Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HST Paschen alpha and 1.9 micron imaging of Sgr A West

We present HST/NICMOS images at 0.2" resolution of the HI Paschen Alpha (PaA) emission line in a 70" x 90" region of the Galactic center centered on the non-thermal radio source Sgr A*. The majority of the emission arises from ionized gas in the mini-spiral in the central parsec. PaA emission is also seen from 26 stellar sources, presumably early-type stars with mass-loss winds. The new data reveal significant small-scale structure (<1"~0.04pc) in the ionized gas of the mini-spiral; low surface brightness emission features are also seen for the first time. Extinction, estimated from the ratio of observed PaA emission to 6-cm continuum emission, varies from 20 to 50 mag with a median Av=31.1 mag, in excellent agreement with earlier estimates for the stellar sources and indepedent measurements derived using H92alpha recombination line data. Large increases in extinction are seen along the periphery of the ionized gas, suggesting that the ionized gas is partially extincted by dust in the molecular clouds at the outside of the ionized regions. The small-scale, filamentary structures in the ionized gas have a free thermal expansion time of only ~ 3000 yrs; either magnetic fields or mass-loss winds from the hot emission line stars may contain the ionized filaments. For both the ionized gas and the stellar continuum, the centroids of the emission remain within ~+/- 1" from a radius of 2" out to 40", providing further evidence that Sgr A* is indeed at or extremely close to the dynamical center of the Galactic nucleus stellar distribution. The 1.9 micron surface brightness increases inwards to 0.9" and then decreases or levels off closer to Sgr A*, possibly indicating the core radius of the central stellar distribution or depletion of the late-type stars by stellar collisions near the central black hole.
Photometric survey of marginally investigated open clusters: I. Basel 11b, King 14, Czernik 43

To progress in galactic studies based on open clusters, e.g. cluster formation rate or kinematical properties, one needs to improve the number of open clusters observed. However, only half of the 1700 known galactic open clusters have been properly observed so far, making any statistical investigation insignificant, especially at larger distances from the Sun. We study marginally investigated or neglected open clusters with Bessell CCD BVR photometry, whose data were used to fit isochrones to the individual color-magnitude diagrams. We examined the galactic clusters Basel 11b, King 14 and Czernik 43, the last being observed for the first time to this extent. As well as a careful comparison to available photometry, their parameters such as age, interstellar reddening, distance and apparent diameter were determined. The obtained cluster properties were verified by near infrared 2MASS data. The three investigated intermediate age clusters are all located in the galactic disk with distances between 1.8 and 3.0kpc from the Sun.
Sources of Finance, Investment Policies and Plant Entry in the Renewable Energy Sector

This report looks specifically at the full array of public policies promoting investment in the renewable energy sector, and discusses their impact on plant entry into the market, with the support of case studies focusing on Germany, the U.S.A. and Australia. It examines differing risk/return expectations across stages of the investment continuum (from R&D through to mergers and acquisitions) and the financial structures that are employed at each stage. Although transparency, predictability and longevity of government programmes are necessary if investors are to initiate a project in clean energy, predictability should not be mistaken for permanence. In the case where policies target investment in physical capital, it is important to ‘sunset’ many of the policies discussed in this report. It is the nature of entrepreneurship that not all investments in new activities will pay off and not all promotion efforts will be successful. Against such a backdrop, public investment policy will also frequently meet with failure. Combining continuous assessment with policy predictability is a delicate balancing act. Clear criteria for policy evaluation are required, and ideally the criteria for success should depend on productivity.
Dynamical atomic charges: The case of ABO(3) compounds

Based on recent first-principles computations in perovskite compounds, especially BaTiO3, we examine the significance of the Born effective charge concept and contrast it with other atomic charge definitions, either static (Mulliken, Bader, etc.) or dynamical (Callen, Szigeti, etc.). It is shown that static and dynamical charges are not driven by the same underlying parameters. A unified treatment of dynamical charges in periodic solids and large clusters is proposed. The origin of the difference between static and dynamical charges is discussed in terms of local polarizability and delocalized transfers of charge: local models succeed in reproducing anomalous effective charges thanks to large atomic polarizabilities but, in ABO(3) compounds, ab initio calculations favor the physical picture based upon transfer of charges. Various results concerning barium and strontium titanates are presented. The origin of anomalous Born effective charges is discussed thanks to a band-by-band decomposition which allows us to identify the displacement of the Wannier center of separated bands induced by an atomic displacement. The sensitivity of the Born effective charges to microscopic and macroscopic strains is examined. Finally, we estimate the spontaneous polarization in the four phases of barium titanate.
Endobiotic microalgae in molluscan life

Endobiotic microalgae inhabit various groups of organisms, including bivalves. In this group, the association between the giant molluscs Tridacna and Symbiodinium is one of the most recognizable. This consortium allows hydrobionts to survive in oligotrophic waters by regulating their metabolism. The available research has provided an understanding of the interaction and adaptation of these symbionts, but the problem of the beginning of the formation of these relationships remains unresolved. In the case of Tridacninae, symbiosis is essential for the survival of bivalves, in contrast to representatives of the Mytilidae and the Coccomyxa found in them. A few works devoted mainly to the morphological aspects of invasion have shown that endobiont causes inflammation and pathology. Having data to clarify the exact “diagnosis” of the interaction of these organisms is not enough. It is possible that the relationship between bivalves and Coccomyxa is in the early stages of being established, which may lead to mutualism or parasitism in the future. We assume that the analysis of works on the symbiosis of Symbiodinium and bivalves will facilitate the course of research for the less studied Coccomyxa and their hosts. By postulating the Coccomyxa represent a unique evolutionary model for the formation of a symbiotic system, it is possible to use this system to study the interaction of organisms during their initial contact. The identified signalling pathways and mechanisms that allow the photobionts to evade host immunity can be useful for constructing new forms of symbiosystems.
Effect of Cyclic Olefin Copolymer on Dielectric Performance of Polypropylene Films for Capacitors

In this article, aiming at the high conductance loss and low breakdown strength of the polypropylene (PP) film under a high-temperature environment, we attempt to improve the dielectric properties of PP films by blending cyclic olefin copolymer (COC). It is shown that these two materials have good interfacial compatibility. COC has little effect on the crystal form and dielectric loss of the PP/COC film because it is an amorphous polymer without the polar group. At 105 °C, a low proportion of the COC is beneficial to the decrease of dc conductivity and the increase of the breakdown strength. Since the glass transition temperature of COC is much higher than PP, the dimensional stability of the PP/COC film is improved at high temperatures. The cyclic structure of COC restricts the movement of PP molecular chains in the free volume, which plays an important role in inhibiting the migration of carriers and improving the breakdown properties. This method provides a feasible idea to improve the high-temperature resistance of metalized film capacitors (MFCs).
Relationships between walking speed, activities and participation in people with chronic stroke in Burundi

Background Reduced walking speed because of a stroke may limit activities of daily living (ADLs) and restrict social participation. Objectives To describe the level of balance impairment, activity limitations, and participation restrictions and to investigate their relationship with walking speed in Burundians with chronic stroke. Methods This cross-sectional study involved adult stroke survivors. Walking speed, balance, ADLs and social participation were assessed with the 10-meter walk test (10 mWT), the Berg balance scale (BBS), the activity limitation stroke scale and the participation measurement scale, respectively. In order to determine ambulatory independence status, participants were stratified into three walking speed groups (household ambulation, limited ambulation and full-community ambulation), based on the Perry classification. Results Fifty-eight adults (mean age 52.1 ± 11.4 years) with chronic stroke were included in our study. Most participants had severe balance impairments (median BBS score, 27). Their mean (± standard deviation [SD]) walking speeds, ADL levels and social participation levels were 0.68 ± 0.34 m/s, 50.8% ± 9.3% and 52.8% ± 8.6%, respectively. Walking speed correlated moderately with balance (rho = 0.5, p < 0.001) and strongly with ADL level (r = 0.7, p < 0.001) but not with participation level (r = 0.2, p = 0.25). Conclusion Using socio-culturally suitable tools, our study showed that walking speed correlates robustly with balance and ADL ability, but not with social participation, in Burundi, a low-income country. Clinical implications Exercises targeting walking speed would be very useful for people with chronic stroke living in low-resource countries, in order to promote their functional independence.
Evolution of perpendicular magnetized tunnel junctions upon annealing

We study the evolution of perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junctions under 300 to 400 $^{\circ}$C annealing. The hysteresis loops do not evolve much during annealing and they are not informative of the underlying structural evolutions. These evolutions are better revealed by the frequencies of the ferromagnetic resonance eigenmodes of the tunnel junction. Their modeling provides the exchange couplings and the layers' anisotropies within the stack which can serve as a diagnosis of the tunnel junction state after each annealing step. The anisotropies of the two CoFeB-based parts and the two Co/Pt-based parts of the tunnel junction decay at different rates during annealing. The ferromagnet exchange coupling through the texture-breaking Ta layer fails above 375$^{\circ}$C. The Ru spacer meant to promote a synthetic antiferromagnet behavior is also insufficiently robust to annealing. Based on these evolutions we propose optimization routes for the next generation tunnel junctions.
Strain mapping in single-layer two-dimensional crystals via Raman activity

By performing density functional theory-based ab-initio calculations, Raman active phonon modes of novel single-layer two-dimensional (2D) materials and the effect of in-plane biaxial strain on the peak frequencies and corresponding activities of the Raman active modes are calculated. Our findings confirm the Raman spectrum of the unstrained 2D crystals and provide expected variations in the Raman active modes of the crystals under in-plane biaxial strain. The results are summarized as follows; (i) frequencies of the phonon modes soften (harden) under applied tensile (compressive) strains, (ii) the response of the Raman activities to applied strain for the in-plane and out-of-plane vibrational modes have opposite trends, thus, the built-in strains in the materials can be monitored by tracking the relative activities of those modes, (iii) in particular, the A-peak in single-layer Si and Ge disappear under a critical tensile strain, (iv) especially in mono and di- atomic single-layers, the shift of the peak frequencies is stronger indication of the strain rather than the change in Raman activities, (v) Raman active modes of single-layer ReX 2 (X=S, Se) are almost irresponsive to the applied strain. Strain-induced modifications in the Raman spectrum of 2D materials in terms of the peak positions and the relative Raman activities of the modes could be a convenient tool for characterization.
Density-functional theory based on the electron distribution on the energy coordinate

We developed an electronic density functional theory utilizing a novel electron distribution n(ϵ) as a basic variable to compute ground state energy of a system. n(ϵ) is obtained by projecting the electron density n ( r ) defined on the space coordinate r onto the energy coordinate ϵ specified with the external potential υ ext ( r ) of interest. It was demonstrated that the Kohn–Sham equation can also be formulated with the exchange-correlation functional Exc[n(ϵ)] that employs the density n(ϵ) as an argument. It turned out an exchange functional proposed in our preliminary development suffices to describe properly the potential energies of several types of chemical bonds with comparable accuracies to the corresponding functional based on local density approximation. As a remarkable feature of the distribution n(ϵ) it inherently involves the spatially non-local information of the exchange hole at the bond dissociation limit in contrast to conventional approximate functionals. By taking advantage of this property we also developed a prototype of the static correlation functional Esc including no empirical parameters, which showed marked improvements in describing the dissociations of covalent bonds in H 2 , C 2 H 4 and CH 4 molecules.
Structural mechanisms for the activation of human cardiac KCNQ1 channel by electro-mechanical coupling enhancers

Significance The dynamic voltage-sensing domain–pore domain (VSD-PD) coupling process during the gating of voltage-gated ion channels remains largely unknown despite decades of intensive study. The voltage-gated potassium channel KCNQ1, which plays a key role in controlling the heart rhythm, provides a good model to dissect the dynamic VSD-PD coupling due to its unique two-open-state gating mechanism. In this study, we determined high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structures of full-length human KCNQ1 with two VSD-PD coupling enhancers — the membrane lipid PIP2 (phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate) and a small-molecule ML277. These structures uncover the molecular mechanisms for these VSD-PD coupling enhancers to activate the KCNQ1 channel and pave the way to develop new therapeutics for anti-arrhythmia.
Electric-field-induced phase transition in ⟨001⟩-oriented Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 single crystals

⟨001⟩-oriented 0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.3PbTiO3 single crystals were poled under two different electric fields, Epoling = 4 and 13 kV cm−1. In addition to the temperature-dependent dielectric constant measurement, x-ray diffraction was also used to identify the poling-induced phase transitions. The results showed that the phase transition significantly depends on the poling intensity. The weaker field (Epoling = 4 kV cm−1) was able to overcome the effect of the random internal field to produce the phase transition from the rhombohedral ferroelectric state with short-range ordering (microdomains), FESRO, to the rhombohedral ferroelectric state with long-range ordering (macrodomains), FELRO. But the rhombohedral ferroelectric-to-tetragonal ferroelectric phase transition originating from ⟨111⟩ to ⟨001⟩ polarization rotation could only be induced by the stronger field (Epoling = 13 kV cm−1). The sample poled at Epoling = 4 kV cm−1 showed a higher piezoelectric constant, d33 ≥1500 pC N−1, than the sample poled at Epoling = 13 kV cm−1.
A New, Larger Sample of Supernova Remnants in NGC 6946

The relatively nearby spiral galaxy NGC 6946 is one of the most actively star-forming galaxies in the local universe. Ten supernovae (SNe) have been observed since 1917, and hence NGC 6946 surely contains a large number of supernova remnants (SNRs). Here we report a new optical search for these SNRs using narrowband images obtained with the WIYN telescope. We identify 147 emission nebulae as likely SNRs, based on elevated [S ii]:Hα ratios compared to H ii regions. We have obtained spectra of 102 of these nebulae with Gemini North–GMOS; of these, 89 have [S ii]:Hα ratios greater than 0.4, the canonical optical criterion for identifying SNRs. There is very little overlap between our sample and the SNR candidates identified by Lacey et al. from radio data. Also, very few of our SNR candidates are known X-ray sources, unlike the situation in some other galaxies such as M33 and M83. The emission-line ratios, e.g., [N ii]:Hα, of the candidates in NGC 6946 are typical of those observed in SNR samples from other galaxies with comparable metallicity. None of the candidates observed in our low-resolution spectra show evidence of anomalous abundances or significant velocity broadening. A search for emission at the sites of all the historical SNe in NGC 6946 resulted in detections for only two: SN 1980K and SN 2004et. Spectra of both show very broad, asymmetric line profiles, consistent with the interaction between SN ejecta and the progenitor star’s circumstellar material, as seen in late spectra from other core-collapse SNe of similar age.
Lithium detection in a field brown dwarf candidate

We report the first detection ofthe lithium resonance line (6708 A) in a field brown dwarf candidate. Brown dwarfs, by definition, do not achieve the core temperatures necessary for stable hydrogen burning. Lithium has a lower fusion temperature than hydrogen and has been proposed as an age indicator for young low-mass stars. The new brown dwarf candidate was discovered from a survey using photographic plates with selection solely based on red colour, which avoids kinematic and hence age bias. Interpreted within the best available models, the presence of lithium and its inferred temperature (2800 ± 200 K) rule out the possibility that it is a younger, premain-sequence star and indicate a mass of 0.065 ± 0.025 M0 • Its brightness (J = 14.6) will allow high-resolution spectroscopy of lithium and other light elements enabling calibration of the atmospheric and evolutionary models for very low-mass objects.
Magnetic Motion Tracking for Natural Human Computer Interaction: A Review

In the field of multimodal human–computer interaction (HCI), hand (and finger) motion tracking remains a critical challenge because it is the input means of visual reproduction and provides the necessary parameters for real-time modeling of the haptic model. Among motion tracking methods including optical tracking methods, inertial tracking methods, and magnetic motion tracking (MMT) methods, the MMT method has a great development prospect as a marker-based method because of its advantages of no line-of-sight problem, being natural-oriented, and high accuracy. In this article, we first discuss the performance and application scenarios under different configurations of electromagnet-based MMT (EMMT) and permanent-magnet-based MMT (PMMT) systems. And then, the MMT algorithms are reviewed, which can be divided into two broad categories: The model-based algorithms include linear algorithm, nonlinear optimization algorithm, and recursive Bayesian algorithm, and the offline-data-based algorithms include neural network algorithm and lookup table (LUT) algorithm. In addition, a state-of-the-art comparison of MMT algorithms is given. In the end, we have an insightful discussion and give the expected future outlook of MMT.
Whimper of a Bang: Documenting the Final Days of the Nearby Type Ia Supernova 2011fe

Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Large Binocular Telescope, we followed the evolution of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2011fe for an unprecedented 1840 days past B-band maximum light and over a factor of 7 million in flux. At 1840 days, the 4000 – 17000 Å quasi-bolometric luminosity is just ( 420 ± 20 ) L ⊙ . By measuring the late-time quasi-bolometric light curve, we present the first confident detection of 57Co decay in a SN Ia light curve and estimate a mass ratio of log ( 57 Co / 56 Co ) = − 1.59 − 0.07 + 0.06 . We do not have a clean detection of 55 Fe , but find a limit of 55 Fe / 57 Co < 0.22 with 99% confidence. These abundance ratios provide unique constraints on the progenitor system because the central density of the exploding white dwarf(s) dictates these nucleosynthetic yields. The observed ratios strongly prefer the lower central densities of double-degenerate models ( 55 Fe / 57 Co = 0.27 ) over the higher central densities of near-Chandrasekhar-mass single-degenerate models ( 55 Fe / 57 Co = 0.68 ). However, additional theoretical studies predicting isotopic yields from a broader range of progenitor systems are motivated by these unique observations. We will continue to observe SN 2011fe for another ∼600 days with HST and possibly beyond.
Pancharatnam-Berry phase and kinetic magnetoelectric effect in trigonal tellurium

We study the kinetic magnetoelectric effect (current-induced magnetization including both the orbital and spin contributions) in three-dimensional conductors, specializing to the case of p-doped trigonal tellurium. We include both intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to the effect, which stem from the band structure of the crystal, and from disorder scattering, respectively. Specifically, we determine the dependence of the kinetic magnetoelectric response on the hole doping in tellurium, and show that the intrinsic and extrinsic effects dominate for low and high levels of doping, respectively. The results of this work imply that three-dimensional helical metals are promising for spintronics applications, in particular, they can provide robust control over current-induced magnetic torques.
Domain walls of relative phase in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates

We consider a system of two interpenetrating Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms in two different hyperfine spin states. We show that in the presence of a small coupling drive between the two spin levels, there exist domain walls across which the relative phase of the two condensates changes by 2pi. We give the physical interpretation of such walls. We show that the wall tension determines the force between certain pairs of vortices at large distances. We also show that the probability of the spontaneous decay of the domain wall is exponentially suppressed, both at finite and at zero temperature, and determine the exponents in the regime of small Rabi frequency. We briefly discuss how such domain walls could be created in future experiments.