with massive spiral galaxies. We infer that dwarf–dwarf galaxy interactions are important drivers for the morphological evolution of Magellanic Irregulars and can dramatically affect the efficiency of baryon removal from dwarf galaxies via the formation of extended tidal bridges and tails. Such interactions are not only important for the evolution of dwarf galaxies but also have direct consequences for the build-up of baryons in our own MW, as LMC-mass systems are believed to be the dominant building blocks of MW-type haloes.
Dissipation Behavior of Thiophanate-Methyl in Apple and Strawberry Fruits under Open Field Conditions

Thiophanate-methyl is an effective fungicide on several food crops. In the present study, dissipation of residue levels of thiophanate-methyl in apple and strawberry fruits under open field conditions were studied using high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The extraction and clean-up were conducted by QuEChERS method. The limit of quantitation and detection were 0.01 and 0.003 mg/kg, respectively. The results suggest that the thiophanatemethyl dissipation curves followed the first order kinetics and its half-life values were (1.01) and (1.26) days for apple and strawberry, respectively. The residues in apple and strawberry were below the codex maximum residue limit (MRL) (0.5 and 0.1 mg/kg) after 8 and 4 days of the application, respectively.
The application of laser-microwave resonance in trapped rare-earth ions to magnetometry

The paper describes an application in magnetometry of an experimental set-up for measurement of hyperfine splittings, constructed in the Chair of Quantum Engineering and Metrology, Poznań University of Technology. A method of determination of magnetic flux density on the basis of the measurement of Zeeman splittings of the hyperfine sublevels of atomic (or ionic) electronic levels is discussed. The experimental setup based on a hyperboloidal Paul trap is presented. A review of the current progress of the work and the results hitherto obtained is given.
Structural Integrity Management of Offshore Structures via RB-FEA and Fast Full Load Mapping Based Digital Twins

In this work we discuss new capabilities for structural integrity analysis of critical offshore assets such as semi-submersibles and FPSOs that are enabled by Reduced Basis FEA (RB-FEA) coupled with Fast Full Load Mapping to enable high-fidelity Digital Twins. RB-FEA is a new structural simulation framework based on component-based model order reduction, in which (i) a large model is decomposed into components, (ii) each component is endowed with parameters which enable geometric, material, and/or load data to be modified on the fly, (iii) a reduced order model of each component (valid for the entire parameter range) is prepared based on an automated pre-analysis of individual components and groups of components, and (iv) component-based models are assembled and solved very efficiently due to re-use of the reduced order model data. For large models this framework enables orders-of-magnitude increase in model detail and solver speed compared to conventional FEA, without sacrificing accuracy. Fast Full Load Mapping obtains full distributive loads acting on a floating body in random waves at costs of conventional global performance analyses, without any costly CFD. In time domain, these full distributive loads are fed into RB-FEA, and the combination of these two powerful approaches enables new capabilities for detailed hydrodynamic and structural analysis of critical offshore assets. We demonstrate these capabilities with some illustrative examples.
Xenon isotopes in the MORB source, not distinctive of early global degassing

Although fissiogenic Xe in mid‐ocean ridge basalt (MORB) has long been used inferred to infer an early (>4 Ga) catastrophic mantle degassing, decomposition of the analyzed gas in terms of its constituents requires several assumptions. The canonical interpretation has not been tested using the full spectrum of possible initial components and radiogenic inputs. We use a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach that examines a broad range of Xe isotopic components present during Earth formation and evolution. Our best fit simulations are consistent with the preservation of much higher Pu/U in MORB source Xe than previously recognized but are equally supportive of both limited and early catastrophic loss. We show that an initially Xe depleted upper mantle that becomes progressively ingassed through both radiogenic ingrowth and subduction of evolving atmospheric Xe is equally consistent with all evidence, underscoring the need for improvements to our knowledge of fission Xe spectra, MORB Xe measurements, and Pu geochemistry.
On the Efficiency of Resource Utilization in Subsistence Agriculture

One way to approach the analysis of economic development is through the theory of production. The relevant question then is how to increase output per unit of input. The conceptual alternatives are (1) changing the production surface or (2) reorganizing productive inputs within a given production possibility curve. Moving the production surface means changing the parameters of the production function, usually by introducing new kinds of inputs of production. "Technological change" is a convenient label for such changes in the production function. Given the production function, i.e., ruling aside technological change, output per unit of input may be increased by improving the efficiency with which the existing inputs are allocated. If such reshuffling of resources is possible, achieving allocative efficiency represents a relatively painless way of obtaining growth-a new version of the "up-by-the-bootstraps" approach to development. It then becomes relevant to ask how widespread is the misallocation of resources and, if it exists, what are the reasons for such misallocation. Monopolistic restrictions of entry into the field and restrictions in international trade are two of the sources of allocative inefficiency which have recently been studied and quantified. Another source is institutional rigidities specific to less-developed countries (LOCs), e.g., irrationality, ignorance, or wastefulness. More recently, however, a number of studies have established that production in LDCs is generally efficient, given the state of technology within which it is organized (21,10,19,17,26). The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficiency of resource utilization in a random sample of farm-firms, operating within the framework of a traditional agricultural economy. In order to do this we fit Cobb-Douglas production functions, compute the marginal product of each factor of production, and com-
A study of kinematics and kinetics in time-constrained arm movements

A STUDY OF KINEMATICS AND KINETICS IN TIME-CONSTRAINED ARM MOVEMENTS by Oyindamola Owoeye Several studies such as the equilibrium point hypothesis (EPH) purport that the motor signals that descend from the brain instead of encoding muscle torques, influence an existing relationship between muscle torque and body configuration. In the present study, the possibility of torque depending explicitly on position was tested using a task in which subjects (N=5) moved a simulated weightless frictionless mass through a small (<8 degree) elbow extension in order to move a cursor on a screen to a target location. Each subject completed 720 trials. On ~10% of trials the simulated mass was increased unknown to the subject. The relationship between the cursor’s position and the torque applied to the system was held constant even when the simulated mass was increased. Thus, any change in torque produced was neither due the subjects’ perception of the mass nor due to their perception of the cursor. The time at which the subjects torque changed direction was seen to be significantly different (p<0.005) during trials which the mass changed. This change in torque is concluded to be position-dependent. However the possibility of this being a merely mechanical effect could not be ruled out by due to poor EMG collection. A post-hoc analysis of different position-dependent motor control models, was done. Particularly, an exponential spring model, a linear spring model, and a linear spring with relative damping model were each tested to see how well they could predict a change in produced output torque from a change in position. Only the linear spring and relative damping models were able to do so. This experiment is not enough to prove that descending torque produced is systematically position-dependent but the methodology for testing models is promising and additional studies should be done along similar lines. A STUDY OF KINEMATICS AND KINETICS IN TIME-CONSTRAINED ARM MOVEMENTS by Oyindamola Owoeye A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of New Jersey Institute of Technology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters if Science in Biomedical Engineering Department of Biomedical Engineering