Labour market effects of crowdwork in the US and EU: an empirical investigation

Is it possible to estimate the real impact of micro-task crowdwork on wages and working conditions of platform workers? Do workers involved in micro-task outsourcing differ in their characteristics from traditional salaried workers of similar ability? Are micro-task crowdworkers similar or different in the United States and in Europe? In this paper, we address these questions by comparing wages and working conditions across onlineplatform workers and traditional workers in a quasi-experimental approach which exploits caregiving as an instrument for participation in crowdwork. We find evidence that, when controlling for workers’ observed and unobserved ability, traditional workers retain a significant premium in their earnings with respect to platform workers, though this effect is not as large as descriptive statistics may hint. Moreover, labour force in crowdworking arrangements appears to suffer from high levels of under-utilisation, relegating crowdworkers into a new category of idle workers whose human capital is neither fully utilised nor adequately compensated

Nonlinear Resonance Interaction between Conjugate Circumferential Flexural Modes in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

This paper presents an investigation on the dynamical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), and nonlinear modal interaction and energy exchange are analysed in detail. Resonance interactions between two conjugate circumferential flexural modes (CFMs) are investigated. The nanotubes are analysed through a continuous shell model, and a thin shell theory is used to model the dynamics of the system; free-free boundary conditions are considered. The Rayleigh-Ritz method is applied to approximate linear eigenfunctions of the partial differential equations that govern the shell dynamics. An energy approach, based on Lagrange equations and series expansion of the displacements, is considered to reduce the initial partial differential equations to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations of motion. The model is validated in linear field (natural frequencies) by means of comparisons with literature. A convergence analysis is carried out in order to obtain the smallest modal expansion able to simulate the nonlinear regimes. The time evolution of the nonlinear energy distribution over the SWCNT surface is studied. The nonlinear dynamics of the system is analysed by means of phase portraits. The resonance interaction and energy transfer between the conjugate CFMs are investigated. A travelling wave moving along the circumferential direction of the SWCNT is observed

Damping oriented design of thin-walled mechanical components by means of multi-layer coating technology

The damping behaviour of multi-layer composite mechanical components, shown by recent research and application papers, is analyzed. A local dissipation mechanism, acting at the interface between any two different layers of the composite component, is taken into account, and a beam model, to be used for validating the known experimental results, is proposed. Multi-layer prismatic beams, consisting of a metal substrate and of some thin coated layers exhibiting variable stiffness and adherence properties, are considered in order to make it possible to study and validate this assumption. A dynamical model, based on a simple beam geometry but taking into account the previously introduced local dissipation mechanism and distributed visco-elastic constraints, is proposed. Some different application examples of specific multi-layer beams are considered, and some numerical examples concerning the beam free and forced response are described. The influence of the multilayer system parameters on the damping behaviour of the free and forced response of the composite beam is investigated by means of the definition of some damping estimators. Some effective multi-coating configurations, giving a relevant increase of the damping estimators of the coated structure with respect to the same uncoated structure, are obtained from the model simulation, and the results are critically discussed

Forecasting high waters at Venice Lagoon using chaotic time series analisys and nonlinear neural netwoks

Time series analysis using nonlinear dynamics systems theory and multilayer neural networks models have been applied to the time sequence of water level data recorded every hour at 'Punta della Salute' from Venice Lagoon during the years 1980-1994. The first method is based on the reconstruction of the state space attractor using time delay embedding vectors and on the characterisation of invariant properties which define its dynamics. The results suggest the existence of a low dimensional chaotic attractor with a Lyapunov dimension, DL, of around 6.6 and a predictability between 8 and 13 hours ahead. Furthermore, once the attractor has been reconstructed it is possible to make predictions by mapping local-neighbourhood to local-neighbourhood in the reconstructed phase space. To compare the prediction results with another nonlinear method, two nonlinear autoregressive models (NAR) based on multilayer feedforward neural networks have been developed. From the study, it can be observed that nonlinear forecasting produces adequate results for the 'normal' dynamic behaviour of the water level of Venice Lagoon, outperforming linear algorithms, however, both methods fail to forecast the 'high water' phenomenon more than 2-3 hours ahead.Publicad

Vlasov Simulations of Trapping and Inhomogeneity in Raman Scattering

We study stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in laser-fusion conditions with the Eulerian Vlasov code ELVIS. Back SRS from homogeneous plasmas occurs in sub-picosecond bursts and far exceeds linear theory. Forward SRS and re-scatter of back SRS are also observed. The plasma wave frequency downshifts from the linear dispersion curve, and the electron distribution shows flattening. This is consistent with trapping and reduces the Landau damping. There is some acoustic ($\omega\propto k$) activity and possibly electron acoustic scatter. Kinetic ions do not affect SRS for early times but suppress it later on. SRS from inhomogeneous plasmas exhibits a kinetic enhancement for long density scale lengths. More scattering results when the pump propagates to higher as opposed to lower density.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to "Journal of Plasmas Physics" for the conference proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Numerical Simulation of Plasma

Breather arrest in a chain of damped oscillators with Hertzian contact

Breather propagation in a damped oscillatory chain with Hertzian nearest-neighbour coupling is investigated. The breather propagation exhibits an unusual two-stage pattern. The first stage is characterized by power-law decay of the breather amplitude. This stage extends over finite number of the chain sites. Drastic drop of the breather amplitude towards the end of this finite fragment is referred to as breather arrest. At the second stage, the breather exhibits very small amplitudes with hyper-exponential decay. Numeric results are rationalized by considering a simplified model of two damped linear oscillators coupled by Hertzian contact forces. Initial excitation of one of these oscillators results in a finite number of beating cycles in the system. This simplified model reliably predicts main features of the breather arrest. More general coupling potentials and effect of pre-compression on the breather propagation are also discussed

Condition Monitoring Techniques of Ball Bearings in Non-stationary Conditions

Frequently, the Industry suggests non-trivial problems and new fields of research for the Academy. This is the case of the ball bearing diagnostics in direct-drive motors. Direct-drive motors are brushless motors fully controlled by the drive system. Thanks to an encoder or a resolver mounted on the shaft, they can perform complex motion profiles, such as polynomials or splines, including reverse rotation of the shaft. The main advantage of direct-drive motors is the removal of cams or gearboxes afterwards motor with a consequent strong reduction of economic and maintaining costs. Indeed, their main drawback is the difficulty to make diagnostics on the bearings. Regarding bearing diagnostics, most of the techniques present in literature are based on the search of fault-characteristic frequencies in the vibration spectrum of the motor. These fault frequencies are linearly dependent on the rotational frequency of the shaft if it is supposed constant. However, in direct-drive motors the rotational speed changes continuously and consequently the fault frequencies are meaningless. The paper reports a brief overview of some techniques for the condition monitoring of ball bearings in non-stationary conditions used by the Authors in the case of a packaging machine working under variable speed. The techniques adopted include an improved version of the computed order tracking, the cross-correlation function and three supervised learning approaches: artificial neural networks, artificial immune systems and support vector machines

Nonlinear vibration of continuous systems

Continuous systems, such as beams, membranes, plates, shells, and other structural/mechanical components, represent fundamental elements of mechanical systems in any field of engineering: Aerospace, Aeronautics, Automation, Automotive, Civil, Nuclear, Petroleum, and Railways. The modern designer is required to optimize structural elements to improve the performance-to-cost ratio, produce lightweight machines, and improve the efficiency. Such optimizations easily lead to a magnification of vibration/dynamic problems such as resonances, instabilities, and nonlinear behaviors. Therefore, the development of new methods of analysis, testing, and monitoring is greatly welcome. This special issue focuses on sharing recent advances and developments of theories, algorithms, and applications that involve the dynamics and vibrations of continuous systems. The contributions to this special issue include innovative theoretical studies, advanced numerical simulations, and new experimental approaches to investigate and better understand complex dynamic phenomena; more specifically, methods and theories for beams, membranes, plates, and shells; numerical approaches for structural elements; fluid-structure interaction; nonlinear acoustics; identification, diagnosis, friction models, and vehicle dynamics. Seventeen contributions have been received from all over the world: Canada, China, Kazakhstan, Italy, Macau, Spain, and USA. This shows the generalized interest on the topic. The following short description of the special issue content is organized by grouping the contributions in coherent subtopics