398 research outputs found
A case study in AI-assisted board game design
We use AI agents to play successive design iterations of an analogue board game to understand the sorts of question a designer asks of a game, and how AI play-testing approaches can help answer these questions and reduce the need for time-consuming human play-testing. Our case study supports the view that AI play-testing can complement human testing, but can certainly not replace it. A core issue to be addressed is the extent to which the designer trusts the results of AI play-testing as sufficiently human-like. The majority of design changes are inspired from human play-testing, but AI play-testing helpfully complements these and often gave the designer the confidence to make changes faster where AI and humans 'agreed'
Willingness-to-Pay for New Products in a University Foodservice Setting
A dairy products manufacturer wishing to expand into university foodservice operations collaborated with a graduate marketing class to research student preferences regarding the Company’s products. Baseline and follow-up stated choice surveys and conditional logit analyses were conducted at a land-grant university where the Company’s products were introduced. Brand awareness grew but remained low during the study period. Average WTP estimates for the Company’s most popular product approximated the retail price and resembled WTP for a competing brand. Average WTP for the Company’s other products, however, was considerably lower than the retail price. Significant WTP differences existed among some consumer segments.Willingness-to-Pay, Consumer Segment, University Foodservice, Conjoint analysis, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,
General relativistic simulations of pasive-magneto-rotational core collapse with microphysics
This paper presents results from axisymmetric simulations of
magneto-rotational stellar core collapse to neutron stars in general relativity
using the passive field approximation for the magnetic field. These simulations
are performed using a new general relativistic numerical code specifically
designed to study this astrophysical scenario. The code is based on the
conformally-flat approximation of Einstein's field equations and conservative
formulations of the magneto-hydrodynamics equations. The code has been recently
upgraded to incorporate a tabulated, microphysical equation of state and an
approximate deleptonization scheme. This allows us to perform the most
realistic simulations of magneto-rotational core collapse to date, which are
compared with simulations employing a simplified (hybrid) equation of state,
widely used in the relativistic core collapse community. Furthermore,
state-of-the-art (unmagnetized) initial models from stellar evolution are used.
In general, stellar evolution models predict weak magnetic fields in the
progenitors, which justifies our simplification of performing the computations
under the approach that we call the passive field approximation for the
magnetic field. Our results show that for the core collapse models with
microphysics the saturation of the magnetic field cannot be reached within
dynamical time scales by winding up the poloidal magnetic field into a toroidal
one. We estimate the effect of other amplification mechanisms including the
magneto-rotational instability (MRI) and several types of dynamos.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics July 31, 2007. Added 1 figure and a new subsectio
An improved measurement of muon antineutrino disappearance in MINOS
We report an improved measurement of muon anti-neutrino disappearance over a
distance of 735km using the MINOS detectors and the Fermilab Main Injector
neutrino beam in a muon anti-neutrino enhanced configuration. From a total
exposure of 2.95e20 protons on target, of which 42% have not been previously
analyzed, we make the most precise measurement of the anti-neutrino
"atmospheric" delta-m squared = 2.62 +0.31/-0.28 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) and
constrain the anti-neutrino atmospheric mixing angle >0.75 (90%CL). These
values are in agreement with those measured for muon neutrinos, removing the
tension reported previously.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. In submission to Phys.Rev.Let
Recommended from our members
Improved Search for Muon-Neutrino to Electron-Neutrino Oscillations in MINOS
We report the results of a search for ν_e appearance in a ν_μ beam in the MINOS long-baseline neutrino experiment. With an improved analysis and an increased exposure of 8.2×10^(20) protons on the NuMI target at Fermilab, we find 2sin^2(θ_(23))sin^2(2θ_(13))<0.12(0.20) at 90% confidence
level for δ=0 and the normal (inverted) neutrino mass hierarchy, with a best-fit of 2sin^2(θ_(23))sin^2(2θ_(13))=0.041^(+0.047)_(-0.031)(0.079^(+0.071)_(-0.053).
The θ_(13)= 0 hypothesis is disfavored by the MINOS data
at the 89% confidence level
Recommended from our members
Search for the disappearance of muon antineutrinos in the NuMI neutrino beam
We report constraints on antineutrino oscillation parameters that were obtained by using the two MINOS detectors to measure the 7% muon antineutrino component of the NuMI neutrino beam. In the Far Detector, we select 130 events in the charged-current muon antineutrino sample, compared to a prediction of 136.4 ± 11.7(stat)^(+10.2)_(-8.9)(syst) events under the assumption │Δm^2│ = 2.32 X 10^(-3) eV^2, sin^2(2θ) = 1.0
Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology
Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements
Recommended from our members
Measurement of the Neutrino Mass Splitting and Flavor Mixing by MINOS
Measurements of neutrino oscillations using the disappearance of muon neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI neutrino beam as observed by the two MINOS detectors are reported. New analysis methods have been applied to an enlarged data sample from an exposure of 7.25×10^(20) protons on target. A fit to neutrino oscillations yields values of |Δm^2|=(2.32_(-0.08)^(+0.12))×10^(-3)  eV^2 for the atmospheric mass splitting and sin^2(2θ)>0.90 (90% C.L.) for the mixing angle. Pure neutrino decay and quantum decoherence hypotheses are excluded at 7 and 9 standard deviations, respectively
A Hydrodynamic Model of Alfvénic Wave Heating in a Coronal Loop and Its Chromospheric Footpoints
Alfv\'enic waves have been proposed as an important energy transport
mechanism in coronal loops, capable of delivering energy to both the corona and
chromosphere and giving rise to many observed features, of flaring and
quiescent regions. In previous work, we established that resistive dissipation
of waves (ambipolar diffusion) can drive strong chromospheric heating and
evaporation, capable of producing flaring signatures. However, that model was
based on a simplified assumption that the waves propagate instantly to the
chromosphere, an assumption which the current work removes. Via a ray tracing
method, we have implemented traveling waves in a field-aligned hydrodynamic
simulation that dissipate locally as they propagate along the field line. We
compare this method to and validate against the magnetohydrodynamics code
Lare3D. We then examine the importance of travel times to the dynamics of the
loop evolution, finding that (1) the ionization level of the plasma plays a
critical role in determining the location and rate at which waves dissipate;
(2) long duration waves effectively bore a hole into the chromosphere, allowing
subsequent waves to penetrate deeper than previously expected, unlike an
electron beam whose energy deposition rises in height as evaporation reduces
the mean-free paths of the electrons; (3) the dissipation of these waves drives
a pressure front that propagates to deeper depths, unlike energy deposition by
an electron beam.Comment: Accepted to Ap
Recommended from our members
First Direct Observation of Muon Antineutrino Disappearance
This Letter reports the first direct observation of muon antineutrino disappearance. The MINOS experiment has taken data with an accelerator beam optimized for ν̅ _μ production, accumulating an exposure of 1.71×10^(20) protons on target. In the Far Detector, 97 charged current ν̅ _μ events are observed. The no-oscillation hypothesis predicts 156 events and is excluded at 6.3σ. The best fit to oscillation yields |Δm̅ 2|= [3.36=_(-0.40)^(+0.46)(stat)±0.06(syst)]x10^(-3)eV^2,sin^2(2θ̅)=0.86 _(-0.12)^(+0.11)(stat)±0.01(syst). The MINOS ν̅ _μ and ν̅ _μ measurements are consistent at the 2.0% confidence level, assuming identical underlying oscillation parameters
- …