Lobe Overflow as the Likely Cause of Pericenter Outburst in an SMBH Orbiter

A very large lobe overflow event is suggested to explain the $0.^m4$ brightening observed in K band at pericenter passage of the star known as S2 that orbits the Galaxy's supermassive black hole (SMBH). Known observed properties of S2 that contribute to lobe filling are 1) the enormous mass ratio, $M_{SMBH}/M_{S2}$, 2) S2's fast rotation, and 3) S2's large orbital eccentricity. Published estimates have given limiting lobe sizes of order 100 to 300 $R_\odot$ but, with S2's fast rotation taken into account, the computed lobe size is much smaller, being compatible with either a main sequence OB star or a stripped evolved star. An important evolutionary consideration that predicts very large pericenter overflows is envelope expansion following mass loss that is characteristic of highly evolved stars. Material removed by lobe overflow at pericenter is replenished by envelope expansion as an evolved star awaits its next pericenter passage. An observational signature of lobe overflow for upcoming pericenter passages would be appearance of emission lines as the ejected gas expands and becomes optically thin.Comment: Accepted by ApJ April 201

Artificial Intelligence Approach to the Determination of Physical Properties of Eclipsing Binaries. I. The EBAI Project

Achieving maximum scientific results from the overwhelming volume of astronomical data to be acquired over the next few decades will demand novel, fully automatic methods of data analysis. Artificial intelligence approaches hold great promise in contributing to this goal. Here we apply neural network learning technology to the specific domain of eclipsing binary (EB) stars, of which only some hundreds have been rigorously analyzed, but whose numbers will reach millions in a decade. Well-analyzed EBs are a prime source of astrophysical information whose growth rate is at present limited by the need for human interaction with each EB data-set, principally in determining a starting solution for subsequent rigorous analysis. We describe the artificial neural network (ANN) approach which is able to surmount this human bottleneck and permit EB-based astrophysical information to keep pace with future data rates. The ANN, following training on a sample of 33,235 model light curves, outputs a set of approximate model parameters (T2/T1, (R1+R2)/a, e sin(omega), e cos(omega), and sin i) for each input light curve data-set. The whole sample is processed in just a few seconds on a single 2GHz CPU. The obtained parameters can then be readily passed to sophisticated modeling engines. We also describe a novel method polyfit for pre-processing observational light curves before inputting their data to the ANN and present the results and analysis of testing the approach on synthetic data and on real data including fifty binaries from the Catalog and Atlas of Eclipsing Binaries (CALEB) database and 2580 light curves from OGLE survey data. [abridged]Comment: 52 pages, accepted to Ap

What Matters to Australians: Our Social, Political and Economic Values

Societies are complex entities with competing and conflicting and supporting and reinforcing characteristics. This study, part of a multiyear project sponsored by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in conjunction with the University of Technology, Sydney and Melbourne Business School, seeks to chart the social, economic and political preferences of our society using a unique methodology that provides us with a more accurate and robust picture of how we, as citizens, make fundamental trade-offs about things of material interest to our society. The study was conducted in Australia with more than 1,500 participants chosen to match the profile of the voting age population. Similar studies were conducted in the UK, USA and Germany. Examined were 16 categories of general social, economic and political issues that ranged from the local (e.g., crime & public safety) to the global (e.g., global security) along with 113 subissues that also varied from the local (e.g., public transport and children’s schooling) to the global (e.g., nuclear non-proliferation and third world debt). This information was linked to information on the population’s religious and political activities, its general demographics, and donating and volunteering activities with civil society organisations

What Matters to Americans: Social, Political and Economic Values

Societies are complex entities with competing and conflicting and supporting and reinforcing characteristics. This study, part of a multiyear project sponsored by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in conjunction with the University of Technology, Sydney and Melbourne Business School, seeks to chart the social, economic and political preferences of society, using a unique methodology that provides us with a more accurate and robust picture of how individuals, as citizens, make fundamental trade-offs about things of material interest to their society. The study was conducted in the United States of America with more than 2,800 participants, chosen to match the profile of the voting age population. Similar studies were conducted in the UK, Australia and Germany, providing data on more than 9,000 individuals.1 Examined were 16 categories of general social, economic and political issues that ranged from the local (for example, crime and public safety) to the global (for example, global security) along with 113 sub-issues that also varied from the local (for example, public transport and children’s schooling) to the global (for example, nuclear nonproliferation and third world debt). This information was linked to data on the population’s religious and political activities, its general demographics, and donating and volunteering activities with civil society organizations

What Matters to Citizens of the United Kingdom: Social, Political and Economic Values

Societies are complex entities with competing and conflicting and supporting and reinforcing characteristics. This study, part of a multiyear project sponsored by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in conjunction with the University of Technology, Sydney and Melbourne Business School, seeks to chart the social, economic and political preferences of society using a unique methodology that provides us with a more accurate and robust picture of how individuals, as citizens, make fundamental trade-offs about things of material interest to their society. The study was conducted in the United Kingdom with nearly 1,700 participants, chosen to match the profile of the voting age population. Similar studies were conducted in Australia, the USA and Germany. Examined were 16 categories of general social, economic and political issues that ranged from the local (for example, crime and public safety) to the global (for example, global security) along with 113 sub-issues that also varied from the local (for example, public transport and children’s schooling) to the global (for example, nuclear non-proliferation and third world debt). This information was linked to data on the population’s religious and political activities, its general demographics, and donating and volunteering activities with civil society organisations

E-Business Strategy and Firm Performance: A Latent Class Assessment of the Drivers and Impediments to Success

Among many leading organizations, in all sectors of industry, commerce and government, there is considerable evidence of e-business being deployed to achieve strategic goals. Where this deployment has been most successful, there is a strong case that the organization has taken an integrated approach that both builds on the organization\u27s strengths and pays careful attention to the process of change within the organization. However, in the literature most empirical work has either studied e-business strategy and performance from the perspective of strategy content – which highlights positioning and/or unique bundles of resources – or from the perspective of strategy process – which captures human influence and e-business implementation. In this study, we integrate these two perspectives to develop a more holistic understanding of the underlying drivers of e-business performance. Further, latent class modeling techniques are used to show that the variables in our study are heavily influenced by the unobservable heterogeneity across firms. Four distinct types of firms populate our data, and the relationship between performance and its underlying determinants varies greatly between them. The implication is that a single model cannot explain the relationship between environment, structure, feasibility, managerial beliefs and performance. This is critical to our understanding of e-business as it implies that there is far less homogeneity at the individual firm level than is normally assumed in the literature

Risk propensity in the foreign direct investment location decision of emerging multinationals

A distinguishing feature of emerging economy multinationals is their apparent tolerance for host country institutional risk. Employing behavioral decision theory and quasi-experimental data, we find that managers’ domestic experience satisfaction increases their relative risk propensity regarding controllable risk (legally protectable loss), but decreases their tendency to accept non-controllable risk (e.g., political instability). In contrast, firms’ potential slack reduces relative risk propensity regarding controllable risk, yet amplifies the tendency to take non-controllable risk. We suggest that these counterbalancing effects might help explain observation that risk-taking in FDI location decisions is influenced by firm experience and context. The study provides a new understanding of why firms exhibit heterogeneous responses to host country risks, and the varying effects of institutions

Complexity Theory for a New Managerial Paradigm: A Research Framework

In this work, we supply a theoretical framework of how organizations can embed complexity management and sustainable development into their policies and actions. The proposed framework may lead to a new management paradigm, attempting to link the main concepts of complexity theory, change management, knowledge management, sustainable development, and cybernetics. We highlight how the processes of organizational change have occurred as a result of the move to adapt to the changes in the various global and international business environments and how this transformation has led to the shift toward the present innovation economy. We also point how organizational change needs to deal with sustainability, so that the change may be consistent with present needs, without compromising the future

Global molecular epidemiology of IMP-producing Enterobacteriaceae

International data on the molecular epidemiology of Enterobacteriaceae with IMP carbapenemases are lacking. We performed short read (Illumina) whole genomic sequencing on a global collection of 38 IMP-producing clinical Enterobacteriaceae (2008-14). IMP-producing Enterobacteriaceae (7 varieties within 11 class 1 integrons) were mainly present in South Pacific and Asia. Specific blaIMP containing integrons (In809 with blaIMP-4, In722 with blaIMP-6, In687 with blaIMP-14) were circulating among different bacteria in countries such as Australia, Japan and Thailand. In1312 with blaIMP-1 was present in K. pneumoniae from Japan and C. freundii from Brazil. Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=22) was the most common species; clonal complex (CC) 14 from the Philippines and Japan was the most common clone and contained In1310 with blaIMP-26 and In1321 with blaIMP-6. Enterobacter cloacae complex (n=9) consisted of E. hormaechei and E. cloacae cluster III. CC78 (from Taiwan) containing In73 with blaIMP-8, was the most common clone among E. cloacae complex. This study highlights the importance of surveillance programs using the latest molecular techniques in providing insight into the characteristics and global distribution of Enterobacteriaceae with blaIMPs.This work was supported by the John Mung Program from Kyoto University, Japan (Y.M.), a research grant from the Calgary Laboratory Services (#10015169; J.D.D.P) and federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services under Award Number U19AI110819 (MDA).http://aac.asm.org2017-10-30hb2017Medical Microbiolog