2,083 research outputs found
Real Jurors\u27 Understanding of the Law in Real Cases
A survey of 224 Michigan citizens called for jury duty over a 2-month period was conducted to assess the jurors\u27 comprehension of the law they had been given in the judges\u27 instructions. Citizens who served as jurors were compared with a base line of those who were called for duty but not selected to serve, and with those who served on different kinds of cases. Consistent with previous studies of mock jurors, this study found that actual jurors understand fewer than half of the instructions they receive at trial. Subjects who received judges\u27 instructions performed significantly better than uninstructed subjects on questions about the procedural law, but no better on questions about the substantive (criminal) law. Additionally, jurors who asked for help from the judge understood the instructions better than other jurors. Since the results replicate previous research using simulated trials, this study provides evidence for the generalizability of earlier work to actual trials
The composition of cosmic rays near the Bend (10 to the 15th power eV) from a study of muons in air showers at sea level
The distribution of muons near shower cores was studied at sea level at Fermilab using the E594 neutrino detector to sample the muon with E testing 3 GeV. These data are compared with detailed Monte Carlo simulations to derive conclusions about the composition of cosmic rays near the bend in the all particle spectrum. Monte Carlo simulations generating extensive air showers (EAS) with primary energy in excess of 50 TeV are described. Each shower record contains details of the electron lateral distribution and the muon and hadron lateral distributions as a function of energy, at the observation level of 100g/cm. The number of detected electrons and muons in each case was determined by a Poisson fluctuation of the number incident. The resultant predicted distribution of muons, electrons, the rate events are compared to those observed. Preliminary results on the rate favor a heavy primary dominated cosmic ray spectrum in energy range 50 to 1000 TeV
Study of muons near shower cores at sea level using the E594 neutrino detector
The E594 neutrino detector has been used to study the lateral distribution of muons of energy 3 GeV near shower cores. The detector consists of a 340 ton fine grain calorimeter with 400,000 cells of flash chamber and dimensions of 3.7 m x 20 m x 3.7 m (height). The average density in the calorimeter is 1.4 gm/sq cm, and the average Z is 21. The detector was triggered by four 0.6 sq m scintillators placed immediately on the top of the calorimeter. The trigger required at least two of these four counters. The accompanying extensive air showers (EAS) was sampled by 14 scintillation counters located up to 15 m from the calorimeter. Several off line cuts have been applied to the data. Demanding five particles in at least two of the trigger detectors, a total of 20 particles in all of them together, and an arrival angle for the shower 450 deg reduced the data sample to 11053 events. Of these in 4869 cases, a computer algorithm found at least three muons in the calorimeter
Autonomous decision-making against induced seismicity in deep fluid injections
The rise in the frequency of anthropogenic earthquakes due to deep fluid
injections is posing serious economic, societal, and legal challenges to
geo-energy and waste-disposal projects. We propose an actuarial approach to
mitigate this risk, first by defining an autonomous decision-making process
based on an adaptive traffic light system (ATLS) to stop risky injections, and
second by quantifying a "cost of public safety" based on the probability of an
injection-well being abandoned. The ATLS underlying statistical model is first
confirmed to be representative of injection-induced seismicity, with examples
taken from past reservoir stimulation experiments (mostly from Enhanced
Geothermal Systems, EGS). Then the decision strategy is formalized: Being
integrable, the model yields a closed-form ATLS solution that maps a risk-based
safety standard or norm to an earthquake magnitude not to exceed during
stimulation. Finally, the EGS levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is
reformulated in terms of null expectation, with the cost of abandoned
injection-well implemented. We find that the price increase to mitigate the
increased seismic risk in populated areas can counterbalance the heat credit.
However this "public safety cost" disappears if buildings are based on
earthquake-resistant designs or if a more relaxed risk safety standard or norm
is chosen.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, conference (International Symposium on Energy
Geotechnics, 26-28 September 2018, Lausanne, Switzerland
Influence of Nano-Sized SiC on the Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Molybdenum
Consolidation of pure molybdenum through laser powder bed fusion and other additive manufacturing techniques is complicated by a high melting temperature, thermal conductivity and ductile-to-brittle transition temperature. Nano-sized SiC particles (0.1 wt%) were homogeneously mixed with molybdenum powder and the printing characteristics, chemical composition, microstructure, mechanical properties were compared to pure molybdenum for scan speeds of 100, 200, 400, and 800 mm/s. The addition of SiC improved the optically determined density and flexural strength at 400 mm/s by 92% and 80%, respectively. The oxygen content was reduced by an average of 52% over the four scan speeds analyzed. Two mechanisms of oxygen reduction were identified as responsible for the improvements: oxidation of free carbon and the creation of secondary phase nanoparticles. This study illustrates the promising influence of nanoparticle additions to refractory metals in laser powder bed fusion
Discovery of Localized Regions of Excess 10-TeV Cosmic Rays
An analysis of 7 years of Milagro data performed on a 10-degree angular scale
has found two localized regions of excess of unknown origin with greater than
12 sigma significance. Both regions are inconsistent with gamma-ray emission
with high confidence. One of the regions has a different energy spectrum than
the isotropic cosmic-ray flux at a level of 4.6 sigma, and it is consistent
with hard spectrum protons with an exponential cutoff, with the most
significant excess at ~10 TeV. Potential causes of these excesses are explored,
but no compelling explanations are found.Comment: Submitted to PhysRevLet
Extended emotion
Recent thinking within philosophy of mind about the ways cognition can extend has yet to be integrated with philosophical theories of emotion, which give cognition a central role. We carve out new ground at the intersection of these areas and, in doing so, defend what we call the extended emotion thesis: the claim that some emotions can extend beyond skin and skull to parts of the external worl
TeV Gamma-Ray Sources from a Survey of the Galactic Plane with Milagro
A survey of Galactic gamma-ray sources at a median energy of ~20 TeV has been
performed using the Milagro Gamma Ray Observatory. Eight candidate sources of
TeV emission are detected with pre-trials significance in the
region of Galactic longitude and latitude
. Four of these sources, including the Crab nebula
and the recently published MGRO J2019+37, are observed with significances
after accounting for the trials involved in searching the 3800
square degree region. All four of these sources are also coincident with EGRET
sources. Two of the lower significance sources are coincident with EGRET
sources and one of these sources is Geminga. The other two candidates are in
the Cygnus region of the Galaxy. Several of the sources appear to be spatially
extended. The fluxes of the sources at 20 TeV range from ~25% of the Crab flux
to nearly as bright as the Crab.Comment: Submitted to Ap
Milagro Constraints on Very High Energy Emission from Short Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts
Recent rapid localizations of short, hard gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) by the
Swift and HETE satellites have led to the observation of the first afterglows
and the measurement of the first redshifts from this type of burst. Detection
of >100 GeV counterparts would place powerful constraints on GRB mechanisms.
Seventeen short duration (< 5 s) GRBs detected by satellites occurred within
the field of view of the Milagro gamma-ray observatory between 2000 January and
2006 December. We have searched the Milagro data for >100 GeV counterparts to
these GRBs and find no significant emission correlated with these bursts. Due
to the absorption of high-energy gamma rays by the extragalactic background
light (EBL), detections are only expected for redshifts less than ~0.5. While
most long duration GRBs occur at redshifts higher than 0.5, the opposite is
thought to be true of short GRBs. Lack of a detected VHE signal thus allows
setting meaningful fluence limits. One GRB in the sample (050509b) has a likely
association with a galaxy at a redshift of 0.225, while another (051103) has
been tentatively linked to the nearby galaxy M81. Fluence limits are corrected
for EBL absorption, either using the known measured redshift, or computing the
corresponding absorption for a redshift of 0.1 and 0.5, as well as for the case
of z=0.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
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