1,631 research outputs found
Ion-water clusters, bulk medium effects, and ion hydration
Thermochemistry of gas-phase ion-water clusters together with estimates of
the hydration free energy of the clusters and the water ligands are used to
calculate the hydration free energy of the ion. Often the hydration
calculations use a continuum model of the solvent. The primitive quasichemical
approximation to the quasichemical theory provides a transparent framework to
anchor such efforts. Here we evaluate the approximations inherent in the
primitive quasichemical approach and elucidate the different roles of the bulk
medium. We find that the bulk medium can stabilize configurations of the
cluster that are usually not observed in the gas phase, while also
simultaneously lowering the excess chemical potential of the ion. This effect
is more pronounced for soft ions. Since the coordination number that minimizes
the excess chemical potential of the ion is identified as the optimal or most
probable coordination number, for such soft ions, the optimum cluster size and
the hydration thermodynamics obtained without account of the bulk medium on the
ion-water clustering reaction can be different from those observed in
simulations of the aqueous ion. The ideas presented in this work are expected
to be relevant to experimental studies that translate thermochemistry of
ion-water clusters to the thermodynamics of the hydrated ion and to evolving
theoretical approaches that combine high-level calculations on clusters with
coarse-grained models of the medium
Few-Shot Bayesian Imitation Learning with Logical Program Policies
Humans can learn many novel tasks from a very small number (1--5) of
demonstrations, in stark contrast to the data requirements of nearly tabula
rasa deep learning methods. We propose an expressive class of policies, a
strong but general prior, and a learning algorithm that, together, can learn
interesting policies from very few examples. We represent policies as logical
combinations of programs drawn from a domain-specific language (DSL), define a
prior over policies with a probabilistic grammar, and derive an approximate
Bayesian inference algorithm to learn policies from demonstrations. In
experiments, we study five strategy games played on a 2D grid with one shared
DSL. After a few demonstrations of each game, the inferred policies generalize
to new game instances that differ substantially from the demonstrations. Our
policy learning is 20--1,000x more data efficient than convolutional and fully
convolutional policy learning and many orders of magnitude more computationally
efficient than vanilla program induction. We argue that the proposed method is
an apt choice for tasks that have scarce training data and feature significant,
structured variation between task instances.Comment: AAAI 202
Rapid trial-and-error learning with simulation supports flexible tool use and physical reasoning
Many animals, and an increasing number of artificial agents, display
sophisticated capabilities to perceive and manipulate objects. But human beings
remain distinctive in their capacity for flexible, creative tool use -- using
objects in new ways to act on the world, achieve a goal, or solve a problem. To
study this type of general physical problem solving, we introduce the Virtual
Tools game. In this game, people solve a large range of challenging physical
puzzles in just a handful of attempts. We propose that the flexibility of human
physical problem solving rests on an ability to imagine the effects of
hypothesized actions, while the efficiency of human search arises from rich
action priors which are updated via observations of the world. We instantiate
these components in the "Sample, Simulate, Update" (SSUP) model and show that
it captures human performance across 30 levels of the Virtual Tools game. More
broadly, this model provides a mechanism for explaining how people condense
general physical knowledge into actionable, task-specific plans to achieve
flexible and efficient physical problem-solving.Comment: This manuscript is in press at PNAS. It is an extended version of a
paper "Rapid Trial-and-Error Learning in Physical Problem Solving" accepted
for oral presentation at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science
Society (2019). It represents ongoing work on the part of the author
Lifelong learning of cognitive styles for physical problem-solving: The effect of embodied experience
‘Embodied cognition’ suggests that our bodily experiences broadly shape our cognitive capabilities. We study how embodied experience affects the abstract physical problem-solving styles people use in a virtual task where embodiment does not affect action capabilities. We compare how groups with different embodied experience – 25 children and 35 adults with congenital limb differences versus 45 children and 40 adults born with two hands – perform this task, and find that while there is no difference in overall competence, the groups use different cognitive styles to find solutions. People born with limb differences think more before acting but take fewer attempts to reach solutions. Conversely, development affects the particular actions children use, as well as their persistence with their current strategy. Our findings suggest that while development alters action choices and persistence, differences in embodied experience drive changes in the acquisition of cognitive styles for balancing acting with thinking
Signatures of the Youngest Starbursts: Optically-thick Thermal Bremsstrahlung Radio Sources in Henize 2-10
VLA radio continuum imaging reveals compact (<8 pc) ~1 mJy radio sources in
the central 5" starburst region of the blue compact galaxy Henize 2-10. We
interpret these radio knots as extremely young, ultra-dense HII regions. We
model their luminosities and spectral energy distributions, finding that they
are consistent with unusually dense HII regions having electron densities, 1500
cm^-3 < n_e < 5000 cm^-3, and sizes of 3-8 pc. Since these H II regions are not
visible in optical images, we propose that the radio data preferentially reveal
the youngest, densest, and most highly obscured starforming events. Energy
considerations imply that each of the five \HII regions contains ~750 O7V
equivalent stars, greater than the number found in 30 Doradus in the LMC. The
high densities imply an over-pressure compared to the typical interstellar
medium so that such objects must be short-lived (<0.5 Myr expansion
timescales). We conclude that the radio continuum maps reveal the very young
(<0.5 Myr) precursors of ``super starclusters'' or ``proto globular clusters''
which are prominent at optical and UV wavelengths in He 2-10. If the
ultra-dense HII regions are typical of those which we predict will be found in
other starbursting systems, then super starclusters spend 15% of their lifetime
in heavily-obscured environments, similar to Galactic ultra-compact HII
regions. This body of work leads us to propose that massive extragalactic star
clusters (i.e. proto globular clusters) with ages <10^6 yr may be most easily
identified by finding compact radio sources with optically-thick thermal
bremsstrahlung spectral signatures.Comment: AASTeX, 8 figures 2 included with psfig in text; other 6 in jpeg
format; Postscript versions of figures may be found at
http://zem.ucolick.org/chip/Research/young_clusters.html -- Accepted for
publication in the Astrophysical Journa
N-band Observations of He 2-10: Unveiling the Dusty Engine of a Starburst Galaxy
To better understand the early stages of massive star cluster evolution we
have obtained J,H,K', and N (10.8 micron) images of the nuclear region of the
starburst galaxy He 2-10. The N-band images were obtained with the Gemini North
telescope and reveal four of the five enshrouded clusters, or "ultradense HII
regions" (UDHIIs), recently discovered in radio maps. None of these sources
appears in either the optical HST images or the near-infrared images. They
comprise about 60% of the total N-band flux from He 2-10 and, we suspect, a
similar fraction of the total far infrared flux measured by IRAS. The inferred
spectra of the UDHIIs are very similar to those of Galactic ultracompact HII
regions and we have modeled the UDHIIs under the assumption that they are
"scaled-up" versions of these objects. The bolometric luminosity of the
brightest UDHII is estimated to be ~2x10^9 L_sun, and the total mass of the
dust and gas is ~10^7 M_sun. The mass of the enshrouded stellar cluster must be
> 2.5x10^6 M_sun and the age must be < 4.8x10^6 yr. All of the stellar clusters
within the UDHIIs must have ages less than about 5x10^6 yr and masses greater
than about 5x10^5 M_sun. The logarithmic ratios of the radio to far infrared
flux densities for the individual UDHIIs, and He 2-10 as a whole, are
significantly larger than the average for normal galaxies, but comparable to
those for ultraluminous infrared galaxies. Large ratios for some starburst
galaxies may indicate that a significant fraction of the far infrared flux
arises from UDHIIs. If all of the far infrared flux from He 2-10 and other
starbursts is produced by heavily obscured regions, the observed correlation
between UV continuum slope and infrared-to-ultraviolet flux ratio in starbursts
cannot be due primarily to UV reprocessing by dust in a foreground screen.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figure
Acute atomoxetine treatment of younger and older children with ADHD: A meta-analysis of tolerability and efficacy
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Atomoxetine is FDA-approved as a treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients aged 6 years to adult. Among pediatric clinical trials of atomoxetine to date, six with a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design were used in this meta-analysis. The purpose of this article is to describe and compare the treatment response and tolerability of atomoxetine between younger children (6–7 years) and older children (8–12 years) with ADHD, as reported in these six acute treatment trials.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from six clinical trials of 6–9 weeks duration were pooled, yielding 280 subjects, ages 6–7 years, and 860 subjects, ages 8–12 years with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV)-diagnosed ADHD. Efficacy was analyzed using the ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-RS), Conners' Parent Rating Scale-revised (CPRS-R:S), and the Clinical Global Impression of ADHD Severity (CGI-ADHD-S).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Atomoxetine was superior to placebo in both age categories for mean (SD) change in ADHD-RS total, total T, and subscale scores; 3 CPRS-R:S subscales; and CGI-ADHD-S from baseline. Although there were no significant treatment differentials between the age groups for these efficacy measures, the age groups themselves, regardless of treatment, were significantly different for ADHD-RS total (younger: ATX = -14.2 [13.8], PBO = -4.6 [10.4]; older: ATX = -15.4 [13.2], PBO = -7.3 [12.0]; p = .001), total T (younger: ATX = -15.2 [14.8], PBO = -4.9 [11.2]; older: ATX = -16.4 [14.6], PBO = -7.9 [13.1]; p = .003), and subscale scores (Inattentive: younger: ATX = -7.2 [7.5], PBO = -2.4 [5.7]; older: ATX = -8.0 [7.4], PBO = -3.9 [6.7]; p = .043; Hyperactive/Impulsive: younger: ATX = -7.0 [7.2], PBO = -2.1 [5.4]; older: ATX = -7.3 [7.0], PBO = -3.4 [6.3]; p < .001), as well as the CGI-ADHD-S score (younger: ATX = -1.2 [1.3], PBO = -0.5 [0.9]; older: ATX = -1.4 [1.3], PBO = -0.7 [1.1]; p = .010). Although few subjects discontinued from either age group due to adverse events, a significant treatment-by-age-group interaction was observed for abdominal pain (younger: ATX = 19%, PBO = 6%; older: ATX = 15%, PBO = 13%; p = .044), vomiting (younger: ATX = 14%, PBO = 2%; older: ATX = 9%, PBO = 6%; p = .053), cough (younger: ATX = 10%, PBO = 6%; older: ATX = 3%, PBO = 9%; p = .007), and pyrexia (younger: ATX = 5%, PBO = 2%; older: ATX = 3%, PBO = 5%; p = .058).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Atomoxetine is an effective and generally well-tolerated treatment of ADHD in both younger and older children as assessed by three recognized measures of symptoms in six controlled clinical trials.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Not Applicable.</p
Study of Upsilon(3S,2S) -> eta Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(3S,2S) -> pi+pi- Upsilon(1S) hadronic trasitions
We study the Upsilon(3S,2S)->eta Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(3S,2S)->pi+pi-
Upsilon(1S) transitions with 122 million Upsilon(3S) and 100 million
Upsilon(2S) mesons collected by the BaBar detector at the PEP-II asymmetric
energy e+e- collider. We measure B[Upsilon(2S)->eta
Upsilon(1S)]=(2.39+/-0.31(stat.)+/-0.14(syst.))10^-4 and Gamma[Upsilon(2S)->eta
Upsilon(1S)]/Gamma[Upsilon(2S)-> pi+pi-
Upsilon(1S)]=(1.35+/-0.17(stat.)+/-0.08(syst.))10^-3. We find no evidence for
Upsilon(3S)->eta Upsilon(1S) and obtain B[Upsilon(3S)->eta Upsilon(1S)]<1.0
10^-4 and Gamma[Upsilon(3S)->eta Upsilon(1S)]/Gamma[Upsilon(3S)->pi+pi-
Upsilon(1S)]<2.3 10^-3 as upper limits at the 90% confidence level. We also
provide improved measurements of the Upsilon(2S) - Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(3S)
- Upsilon(1S) mass differences, 562.170+/-0.007(stat.)+/-0.088(syst.) MeV/c^2
and 893.813+/-0.015(stat.)+/-0.107(syst.) MeV/c^2 respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 16 encapsulated postscript figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.
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