Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Worker Mobility in Practice: Is Quitting a Right, or a Luxury?

have access to considerable savings to cover advance rent and security deposits or to cover expenses while awaiting the sale of a home. And much like in the labor market, there is persistent and well-documented discrimination in the housing market that raises these costs for people of color. Finally, access to credit can smooth out job transition costs, but it is not universal and reflects clear racial differences. Black and Hispanic Americans also have considerably less wealth to tap into than white Americans. Our assessment of these and other labor market and financial considerations illustrates the extent to which barriers to mobility can make moving jobs a luxury, rather than a right. The theoretical context of these findings is dynamic monopsony: the harder it is for a worker to leave, the more power an employer has over that worker’s wages.
Evaluating the Performance of Chiller Plant Efficiency Using Random Forest Model: A High-Rise Building Case Study

Assessing electricity consumption of chilled-water cooling plants is essential for near-optimal operation and carbon emission reduction. The goal of this study is to develop an efficient chiller sequencing control strategy for different building operating conditions. To that end, this study aims to develop three Random Forest (RF) chiller models for predicting chiller power consumption and two more efficient chiller sequencing control strategies for a 1.3 million ft 2 high-rise commercial office building located in New York City. Chiller cooling load, chiller power consumption, and ambient wet bulb temperature were logged at 15-min intervals in May–September 2019, and used to train RF models for analyzing the two more efficient chiller sequencing strategies. The average value of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root mean squared error (RMSE) for all three RF chiller models are 5.3% and 30 kW, respectively, for the validation dataset, which confirms a good agreement between measured and predicted values. Results of this study provide additional insights on how to accurately predict the total chiller power consumption of cooling plants under different chiller sequencing control strategies.
Pulse-amplitude-resolved spectroscopy of bright accreting pulsars: indication of two accretion regimes

Context. In addition to coherent pulsation, many accreting neutron stars exhibit flaring activity and strong aperiodic variability on time scales comparable to or shorter than their pulsation period. This behavior shows that the accretion flow in the vicinity of the accretor must be highly non-stationary. Observational study of this phenomenon is often problematic because it requires very high statistics of X-ray data and a specific analysis technique. Aims. In our research we used high-resolution data taken with RXTE and INTEGRAL on a sample of bright transient and persistent pulsars to perform an in-depth study of their variability on time scales comparable to the pulsation period – ”pulse-to-pulse variability”. Methods. The high-quality data allowed us to collect individual pulses of different amplitude and explore their X-ray spectrum as a function of pulse amplitude. The described approach allowed us for the first time to study the luminosity dependence of pulsars’ X-ray spectra in observations where the averaged (over many pulse cycles) luminosity of the source remains constant. Results. In all studied pulsars we reveal significant spectral changes as a function of the pulse height both in the continuum and in the cyclotron absorption features. The sources appear to form two groups that show different dependencies of the spectrum on pulse height. We interpret this division as a manifestation of two distinct accretion regimes that are at work in different pulsars.
Bright high z SnIa: A challenge for {lambda}CDM

It has recently been pointed out by Kowalski et. al.[Astrophys. J. 686, 749 (2008). ] that there is 'an unexpected brightness of the SnIa data at z>1'. We quantify this statement by constructing a new statistic which is applicable directly on the type Ia supernova (SnIa) distance moduli. This statistic is designed to pick up systematic brightness trends of SnIa data points with respect to a best fit cosmological model at high redshifts. It is based on binning the normalized differences between the SnIa distance moduli and the corresponding best fit values in the context of a specific cosmological model (e.g. {lambda}CDM). These differences are normalized by the standard errors of the observed distance moduli. We then focus on the highest redshift bin and extend its size toward lower redshifts until the binned normalized difference (BND) changes sign (crosses 0) at a redshift z{sub c} (bin size N{sub c}). The bin size N{sub c} of this crossing (the statistical variable) is then compared with the corresponding crossing bin size N{sub mc} for Monte Carlo data realizations based on the best fit model. We find that the crossing bin size N{sub c} obtained from the Union08 and Gold06 data with respect tomore » the best fit {lambda}CDM model is anomalously large compared to N{sub mc} of the corresponding Monte Carlo data sets obtained from the best fit {lambda}CDM in each case. In particular, only 2.2% of the Monte Carlo {lambda}CDM data sets are consistent with the Gold06 value of N{sub c} while the corresponding probability for the Union08 value of N{sub c} is 5.3%. Thus, according to this statistic, the probability that the high redshift brightness bias of the Union08 and Gold06 data sets is realized in the context of a (w{sub 0},w{sub 1})=(-1,0) model ({lambda}CDM cosmology) is less than 6%. The corresponding realization probability in the context of a (w{sub 0},w{sub 1})=(-1.4,2) model is more than 30% for both the Union08 and the Gold06 data sets indicating a much better consistency for this model with respect to the BND statistic. « less
The Orbital Period of the Wolf-Rayet Binary IC 10 X-1: Dynamic Evidence that the Compact Object Is a Black Hole

IC 10 X-1 is a bright (LX = 1038 ergs s-1) variable X-ray source in the Local Group starburst galaxy IC 10. The most plausible optical counterpart is a luminous Wolf-Rayet star, making IC 10 X-1 a rare example of a Wolf-Rayet X-ray binary. In this Letter, we report on the detection of an X-ray orbital period for IC 10 X-1 of 34.4 hr. This result, combined with a reexamination of optical spectra, allows us to determine a mass function for the system of f(M) = 7.8 M☉ and a probable mass for the compact object of 24-33 M☉. If this analysis is correct, the compact object is the most massive stellar-mass black hole known. We further show that the observed period is inconsistent with Roche lobe overflow, suggesting that the binary is detached and that the black hole is accreting the wind of the Wolf-Rayet star. The observed mass-loss rate of [MAC92] 17A is sufficient to power the X-ray luminosity of IC 10 X-1.
Direct numerical simulation of inertial particle entrainment in a shearless mixing layer

Abstract We present the first computational study of the dynamics of inertial particles in a shearless turbulence mixing layer. We parametrize our direct numerical simulations to isolate the effects of turbulence, Reynolds number, particle inertia, and gravity on the entrainment process. By analysing particle concentrations, particle and fluid velocities, particle size distributions, and higher-order velocity moments, we explore the impact of particle inertia and gravity on the mechanism of turbulent mixing. We neglect thermodynamic processes, including phase changes between the drops and surrounding air, which is equivalent to assuming the air is saturated (i.e. 100 % humidity). Entrainment is found to be governed by the large scales of the flow and is relatively insensitive to the Reynolds number over the range considered. Our results show that both fluid and particle velocities exhibit intermittency and that gravity and turbulent diffusion interact in unexpected ways to dictate particle dynamics. An analysis of the temporal evolution of fluid and particle statistics suggests that particle concentration profiles and velocities are self-similar under certain circumstances. We also observe large fluctuations in particle concentrations resulting from entrainment and introduce a model to estimate the impact these fluctuations have on the radial distribution function, a statistic that is often used to quantify inertial particle clustering. Our study is both a computational counterpart to and an extension of the wind tunnel experiments by Gerashchenko, Good & Warhaft (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 668, 2011, pp. 293–303) and Good, Gerashchenko, & Warhaft (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 694, 2012, pp. 371–398). We find good agreement between these experimental studies and our computational results. We anticipate that a better understanding of the role of gravity and turbulence in inertial particle entrainment will lead to improved cloud evolution predictions.
An End-to-End Recurrent Neural Network for Radial MR Image Reconstruction

Recent advances in deep learning have contributed greatly to the field of parallel MR imaging, where a reduced amount of k-space data are acquired to accelerate imaging time. In our previous work, we have proposed a deep learning method to reconstruct MR images directly from k-space data acquired with Cartesian trajectories. However, MRI utilizes various non-Cartesian trajectories, such as radial trajectories, with various numbers of multi-channel RF coils according to the purpose of an MRI scan. Thus, it is important for a reconstruction network to efficiently unfold aliasing artifacts due to undersampling and to combine multi-channel k-space data into single-channel data. In this work, a neural network named ‘ETER-net’ is utilized to reconstruct an MR image directly from k-space data acquired with Cartesian and non-Cartesian trajectories and multi-channel RF coils. In the proposed image reconstruction network, the domain transform network converts k-space data into a rough image, which is then refined in the following network to reconstruct a final image. We also analyze loss functions including adversarial and perceptual losses to improve the network performance. For experiments, we acquired k-space data at a 3T MRI scanner with Cartesian and radial trajectories to show the learning mechanism of the direct mapping relationship between the k-space and the corresponding image by the proposed network and to demonstrate the practical applications. According to our experiments, the proposed method showed satisfactory performance in reconstructing images from undersampled single- or multi-channel k-space data with reduced image artifacts. In conclusion, the proposed method is a deep-learning-based MR reconstruction network, which can be used as a unified solution for parallel MRI, where k-space data are acquired with various scanning trajectories.
A pseudoscalar glueball and charmed mesons in the extended Linear Sigma Model

In the framework of the so-called extended linear sigma model (eLSM), we include a pseudoscalar glueball with a mass of 2.6 GeV (as predicted by Lattice-QCD simulations) and we compute the two- and three-body decays into scalar and pseudoscalar mesons. This study is relevant for the future PANDA experiment at the FAIR facility. As a second step, we extend the eLSM by including the charm quark according to the global $U(4)_R \times U(4)_L$ chiral symmetry. We compute the masses, weak decay constants and strong decay widths of open charmed mesons. The precise description of the decays of open charmed states is important for the CBM experiment at FAIR.
Yield Curve Estimation by Kernel Smoothing Methods

We introduce a new method for the estimation of discount functions, yield curves and forward curves from government issued coupon bonds. Our approach is nonparametric and does not assume a particular functional form for the discount function although we do show how to impose various restrictions in the estimation. Our method is based on kernel smoothing and is defined as the minimum of some localized population moment condition. The solution to the sample problem is not explicit and our estimation procedure is iterative, rather like the backfitting method of estimating additive nonparametric models. We establish the asymptotic normality of our methods using the asymptotic representation of our estimator as an infinite series with declining coefficients. The rate of convergence is standard for one dimensional nonparametric regression. We investigate the finite sample performance of our method, in comparison with other well-established methods, in a small simulation experiment.
Laparoscopic Versus Robot-Assisted Pyeloplasty in Adults—A Single-Center Experience

Background: Laparoscopic (LP) and robot-assisted pyeloplasty (RAP) are minimally invasive techniques for correcting uretero-pelvic junction obstruction (UPJO). We retrospectively compared the clinical outcomes of all adults who underwent RAP (n = 41) to those who underwent LP (n = 24) for UPJO at our institution between 2003–2022. Methods: Age, sex, body mass index, surgical side, past abdominal/endoscopic surgeries, pre- and postoperative renal scans, pre- and postoperative serum creatinine levels, operative time (OT), presence of crossing vessels, estimated blood loss, postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, time to JJ stent removal, follow-up length, and postoperative hydronephrosis were analyzed. Results: The groups were demographically comparable. The mean total and skin-to-skin OTs (minutes) were significantly longer in the RAP group than in the LP group (242.4 ± 55 vs. 161.4 ± 40 p < 0.001; 163.7 ± 41.8 vs. 124.3 ± 30.3 p = 0.006, respectively). Hospital stay (days) was shorter in the RAP group (3.3 ± 2.1 vs. 7.3 ± 2.5 p < 0.001). Postoperative complication rates were identical for both groups. The LP group had a significantly longer follow-up period (85.2 ± 73 vs. 19 ± 14 months p < 0.001). The success rates for the LP and RAP groups were 87.5% and 90.6% (p = 0.708). Conclusions: RAP achieves equivalent results to LP, in adult patients. A longer OT may be expected with the robotic system since it can handle more complicated cases.
Optical Observing Conditions at Delingha Station

SONG is a global ground-based network of 1m telescopes for stellar time-domain science, an international collaboration involving many countries across the world. In order to enable a favorable duty cycle, the SONG network plans to create a homogeneous distribution of four nodes in each of the northern and southern hemispheres. An expected possibility was building one of the northern nodes in East Asia, preferably on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. During the last decade, a great deal of effort has been invested in searching for a high-quality site for ground-based astronomy in China, since this has been one of the major concerns for the development of Chinese astronomy. A number of sites on the plateau have been in operation for many years, but most of them are used only for radio astronomy, as well as small optical telescopes that are used for applied astronomy. Several potential sites for large optical instruments have been identified by the plateau site survey, but so far none of them have been adequately quantitatively characterized. Here we present results from a detailed multi-year study of the Delingha site, which was eventually selected for the SONG-China node. We also describe the site-monitoring system that will allow an isolated SONG and 50BiN node to operate safely in an automated mode.
Food Restriction Counteracts Dexamethasone-Induced Downregulation of Genes Involved in Cholesterol Homeostasis in Rat Brain during Aging

Glucocorticoids are the most potent anti-inflammatory agents known. Limited in vivo data are available to characterize the mechanism underlying their cognitive side effects and transient occurrence of steroid psychosis. Cholesterol is important for proper neurotransmission and brain plasticity, and disruption of its homeostasis in the brain has been closely associated with memory decline during aging and in age-related neurodegenerative disorders. In the present study, we assessed the direct effects of dexamethasone, a potent synthetic glucocorticoid, on the expression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and cholesterol 24S-hydroxylase (CYP46A1), major enzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis, metabolism, and excretion, respectively. The effects of the dexamethasone were examined during aging, in the cortex and hippocampus of 6-, 12- and 18-month-old rats, and following long-term food restriction (FR). The most prominent change observed was the age-related decrease in ApoE mRNA regardless of the food regimen applied. In animals kept on FR, this decrease was accompanied by an increase in the mRNA expression of HMGCR and CYP46A1. The present study also demonstrates that food restriction reversed most of the dexamethasone-induced changes in the expression of genes involved in regulation of cholesterol homeostasis in aging rats, in a region-specific manner.
Reflection and conversion of magnetogravity waves in the solar chromosphere: windows to the upper atmosphere

The detection of upward propagating internal gravity waves at the base of the Sun's chromosphere has recently been reported by Straus et al., who postulated that these may efficiently couple to Alfven waves in magnetic regions. This may be important in transporting energy to higher levels. Here we explore the propagation, reflection and mode conversion of linear gravity waves in a model atmosphere and find that even weak magnetic fields usually reflect gravity waves back downwards as slow magnetoacoustic waves well before they reach the Alfven/acoustic equipartition height at which mode conversion might occur. However, for certain highly inclined magnetic field orientations in which the gravity waves manage to penetrate near or through the equipartition level, there can be substantial conversion to either or both up-going Alfven and acoustic waves. Wave-energy fluxes comparable to the chromospheric radiative losses are expected.
BPS Z 2 monopoles and N=2 SU(n) superconformal field theories on the Higgs branch

We obtain BPS Z(2) monopole solutions in Yang-Mills-Higgs theories with the gauge group SU(n) broken to Spin(n)/Z(2) by a scalar field in the nxn representation. We show that the magnetic weights of the so-called fundamental Z(2) monopoles correspond to the weights of the defining representation of the algebra dual to so(n), and the masses of the nonfundamental BPS Z(2) monopoles are equal to the sum of the masses of the constituent fundamental monopoles. We also show that the vacua responsible for the existence of these Z(2) monopoles are present in the Higgs branch of a class of N=2 SU(n) superconformal field theories. We analyze some dualities these monopoles may satisfy.
Biological invasions as global environmental change

In recent years the difficult question "what constitutes scientific misconduct? " has troubled prominent ethicists and scientists and tied many a blue-ribbon panel in knots. In teaching an ethics class for graduate and undergraduate students over the past few years, we have identified what seems to be a necessary starting point for this debate: the clearest possible understanding of how science actually works. Without such an understanding, we believe, one can easily imagine formulating plausible-sounding ethical principles that would be unworkable or even damaging to the scientific enterprise.
Surface charging of Saturn's plasma absorbing moons: theoretical estimations and comparisons with Cassini observations

Recent results from the study of the interaction of Earth's moon with the solar wind have highlighted lunar surface charging as an important physical process not only for the local interaction of the surface and the impinging plasma but also for charged dust ejection and transport. Excluding Earth's moon, however, such studies have been limited to very few solar system bodies. Here we assess the importance of surface charging for the Saturnian plasma-absorbing moons. In this initial study, we focus on the various moons' trailing hemispheres and their variable charging patterns as a function of their magnetospheric local time. With only a few exceptions, our results indicate negative potentials for all moons, with the most extreme values predicted for Rhea. When the leading hemisphere is partially sunlit, the surface potential profile can be quite complex with many different transition regions. We also find that electrostatic acceleration of dust is at least equally as (if not more) important as it is for Earth's moon for the submicron grains, but it is probably not sufficient to explain the detection of the larger micron-sized grains in the vicinity of the large moons of the outer planets. Regarding Saturn's asteroid-sized moons, we predict that electrostatic forces can accelerate grains above the escape velocity and populate the Saturnian system and/or contribute to dust transport across those moons' surfaces. On the basis of these results, we also propose several methods by which Cassini's instruments could be used to directly observe the effects of surface charging.
More than ‘creative’: analyzing place branding strategies and Chinese migration in the City of Prato, Italy

ABSTRACT In a progressively urbanized world, the modes of governamentality adopted by city administrations increasingly focus on the adoption of strategic functions. Environmental safeguard, circular economy, and urban innovation, for instance, have been referred to, in the case of the Italian city of Prato, as the city’s orientation ‘towards the future’. Some of the ambitious projects that have characterized the recently adopted governance model of Prato relate in fact to urban forestation, connectivity, the realization of more public space and the application of ‘creativity’ as a driving force for urban development. Significantly, too, representations of Prato (as of today one of the most studied examples of migration from China to Europe) have been tied to images of a conflictual multiculturalism and to the liminal spaces of social relations within which Chineseness has often been relegated. In this article, I use secondary data and first-handedly retrieved information through qualitative methods to describe how the recent place branding project promoted by the municipality based on the concept of ‘creativity’ has particularly targeted a neighborhood named Macrolotto Zero, marked by decades of migration from China. In doing so, I discuss how the formulation and application of the place brand have generated frictions between stakeholders, as well as new transcultural alliances. These speak to the challenges of achieving a condition of living with difference in the city and provide a still-underexplored platform from which city-making processes and social identities can be analyzed.
The simplest causal inequalities and their violation

In a scenario where two parties share, act on and exchange some physical resource, the assumption that the parties’ actions are ordered according to a definite causal structure yields constraints on the possible correlations that can be established. We show that the set of correlations that are compatible with a definite causal order forms a polytope, whose facets define causal inequalities. We fully characterize this causal polytope in the simplest case of bipartite correlations with binary inputs and outputs. We find two families of nonequivalent causal inequalities; both can be violated in the recently introduced framework of process matrices, which extends the standard quantum formalism by relaxing the implicit assumption of a fixed causal structure. Our work paves the way to a more systematic investigation of causal inequalities in a theory-independent way, and of their violation within the framework of process matrices.