Semantic browsing of digital collections

Visiting museums is an increasingly popular pastime. Studies have shown that visitors can draw on their museum experience, long after their visit, to learn new things in practical situations. Rather than viewing a visit as a single learning event, we are interested in ways of extending the experience to allow visitors to access online resources tailored to their interests. Museums typically have extensive archives that can be made available online, the challenge is to match these resources to the visitor’s interests and present them in a manner that facilitates exploration and engages the visitor. We propose the use of knowledge level resource descriptions to identify relevant resources and create structured presentations. A system that embodies this approach, which is in use in a UK museum, is presented and the applicability of the approach to the broader semantic web is discussed

One-step generation of high-quality squeezed and EPR states in cavity QED

We show how to generate bilinear (quadratic) Hamiltonians in cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) through the interaction of a single driven three-level atom with two (one) cavity modes. With this scheme it is possible to generate one-mode mesoscopic squeezed superpositions, two-mode entanglements, and two-mode squeezed vacuum states (such the original EPR state), without the need for Ramsey zones and external parametric amplification. The degree of squeezing achieved is up to 99% with currently feasible experimental parameters and the errors due to dissipative mechanisms become practically negligible

Discovery of the neutron star nature of SLX 1737-282

SLX 1737-282 is a persistent moderately bright X-ray source 1.2 deg from the Galactic center. X-ray observations with the Wide Field Cameras on BeppoSAX have for the first time revealed the true nature of SLX 1737-282: a 15-min long thermonuclear flash was detected exposing the source as a neutron star in a binary system. The flash was Eddington-limited constraining the distance to between 5 and 8 kpc. We analyze BeppoSAX, ROSAT, and RXTE data on SLX 1737-282. The persistent 0.5-200 keV luminosity is close to or less than 1% of the Eddington limit which implies a rarely-seen circumstance for thermonuclear flash activity.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letter

State of New York Public Employment Relations Board Decisions from October 31, 2011

BD_Mtng_10_31_2011.pdf: 282 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

The patria of Claudianus (FGrHist 282)

Following the interpretation of Felix Jacoby (FGrHist 282), I argue that the Κλαυδιανός quoted by the scholium to the Gr. Anth. I 19 is the same man presented by the Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius (I 19) as one of the most famous poets of the age of Theodosius II. He dedicated his patria to four cities involved in the movements and the reforms of the imperial court between 408 and 450 (Tarsus, Anazarbus, Berytus and Nicaea). For this reason, I reject the identification proposed by Alan Cameron between the Κλαυδιανός of the scholium and the Latin poet Claudian, who worked for the emperor Honorius and died around 404. In the same way, I turn down the proposal of Pawel Janiszewski, who identifies the mysterious author with the philosopher of the same name, who lived in the mid-fourth century and is quoted by the Lives of Sophists of Eunapius (VII 1,4; XVIII 1)

Effectiveness of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in children under 10 years of age in Senegal: a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial

This study was done to determine the effectiveness of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in Senegalese children up to 10 years of age using a stepped-wedge design. Outcomes included mortality, malaria cases treated as outpatients, severe malaria, and the prevalence of parasitaemia and anaemia, and adverse drug reactions. 54 health posts were randomized. 9 started implementation of SMC in 2008, 18 in 2009, and a further 18 in 2010, with 9 remaining as controls. In the first year of implementation SMC was delivered to children aged 3-59 months, the age range was then extended for the latter two years of the study to include children up to 10 years of age

Periodic minimal surfaces of cubic symmetry

A survey of cubic minimal surfaces is presented, based on the concept of fundamental surface patches and their relation to the asymmetric units of the space groups. The software Surface Evolver has been used to test for stability and to produce graphic displays. Particular emphasis is given to those surfaces that can be generated by a finite piece bounded by straight lines. Some new varieties have been found and a systematic nomenclature is introduced, which provides a symbol (a ‘gene’) for each triply-periodic minimal surface that specifies the surface unambiguously

Warsaw, Town of and International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 264

In the Matter of Impasse in Negotiations between TOWN OF WARSAW and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS LOCAL 264 (WARSAW HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT). PERB Case M2006-282. Edward A. Schmidt, Fact Finder