Effective control of the error in a direct measurement of core-loss power

Accuracy of a direct measurement of core-loss power is severely limited in many applications by the extra phase shift between the measured voltage and current. An analysis of the error is for the first time performed, which not only unfolds the hidden physical nature behind it, but also reveals a simple and effective method to control the sensitivity and hence the error. This method can also be used to satisfy a prescribed tolerance. Extensive measurements on a TDK PC40 core yield results which support the analysis

Did GW170817 harbor a pulsar?

If the progenitor of GW170817 harbored a pulsar, then a Poynting flux dominated bow-shock cavity would have been expected to form around the traveling binary. The characteristic size of this evacuated region depends strongly on the spin-down evolution of the pulsar companion, which in turn depends on the merging timescale of the system. If this evacuated region is able to grow to a sufficiently large scale, then the deceleration of the jet, and thus the onset of the afterglow, would be noticeably delayed. The first detection of afterglow emission, which was uncovered 9.2 days after the $\gamma$-ray burst trigger, can thus be used to constrain the size of a pre-existing pulsar-wind cavity. We use this information, together with a model of the jet to place limits on the presence of a pulsar in GW170817 and discuss the derived constraints in the context of the observed double neutron star binary population. We find that the majority of Galactic systems that are close enough to merge within a Hubble time would have carved a discernibly large pulsar-wind cavity, inconsistent with the onset timescale of the X-ray afterglow of GW170817. Conversely, the recently detected system J1913+1102, which host a low-luminosity pulsar, provides a congruous Milky Way analog of GW170817's progenitor model. This study highlights the potential of the proposed observational test for gaining insight into the origin of double neutron star binaries, in particular if the properties of Galactic systems are representative of the overall merging population.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL, 6 pages, 5 figure

Body Use and Reference Group Impact: With Whom Do We Compare Our Bodies?

Fifty U.S. Olympic speedskating team members, 50 professional models, and 80 college students completed the Body Esteem Scale (BES: Franzoi & Shields, 1984) and indicated for each of the 35 BES items whether when evaluating themselves they most frequently use as a comparison standard same-sex people in general, same-sex professional models, or elite same-sex athletes. Consistent with social comparison theory that people seek similar others as comparison targets, college students were more likely than Olympic athletes or professional models to compare themselves to people in the general population, athletes were more likely than students or models to compare themselves to elite athletes, and models tended to be more likely than students or athletes to compare themselves to elite models. As hypothesized, college women more frequently than college men compared themselves to professional models when evaluating body aspects associated with weight concern and sexual attractiveness, and the more female skaters’ compared themselves to models, the more their negative body attitudes associated with weight concern increased and the more interested they were in changing weight-related body aspects

Topological bound states for quantum charges

We discuss how, in appropriately designed configurations, solenoids carrying a semifluxon can be used as topological energy barriers for charged quantum systems. We interpret this phenomenon as a consequence of the fact that such solenoids induce nodal lines in the wave function describing the charge, which on itself is a consequence of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. Moreover, we present a thought experiment with a cavity where two solenoids are sufficient to create bound states.Comment: Close to published versio

Temporary Jobs: Stepping Stones or Dead Ends?

In Britain about 7% of male employees and 10% of female employees are in temporary jobs. In contrast to much of continental Europe - with stricter employment protection provisions - this proportion has been relatively stable over the 1990s. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, and informed by relevant theory relating to probation, sorting and human capital investment, we find that temporary workers report lower levels of job satisfaction, receive less work-related training, and are less well-paid than their counterparts in permanent employment. However, there is some evidence that fixed-term contracts are a stepping stone to permanent work. Women (but not men) who start in fixed-term employment and move to permanent jobs fully catch up to those who start in permanent jobs.temporary jobs, fixed term contracts, individual unobserved heterogeneity, job-specific effects.

Gauge Coupling Unification in MSSM + 5 Flavors

We investigate gauge coupling unification at 2-loops for theories with 5 extra vectorlike SU(5) fundamentals added to the MSSM. This is a borderline case where unification is only predicted in certain regions of parameter space. We establish a lower bound on the scale for the masses of the extra flavors, as a function of the sparticle masses. Models far outside of the bound do not predict unification at all (but may be compatible with unification), and models outside but near the boundary cannot reliably claim to predict it with an accuracy comparable to the MSSM prediction. Models inside the boundary can work just as well as the MSSM.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures. Added references, fixed minor typos. No changes to content. Page count was incorrect in v1 Comment

Marriage, Partnership and Sexual Orientation: A Study of British University Academics and Administrators

Using a unique data source on marital status, partnership and sexual orientation of academics and administrators at British universities, we estimate the impact of personal relationships upon earnings for men and women. While university data cover a relatively homogeneous group of workers, the two sides of the university are very different, with administrative jobs being more like the general job market in the economy. We find a large and significant married male premium, but only on the administrative side of the university. There is no female marriage premium, and no partnership return to gay men or to either heterosexual or homosexual women.sexual orientation, marriage, partnership, academic labour markets

Ranking and Selection with Covariates for Personalized Decision Making

We consider a problem of ranking and selection via simulation in the context of personalized decision making, where the best alternative is not universal but varies as a function of some observable covariates. The goal of ranking and selection with covariates (R&S-C) is to use simulation samples to obtain a selection policy that specifies the best alternative with certain statistical guarantee for subsequent individuals upon observing their covariates. A linear model is proposed to capture the relationship between the mean performance of an alternative and the covariates. Under the indifference-zone formulation, we develop two-stage procedures for both homoscedastic and heteroscedastic simulation errors, respectively, and prove their statistical validity in terms of average probability of correct selection. We also generalize the well-known slippage configuration, and prove that the generalized slippage configuration is the least favorable configuration for our procedures. Extensive numerical experiments are conducted to investigate the performance of the proposed procedures, the experimental design issue, and the robustness to the linearity assumption. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of R&S-C via a case study of selecting the best treatment regimen in the prevention of esophageal cancer. We find that by leveraging disease-related personal information, R&S-C can substantially improve patients' expected quality-adjusted life years by providing patient-specific treatment regimen