Sample preparation of metal alloys by electric discharge machining

Electric discharge machining was investigated as a noncontaminating method of comminuting alloys for subsequent chemical analysis. Particulate dispersions in water were produced from bulk alloys at a rate of about 5 mg/min by using a commercially available machining instrument. The utility of this approach was demonstrated by results obtained when acidified dispersions were substituted for true acid solutions in an established spectrochemical method. The analysis results were not significantly different for the two sample forms. Particle size measurements and preliminary results from other spectrochemical methods which require direct aspiration of liquid into flame or plasma sources are reported

Development of a drift-correction procedure for a direct-reading spectrometer

A procedure which provides automatic correction for drifts in the radiometric sensitivity of each detector channel in a direct-reading emission spectrometer is described. Such drifts are customarily controlled by the regular analyses of standards, which provide corrections for changes in the excitational, optical, and electronic components of the instrument. This standardization procedure, however, corrects for the optical and electronic drifts. It is a step that must be taken if the time, effort, and cost of processing standards is to be minimized. This method of radiometric drift correction uses a 1,000-W tungsten-halogen reference lamp to illuminate each detector through the same optical path as that traversed during sample analysis. The responses of the detector channels to this reference light are regularly compared with channel response to the same light intensity at the time of analytical calibration in order to determine and correct for drift. Except for placing the lamp in position, the procedure is fully automated and compensates for changes in spectral intensity due to variations in lamp current. A discussion of the implementation of this drift-correction system is included

Dynamical control of quantum state transfer within hybrid open systems

We analyze quantum state-transfer optimization within hybrid open systems, from a "noisy" (write-in) qubit to its "quiet" counterpart (storage qubit). Intriguing interplay is revealed between our ability to avoid bath-induced errors that profoundly depend on the bath-memory time and the limitations imposed by leakage out of the operational subspace. Counterintuitively, under no circumstances is the fastest transfer optimal (for a given transfer energy)

Common-Resolution Convolution Kernels for Space- and Ground-Based Telescopes

Multi-wavelength study of extended astronomical objects requires combining images from instruments with differing point spread functions (PSFs). We describe the construction of convolution kernels that allow one to generate (multi-wavelength) images with a common PSF, thus preserving the colors of the astronomical sources. We generate convolution kernels for the cameras of the Spitzer Space Telescope, Herschel Space Observatory, Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), ground-based optical telescopes (Moffat functions and sum of Gaussians), and Gaussian PSFs. These kernels allow the study of the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) of extended objects, preserving the characteristic SED in each pixel. The convolution kernels and the IDL packages used to construct and use them are made publicly available

Remarks on the Central Limit Theorem for Non-Convex Bodies

In this note, we study possible extensions of the Central Limit Theorem for non-convex bodies. First, we prove a Berry-Esseen type theorem for a certain class of unconditional bodies that are not necessarily convex. Then, we consider a widely-known class of non-convex bodies, the so-called p-convex bodies, and construct a counter-example for this class

On mapping values in AI Governance

We propose here a conceptual framework by which to analyze legal-regulatory problematics of algorithmic decision-making systems, focusing on mechanisms of value production in their design and deployment. An aim of our intervention is to develop an investigative model for application to algorithmic decision systems with regulatory effects, including predictive artificial intelligence applications and recommender systems that filter data and suggest courses of action. Technical systems that integrate complex algorithmic techniques perform critical and sensitive functions that are both object and instrument of regulatory governance, functions such as predicting behavior, steering information flows, assessing risk, etc. These functions, however, are not simple or static phenomena, but rather contextual, partial performances of complex socio-technical dynamics. One of our interests is to discern what is valorized in this new regulatory ecology. Accordingly, we are sketching a framework to target terms and tokens of value as they are produced, reproduced, incorporated, and translated among design processes, legal practices and background conditions structuring their use. Rather than asking which values AI should satisfy in contested governance contexts, we address conceptually prior questions concerning how values manifest and ‘map’ among context-sensitive computational and social processes in the first place. Furthermore, current research often takes for granted that an AI application is produced against the backdrop of a stable and pre-defined set of values and legal practices. Existing research does not yet adequately account for the ways in which laws and values as produced in and through the ecology of the AI application differ from idealized presuppositions assumed to preexist development of the latter. For the purpose, our contribution engages three broad lines of inquiry: one, we take forward calls for a materialized study of law, such as put forward broadly by Alain Pottage, and as put forward more recently and specifically with respect to computational technologies by Mireille Hildebrandt, among others; two, we contribute to the elaboration of a critical practice for AI, in the tradition of Philip Agre; and three, our attention to assemblages potentially contributes to debates over techno-regulation or regulation by design

THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES TO 6000 DEG K FOR 210 SUBSTANCES INVOLVING THE FIRST 18 ELEMENTS

Thermodynamic properties to 6000-deg kelvin for substances involving first 18 elements in their natural stat