Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Binaries as Sources of Gravitational Waves

With the discovery of both binary black hole mergers and a binary neutron star merger the field of Gravitational Wave Astrophysics has really begun. The current advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors are laser interferometers that will improve their sensitivity in the coming years. In the long run, new detectors such as LISA and the Einstein Telescope will have sensitivities that allow the detection of many thousands of sources and ET can observe essentially the whole observable Universe, for heavy black holes. All these measurements will provide new answers to open questions in binary evolution, related to mass transfer, out-of-equilibrium stars and the role of metallicity. In addition, the data will give new constraints on uncertainties in the evolution of (massive) stars, such as stellar winds, the role of rotation and the final collapse to a neutron star or black hole. For black hole binaries, the number of detections is rapidly approaching 10 and the first proper statistical studies of the population can be done soon. In the long run, the thousands of detections by ET will enable us to probe their population in great detail over the history of the Universe. For neutron stars, the first question is whether the first detection GW170817 is a typical source or not. In any case, it has spectacularly shown the promise of complementary electro-magnetic follow-up. For white dwarfs we have to wait for LISA (around 2034) but new detections by e.g. Gaia and LSST will prepare for the astrophysical exploitation of the LISA
Commonly used FRET fluorophores promote collapse of an otherwise disordered protein

Significance Proteins adopt disordered ensembles prior to folding and sometimes as a part of their function. Simulations and FRET studies often described disordered conformations as more compact than the random coil states observed at high denaturant, whereas small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) indicates that these conformations remain expanded. Resolving this discrepancy improves our understanding of the properties of proteins, such as whether water is a sufficiently poor solvent to drive nonspecific collapse. We achieve reconciliation by showing the addition of FRET fluorophores reduces the disordered protein’s dimensions. Detailed analysis of FRET and SAXS, along with accounting for fluorophore-induced contraction, demonstrates that disordered and unfolded proteins often remain solvated and expanded without denaturant, properties that minimize misfolding and aggregation. The dimensions that unfolded proteins, including intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), adopt in the absence of denaturant remain controversial. We developed an analysis procedure for small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) profiles and used it to demonstrate that even relatively hydrophobic IDPs remain nearly as expanded in water as they are in high denaturant concentrations. In contrast, as demonstrated here, most fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements have indicated that relatively hydrophobic IDPs contract significantly in the absence of denaturant. We use two independent approaches to further explore this controversy. First, using SAXS we show that fluorophores employed in FRET can contribute to the observed discrepancy. Specifically, we find that addition of Alexa-488 to a normally expanded IDP causes contraction by an additional 15%, a value in reasonable accord with the contraction reported in FRET-based studies. Second, using our simulations and analysis procedure to accurately extract both the radius of gyration (Rg) and end-to-end distance (Ree) from SAXS profiles, we tested the recent suggestion that FRET and SAXS results can be reconciled if the Rg and Ree are “uncoupled” (i.e., no longer simply proportional), in contrast to the case for random walk homopolymers. We find, however, that even for unfolded proteins, these two measures of unfolded state dimensions remain proportional. Together, these results suggest that improved analysis procedures and a correction for significant, fluorophore-driven interactions are sufficient to reconcile prior SAXS and FRET studies, thus providing a unified picture of the nature of unfolded polypeptide chains in the absence of denaturant.
Quantum Gravity from Fundamental Questions to Phenomenological Applications

Investigating quantum gravity requires a comprehension of both, general relativity and quantum field theory. Therefore this thesis starts, after a general introduction to the treated topics, with a brief review of the field theoretical aspects of gravity which are relevant for the projects described here, i.e., (i) a study of interacting fixed points for f(R) gravity coupled to matter, (ii) a calculation of the spectral dimension based on a spectral action, (iii) an investigation of the Unruh effect in different quantum gravity models, and (iv) the metric for renormalisation group improved Schwarzschild black holes.
New Insights into the Nature of Transition Disks from a Complete Disk Survey of the Lupus Star-forming Region

Transition disks with large dust cavities around young stars are promising targets for studying planet formation. Previous studies have revealed the presence of gas cavities inside the dust cavities, hinting at recently formed, giant planets. However, many of these studies are biased toward the brightest disks in the nearby star-forming regions, and it is not possible to derive reliable statistics that can be compared with exoplanet populations. We present the analysis of 11 transition disks with large cavities (≥20 au radius) from a complete disk survey of the Lupus star-forming region, using ALMA Band 7 observations at 0. ″3 (22–30 au radius) resolution of the 345 GHz continuum, 13CO and C18O 3–2 observations, and the spectral energy distribution of each source. Gas and dust surface density profiles are derived using the physical–chemical modeling code DALI. This is the first study of transition disks of large cavities within a complete disk survey within a star-forming region. The dust cavity sizes range from 20 to 90 au radius, and in three cases, a gas cavity is resolved as well. The deep drops in gas density and large dust cavity sizes are consistent with clearing by giant planets. The fraction of transition disks with large cavities in Lupus is , which is inconsistent with exoplanet population studies of giant planets at wide orbits. Furthermore, we present a hypothesis of an evolutionary path for large massive disks evolving into transition disks with large cavities.
Academic performance of first-year university students: modelling the role of reading competence

ABSTRACT Implementation of the European Higher Education Area changed the assessment model in higher education towards a competence-based system, so that students are assessed by what they demonstrate they can do (competences). However, assessment of certain key competences, such as reading, ceases at higher education. The question remains whether reading competence continues to influence academic achievement at this level. We designed a reading comprehension test based on PISA questions and administered it to new-intake university students. The results were linked to students’ grades in each first-year subject and their sociodemographic administrative data. The influence of reading competence and socioeconomic status on grades in all first-year subjects was analysed through structural equation models. The results show that reading competence at the start of university education has a direct influence on grades in all first-year subjects and an indirect influence through the admission grade. In conclusion, reading competence needs to be further developed and promoted even in the university context.
Forced dynamic dewetting of structured surfaces: Influence of surfactants

We analyse the dewetting of printing plates for gravure printing with well-defined gravure cells. The printing plates were mounted on a rotating horizontal cylinder that is half immersed in an aqueous solution of the anionic surfactant sodium 1-decanesulfonate. The gravure plates and the presence of surfactants serve as one example of a real-world dewetting situation. When rotating the cylinder, a liquid meniscus was partially drawn out of the liquid forming a dynamic contact angle at the contact line. The dynamic contact angle is decreased on a structured surface as compared to a smooth one. This is due to contact line pinning at the borders of the gravure cells. Additionally, surfactants tend to decrease the dynamic receding contact angle. We consider the interplay between these two effects. We compare the height differences of the meniscus on the structured and unstructured area as function of dewetting speeds. The height difference increases with increasing dewetting speed. With increasing size of the gravure cells this height difference and the induced changes in the dynamic contact angle increased. By adding surfactant, the height difference and the changes in the contact angle for the same surface decreased. We further note that although the liquid dewets the printing plates some liquid is always left in the gravure cell. At high enough surfactant concentrations or high enough dewetting speed, the dynamic contact angles in the structured surface approach those in flat surfaces. We conclude that surfactant reduces the influence of surface structure on dynamic dewetting.
Modified Gravity and its test on galaxy clusters

The MOdified Gravity (MOG) theory of J. Moffat assumes a massive vector particle which causes a repulsive contribution to the tensor gravitation. For the galaxy cluster A1689 new data for the X-ray gas and the strong lensing properties are presented. Fits to MOG are possible by adjusting the galaxy density profile. However, this appears to work as an effective dark matter component, posing a serious problem for MOG. New gas and strong lensing data for the cluster A1835 support these conclusions and point at a tendency of the gas-alone to overestimate the lensing effects in MOG theory.
Environment-assisted analog quantum search

Two main obstacles for observing quantum advantage in noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers (NISQ) are the finite precision effects due to control errors, or disorders, and decoherence effects due to thermal fluctuations. It has been shown that dissipative quantum computation is possible in presence of an idealized fully-engineered bath. However, it is not clear, in general, what performance can be achieved by NISQ when internal bath degrees of freedom are not controllable. In this work, we consider the task of quantum search of a marked node on a complete graph of $n$ nodes in the presence of both static disorder and non-zero coupling to an environment. We show that, given fixed and finite levels of disorder and thermal fluctuations, there is an optimal range of bath temperatures that can significantly improve the success probability of the algorithm. Remarkably for a fixed disorder strength $\sigma$, the system relaxation time decreases for higher temperatures within a robust range of parameters. In particular, we demonstrate that for strong disorder, the presence of a thermal bath increases the success probability from $1/(n \sigma^2)$ to at least $1/2$. While the asymptotic running time is approximately maintained, the need to repeat the algorithm many times and issues associated with unitary over-rotations can be avoided as the system relaxes to an absorbing steady state. Furthermore, we discuss for what regimes of disorder and bath parameters quantum speedup is possible and mention conditions for which similar phenomena can be observed in more general families of graphs. Our work highlights that in the presence of static disorder, even non-engineered environmental interactions can be beneficial for a quantum algorithm.
A review of crude oil emulsification and multiphase flows in chemical flooding

Chemical flooding has become an important method to enhance oil recovery in high‐water cut reservoirs. Crude oil emulsification often occurs during chemical flooding, and it plays a very positive role in increasing crude oil production. Crude oil emulsification increases the complexity of fluid flow in the reservoir including multifield coupling characteristics and multiphase flow and multiphase form characteristics. This paper discusses advanced research techniques and the status of multiphase fluid flows in chemical flooding, including the interfacial rheological properties of emulsions, physical simulation of emulsion seepage, and mathematical models and numerical simulations of seepage. Studies on the mechanism of seepage have analyzed the macroscopic and microscopic aspects of seepage during chemical flooding. Prospective directions for future research are indicated including the study of the interfacial rheological characteristics of emulsions, methods for the evaluation of the seepage characteristics of chemical flooding, and mathematical models of multiphase seepage during chemical flooding.
Diagonal Padé approximant of the one-body Green's function: A study on Hubbard rings

Pade approximants to the many-body Green's function can be built by rearranging terms of its perturbative expansion. The hypothesis that the best use of a finite number of terms of such an expansion is given by the subclass of diagonal Pade approximants is here tested, and largely confirmed, on a solvable model system, namely the Hubbard ring for a variety of site numbers, fillings and interaction strengths.
Performance of an anaerobic biofilm reactor through the application of different operational conditions

Inadequate management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and the energy crisis due to dependence on fossil fuels (carbon and hydrocarbons) are growing problems in Latin American countries such as Mexico. These problems are caused by various factors, including the lack of infrastructure and the limited development of technologies focused on addressing these areas. In Mexico, between 37.55 and 43.84 million tons of MSW are generated annually, while 5,896 PJ of fossil fuels are produced in the same period, contributing strongly to environmental pollution due to inadequate management and procurement-use processes respectively. In order to mitigate these problems, it is necessary to propose dual-purpose strategies, such as anaerobic digestion, that can help in the treatment of the organic fraction of MSW (OFMSW) and at the same time producing biogas as a renewable energy source. For these reasons, the aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of an anaerobic biofilm reactor through increases in the Organic Loading Rate (OLR) using the liquid fraction of the OFMSW as a substrate for biogas production. An anaerobic biofilm reactor called the Anaerobic Hybrid Reactor (AHR) was used to carry out this stud. The performance of the AHR in four stages applying different OLR values from 5 to 21 gCOD/L.d was analyzed. Anaerobic biofilm formation, pH, %COD and %solids removal, alkalinity, biogas production, and methane yield were evaluated. After 119 days of reactor operation, 93.45% colonization of the inverse fluidized bed, 85% total and soluble COD and removals greater than 80% for TS and VS, alkalinity less than 0.3, around 20 L of biogas per day with methane yields of 0.31 LCH4 at STP/gCODrem were obtained. The use of high OLR allows a larger volume of OFMSW liquid fraction to be treated producing a greater quantity of biogas with an excellent methane yield, thus demonstrating the high efficiency of the AHR.
Interplay of cold shock protein E with an uncharacterized protein, YciF, lowers porin expression and enhances bile resistance in Salmonella Typhimurium

Bacterial cold shock proteins (CSPs) function as RNA chaperones. To assess CSP's roles in the intracellular human pathogen Salmonella Typhimurium, we analyzed their expression in varied stress conditions. We found that cold shock protein E (cspE or STM14_0732) is up-regulated during bile salt-induced stress and that an S. Typhimurium strain lacking cspE (ΔcspE) displays dose-dependent sensitivity to bile salts, specifically to deoxycholate. We also found that an uncharacterized gene, yciF (STM14_2092), is up-regulated in response to bile stress in WT but not in the ΔcspE strain. Complementation with WT CspE, but not with a F30V CspE variant, abrogated the bile sensitivity of ΔcspE as did multicopy overexpression of yciF. Northern blotting experiments with rifampicin disclosed that the regulation of yciF expression is, most likely, due to the RNA-stabilizing activity of CspE. Importantly, electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that purified CspE, but not the F30V variant, directly binds yciF mRNA. We also observed that the extra-cytoplasmic stress-response (ESR) pathway is augmented in the bile-treated ΔcspE strain, as judged by induction of RpoE regulon genes (rpoE, degP, and rybB) and downstream ESR genes (hfq, rne, and PNPase). Moreover, the transcript levels of the porin genes, ompD, ompF, and ompC, were higher in bile salts-stressed ΔcspE and correlated with higher intracellular accumulation of the fluorescent DNA stain bisBenzimide H 33258, indicating greater cell permeability. In conclusion, our study has identified YciF, a CspE target involved in the regulation of porins and in countering bile stress in S. Typhimurium.
Testing the Detectability of Extraterrestrial O2 with the Extremely Large Telescopes Using Real Data with Real Noise

The future extremely large telescopes (ELTs) are expected to be powerful tools to probe the atmospheres of extrasolar planets using high-dispersion spectroscopy, with the potential to detect molecular oxygen in Earth-like planets transiting nearby late-type stars. So far, simulations have concentrated on the optical 7600 Å A-band of oxygen using synthetic noise distributions. In this Letter, we build upon previous work to predict the detectability of molecular oxygen in nearby, temperate planets by using archival, time-series data of Proxima Centauri from the high-dispersion Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The brightest transiting M-dwarfs are expected to be about 25 times fainter than Proxima, a factor that is similar to the difference in light-gathering power between the VLT and the future ELTs. By injecting synthetic oxygen transmission signals into the UVES data, the detectability can be studied in the presence of real data with real noise properties. Correcting for the relatively low throughput (∼4%) of the Proxima spectra to an assumed 20% throughput for a high-dispersion spectrograph on the European ELT, we find that the molecular oxygen signature of an Earth-twin transiting a nearby (d ≈ 7 pc) M5V star can be detected in 20–50 transits (a total of 70–175 hr of observing time). This estimate, using more realistic simulations, is close to previous predictions. Novel concepts that increase the instrumental throughput can further reduce the time span over which such observations need to be taken.
First Cosmology Results Using SNe Ia from the Dark Energy Survey: Analysis, Systematic Uncertainties, and Validation

We present the analysis underpinning the measurement of cosmological parameters from 207 spectroscopically classified SNe Ia from the first 3 years of the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program (DES-SN), spanning a redshift range of 0.017 < z < 0.849. We combine the DES-SN sample with an external sample of 122 low-redshift (z < 0.1) SNe Ia, resulting in a “DES-SN3YR” sample of 329 SNe Ia. Our cosmological analyses are blinded: after combining our DES-SN3YR distances with constraints from the Cosmic Microwave Background, our uncertainties in the measurement of the dark energy equation-of-state parameter, w, are 0.042 (stat) and 0.059 (stat+syst) at 68% confidence. We provide a detailed systematic uncertainty budget, which has nearly equal contributions from photometric calibration, astrophysical bias corrections, and instrumental bias corrections. We also include several new sources of systematic uncertainty. While our sample is less than one-third the size of the Pantheon sample, our constraints on w are only larger by 1.4×, showing the impact of the DES-SN Ia light-curve quality. We find that the traditional stretch and color standardization parameters of the DES-SNe Ia are in agreement with earlier SN Ia samples such as Pan-STARRS1 and the Supernova Legacy Survey. However, we find smaller intrinsic scatter about the Hubble diagram (0.077 mag). Interestingly, we find no evidence for a Hubble residual step (0.007 ± 0.018 mag) as a function of host-galaxy mass for the DES subset, in 2. 4σ tension with previous measurements. We also present novel validation methods of our sample using simulated SNe Ia inserted in DECam images and using large catalog-level simulations to test for biases in our analysis pipelines.
STELLAR POPULATIONS OF Lyα EMITTERS AT z = 4.86: A COMPARISON TO z ∼ 5 LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES

We present a study of a stellar population of Lyα emitters (LAEs) at z = 4.86 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey North (GOODS-N) field and its flanking field. The LAEs are selected based on optical narrowband (NB711) and broadband (V, Ic, and z′) observations by the Suprime-Cam attached to the Subaru Telescope. With the publicly available Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) data in GOODS-N and further IRAC observations in the flanking fields, we select five LAEs that are not contaminated by neighboring objects in IRAC images and construct their observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with Ic, z′, IRAC 3.6 μm, and 4.5 μm band photometries. The SEDs cover the rest-frame UV-to-optical wavelengths. We derive the stellar masses, ages, color excesses, and star formation rates (SFRs) of the five LAEs using an SED fitting method. Assuming a constant star formation history, we find that the stellar masses range from 108 to 1010 M☉ with the median value of 2.5 × 109 M☉. The derived ages range from very young (7.4 Myr) to 437 Myr, with a median age of 25 Myr. The color excess E(B − V) is between 0.1and0. 4 mag. SFRs are 55–209 M☉ yr−1. A comparison of the stellar populations is made between 3 LAEs and 88 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) selected at the same redshift, in the same observed field, and down to the same limit of the rest-frame UV luminosity. These three LAEs are the brightest and reddest samples of all the LAE samples at z = 4.86. The LAEs are distributed at the relatively faint part of the UV-luminosity distribution of LBGs. Deriving the stellar properties of the LBGs by fitting their SEDs with the same model ensures that model difference does not affect the comparison. It is found that the stellar properties of the LAEs are located in the region where the properties of LBGs are distributed. On average, the LAEs show less dust extinction and lower SFRs than LBGs, while the stellar mass of LAEs lies nearly in the middle part of the mass distribution of LBGs. However, the stellar properties of LAEs and LBGs are similar at the fixed UV or optical luminosity. We also examine the relations between the output properties from the SED fitting and the rest-frame Lyα equivalent width, but cannot find any significant correlation.
A Particle Numerical Approach Based On TheSPH Method For Computational Fluid Mechanics

Meshfree methods have experienced an important improvementin the last decade. Actually, we can say that the emerging meshless technology constitutes the most promising tool to simulate complex problems in the fluid dynamics area. In this paper we present a formulation which combines a Lagrangian description of the fluid movement (following the spirit of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics and Vortex Particle Methods) with a Galerkin formulation and Moving Least-Squares approximation. The performance of the methodology proposed is shown through various dynamic simulations, demonstrating the attractive ability of particle methods to handle severe distortions and complex phenomena.