3,698 research outputs found
Measurement of the nuclear modification factor of electrons from heavy-flavour decays at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at = 2.76 TeV with ALICE
We present results on inclusive electrons for 1.5 6 GeV/
in {Pb-Pb} collisions at = 2.76 TeV measured with ALICE at
the LHC and compare these to a cocktail of background electron sources. The
excess of electrons beyond the cocktail at high momenta ({ 3.5
GeV/}) is attributed to electrons from heavy-flavour decays. The
corresponding nuclear modification factor indicates heavy-flavour suppression
by a factor of 1.5-4.Comment: 4 pages; 4 figures; QM 2011 proceeding
Sequence learning under uncertainty in children: self-reflection vs. self-assertion
We know that stochastic feedback impairs children's associative stimulus-response (S-R) learning (Crone et al., 2004a; Eppinger et al., 2009), but the impact of stochastic feedback on sequence learning that involves deductive reasoning has not been not tested so far. In the current study, 8- to 11-year-old children (N = 171) learned a sequence of four left and right button presses, LLRR, RRLL, LRLR, RLRL, LRRL, and RLLR, which needed to be deduced from feedback because no directional cues were given. One group of children experienced consistent feedback only (deterministic feedback, 100% correct). In this condition, green feedback on the screen indicated that the children had been right when they were right, and red feedback indicated that the children had been wrong when they were wrong. Another group of children experienced inconsistent feedback (stochastic feedback, 85% correct, 15% false), where in some trials, green feedback on the screen could signal that children were right when in fact they were wrong, and red feedback could indicate that they were wrong when in fact they had been right. Independently of age, children's sequence learning in the stochastic condition was initially much lower than in the deterministic condition, but increased gradually and improved with practice. Responses toward positive vs. negative feedback varied with age. Children were increasingly able to understand that they could have been wrong when feedback indicated they were right (self-reflection), but they remained unable to understand that they could have been right when feedback indicated they were wrong (self-assertion)
A study of white etching crack formation by compression-torsion experiments
In this study, an attempt was made to recreate the bearing damage phenomenon āWhite Etching Cracksā with a simplified testing setup. Rolling contact fatigue conditions were simulated with in-phase and out-ofphase cyclic compression-torsion experiments on 100Cr6 steel specimens. The results are compared in terms of microstructural change. Focused Ion Beam and metallographic analysis reveal that a fine-grained, white etching zone formed in the vicinity of the fatigue cracks of specimens tested with the in-phase load pattern. In contrast, no such structures were found after testing the out-of-phase load pattern. The properties of the white etching zone are characterised in more detail and compared with White Etching Cracks. KEYWORDS. White Etching Cracks; Multiaxial fatigue; Bearing steel
Reinforcement learning in populations of spiking neurons
Population coding is widely regarded as a key mechanism for achieving reliable behavioral responses in the face of neuronal variability. But in standard reinforcement learning a flip-side becomes apparent. Learning slows down with increasing population size since the global reinforcement becomes less and less related to the performance of any single neuron. We show that, in contrast, learning speeds up with increasing population size if feedback about the populationresponse modulates synaptic plasticity in addition to global reinforcement. The two feedback signals (reinforcement and population-response signal) can be encoded by ambient neurotransmitter concentrations which vary slowly, yielding a fully online plasticity rule where the learning of a stimulus is interleaved with the processing of the subsequent one. The assumption of a single additional feedback mechanism therefore reconciles biological plausibility with efficient learning
Stimulating learning: A functional MRI and behavioral investigation of the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on stochastic learning in schizophrenia
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is under clinical investigation as a treatment for cognitive deficits. We investigate the effects of tDCS over the mPFC on performance SSLT in individuals with schizophrenia, and the underlying neurophysiological effect in regions associated with learning values and stimulus-outcome relationships. In this parallel-design double-blind pilot study, 49 individuals with schizophrenia, of whom 28 completed a fMRI, were randomized into active or sham tDCS stimulation groups. Subjects participated in 4 days of SSLT training (days 1, 2, 14, 56) with tDCS applied at day-1, and during a concurrent MRI scan at day-14. The SSLT demonstrated a significant mean difference in performance in the tDCS treatment group: at day-2 and at day-56. Active tDCS was associated with increased insular activity, and reduced amygdala activation. tDCS may offer an important novel approach to modulating brain networks to ameliorate cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, with this study being the first to show a longer-term effect on SSLT
Investigation of charm and beauty production via semileptonic decays of heavy-flavour hadrons in pp at 7 TeV and Pb--Pb at 2.76 TeV with ALICE
Electron spectra measured with ALICE at mid-rapidity are used to study the
production of hadrons carrying a charm or a beauty quark. The production cross
section of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays is measured in pp
collisions at =7 TeV. Electrons from the beauty decays are identified
via the displacement from the interaction vertex. From the electron spectra
measured in Pb--Pb collisions, we determine the nuclear modification factor,
which is sensitive to the heavy-quark energy loss in a hot strongly interacting
medium.Comment: Quark Matter 2011 proceeding
Neutral Pions and Eta Mesons as Probes of the Hadronic Fireball in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions around 1A GeV
Chemical and thermal freeze-out of the hadronic fireball formed in symmetric
collisions of light, intermediate-mass, and heavy nuclei at beam energies
between 0.8A GeV and 2.0A GeV are discussed in terms of an equilibrated,
isospin-symmetric ideal hadron gas with grand-canonical baryon-number
conservation. For each collision system the baryochemical potential mu_B and
the chemical freeze-out temperature T_c are deduced from the inclusive neutral
pion and eta yields which are augmented by interpolated data on deuteron
production. With increasing beam energy mu_B drops from 800 MeV to 650 MeV,
while T_c rises from 55 MeV to 90 MeV. For given beam energy mu_B grows with
system size, whereas T_c remains constant. The centrality dependence of the
freeze-out parameters is weak as exemplified by the system Au+Au at 0.8A GeV.
For the highest beam energies the fraction of nucleons excited to resonance
states reaches freeze-out values of nearly 15 %, suggesting resonance densities
close to normal nuclear density at maximum compression. In contrast to the
particle yields, which convey the status at chemical freeze-out, the shapes of
the related transverse-mass spectra do reflect thermal freeze-out. The observed
thermal freeze-out temperatures T_th are equal to or slightly lower than T_c,
indicative of nearly simultaneous chemical and thermal freeze-out.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figure
- ā¦