The pick-up of cometary protons by the solar wind

The High Energy Range Spectrometer (HERS) of the Ion Mass Spectrometer on the Giotto spacecraft measured the 3-dimensional distribution of picked-up cometary protons over a distance of approximately 8 million km upstream of the bow shock of Comet Halley. The protons were observed to be elastically scattered out of their original cycloidal trajectories such that they were nonuniformly distributed over a spherical shell in velocity space. The shell radius (relative to its expected radius) and thickness increased as the bow shock was approached. Downstream of the shock, the cometary protons could not be distinguished from the heated solar wind protons

The Pulsed Neutron Beam EDM Experiment

We report on the Beam EDM experiment, which aims to employ a pulsed cold neutron beam to search for an electric dipole moment instead of the established use of storable ultracold neutrons. We present a brief overview of the basic measurement concept and the current status of our proof-of-principle Ramsey apparatus

Safety-Aware Apprenticeship Learning

Apprenticeship learning (AL) is a kind of Learning from Demonstration techniques where the reward function of a Markov Decision Process (MDP) is unknown to the learning agent and the agent has to derive a good policy by observing an expert's demonstrations. In this paper, we study the problem of how to make AL algorithms inherently safe while still meeting its learning objective. We consider a setting where the unknown reward function is assumed to be a linear combination of a set of state features, and the safety property is specified in Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic (PCTL). By embedding probabilistic model checking inside AL, we propose a novel counterexample-guided approach that can ensure safety while retaining performance of the learnt policy. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on several challenging AL scenarios where safety is essential.Comment: Accepted by International Conference on Computer Aided Verification (CAV) 201

Sampling for Bayesian program learning

Towards learning programs from data, we introduce the problem of sampling programs from posterior distributions conditioned on that data. Within this setting, we propose an algorithm that uses a symbolic solver to efficiently sample programs. The proposal combines constraint-based program synthesis with sampling via random parity constraints. We give theoretical guarantees on how well the samples approximate the true posterior, and have empirical results showing the algorithm is efficient in practice, evaluating our approach on 22 program learning problems in the domains of text editing and computer-aided programming.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award NSF-1161775)United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Award FA9550-16-1-0012

Geographical interdependence, international trade and economic dynamics: the Chinese and German solar energy industries

The trajectories of the German and Chinese photovoltaic industries differ significantly yet are strongly interdependent. Germany has seen a rapid growth in market demand and a strong increase in production, especially in the less developed eastern half of the country. Chinese growth has been export driven. These contrasting trajectories reflect the roles of market creation, investment and credit and the drivers of innovation and competitiveness. Consequent differences in competiveness have generated major trade disputes

Glutathione-magnetite nanoparticles: synthesis and physical characterization for application as MRI contrast agent

In this work a one-pot synthesis of water soluble glutathione capped magnetite nanoparticles is reported. The magnetic characterization of the samples shows the expected superparamagnetic behavior, but a wide range of blocking temperatures is found, since the size and interparticle interactions are very sensitive to preparation conditions. These properties are correlated with the glutathione-iron ratio and oxidant dose, in order to optimize the aqueous colloidal stability and magnetic properties of the superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for Magnetic Resonance Imaging applications. The efficiency of the glutathione coated nanoparticles as contrast agent is then evaluated by means of the determination of the relaxation times T1 and T2 in H-1 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance experiments. Moreover, the influence of the thickness of the glutathione capping layer on the colloidal stability and, thus, on relaxation times has been studied. Finally, the relaxitivity of the sample that shows the best performance has been determined.This research was supported by the Innovation and Science Ministry (PN/PETRI/PR/2007-019) and the Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness (PI16/00784) of the government of Spain

Екологічні відмінності земельного покриву в часовому інтервалі при визначенні впливу промисловості на ландшафти

The assessment of the spatial structure the land cover has great significance for the research of landscape especially from the aspect of the maintaining landscape ecological stability and the sustainable development as well as the landscape potential. At the same time it has an important role in identifying of impacts the industry on the landscape. The classes of land cover layers can be considered as the basis for other analyses of landscape. Purpose.: In the contribution we decided to compare the changes in landscape structure between the years 1958 - 2009 in territory of city Krompachy. Methods: field, analytical and mathematical. Results: For evaluating changes in the landscape structure we used topographic map from 1958 and orthophotomaps of the actual situation in 2009. The changes in the landscape structure were evaluated through GIS technologies in time horizon 1958 - 2009. Absolute and percentage differences in the land cover classes for the time horizon 1958 - 2009 are expressed by means of contingency tables transformation. The trends in the development classes of land cover are documented by the graph of the land cover classes on the second hierarchical level.Оценка пространственной структуры растительного покрова имеет большое значение для исследования ландшафта, особенно с точки зрения эксплуатирующей ландшафтной экологической стабильности и устойчивого развития, а также ландшафтного потенциала. В то же время она играет важную роль в определении воздействия промышленности на ландшафт. Классы  слоёв  растительного  покрова  можно рассмотреть как основание для других исследований ландшафта. Цель: Сравниваются изменения в ландшафтной структуре между 1958 - 2009 годами на территории города Кромпачи. Методы: полевой, аналитический и математический. Результаты: Для оценки изменений в ландшафтной структуре использовано топографическую карту 1958 года и ортофотопланы фактической ситуации 2009 года. При этом, изменения в ландшафтной структуре были оценены с помощью ГИС-технологий во временном интервале 1958 – 2009 гг. Абсолютные и процентные различия в классах земельного покрова для временного интервала 1958 – 2009 гг. выявлены с помощью преобразовательных таблиц. Тенденции изменения почвенно-растительного покрова установлены с помощью графика классов растительного покрова для второго иерархического уровня. Оцінка просторової структури рослинного покриву має велике значення для дослідження ландшафту, особливо з точки зору експлуатуючої ландшафтної екологічної стабільності та сталого розвитку, а також ландшафтного потенціалу. У той же час вона грає важливу роль у визначенні впливу промисловості на ландшафт. Класи шарів рослинного покриву можна розглянути як підставу для інших досліджень ландшафту. Мета: Порівнюються зміни в ландшафтній структурі між 1958 - 2009 роками на території міста Кромпачі. Методи: польовий, аналітичний та математичний. Результати: Для оцінки змін в ландшафтній структурі використано топографічну карту 1958 року і ортофотоплани фактичної ситуації 2009 року. При цьому, зміни в ландшафтній структурі були оцінені за допомогою ГІС-технологій в часовому інтервалі 1958 - 2009 рр. Абсолютні і процентні відмінності в класах земельного покриву для часового інтервалу 1958 - 2009 рр. виявлені за допомогою перетворювальних таблиць. Тенденції зміни грунтово-рослинного покриву встановлені за допомогою графіка класів рослинного покриву для другого ієрархічного рівня