Draft letter report: Evaluation of the adaptability of the DWPF feed preparation system to the HWVP

This report evaluates the performance of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) feed preparation System using Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant (HWVP) process criteria and feed properties. Included is a proposed test plan to verify performance of the equipment identified in the evaluation. The HWVP is being designed to vitrify high-level liquid defense waste currently stored in double shell tanks on the Hanford site. The following sections describe the background and objectives and the approach used in this evaluation

Mechanics, Optics, and Thermodynamics of Water Transport in Chemically Modified Transparent Wood Composites

Effects of chemical modification on mechanical, optical, and water transport behavior of transparent wood composites (TWCs1) were investigated. TWCs were produced from a methacrylate resin and balsa wood templates using two delignifying pretreatments, namely lignin-oxidation and lignin-modification, and three interfacial modifications, namely acetylation, methacrylation, and treatment with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate. Water transport behavior was investigated via immersion at three temperatures, where diffusion coefficients, kinetic rate constants, and activation energies of water diffusion were obtained. Lignin-modified TWCs were generally more water resistant than lignin-oxidized TWCs. Interfacial modification of the wood template via acetylation and methacrylation were observed to further decrease diffusion coefficients and increase activation energies of diffusion compared to unmodified TWCs, indicating superior fiber-matrix compatibility and improved moisture resistance relative to other tested TWCs. Flexural properties of post-dried TWCs were not adversely affected by moisture compared to samples unconditioned by water. TWC optical properties were measured in pre-immersion, water-saturated, and post-dried states to characterize deterioration of transmittance and haze. While moisture saturation degraded optical properties, optical performance of select TWC classes were observed to rebound upon drying. &nbsp;</p

The perseverance of Pacioli's goods inventory accounting system

This paper details sources of the 'undoubtedly strange' (Yamey, 1994a, p.119) system of goods inventory records described in Pacioli’s 1494 bookkeeping treatise and traces the longevity and widespread use of this early perpetual inventory recording (EPIR) system in English language texts. By doing so and contrasting this system with the bookkeeping treatment of modern texts, it is shown that the EPIR system persisted as the dominant form of goods inventory accounting for between 400 and 500 years and that the reasons for its demise are worthy of further consideration and research

FARMERS' ACCESSIBILITY AND USE OF HYBRID COCOA SEEDLINGS FOR COCOA REHABILITATION: EMPIRICAL RESULTS FROM AMENFI CENTRAL DISTRICT, GHANA

The introduction of hybrid seedlings of cocoa by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) was intended to replace old and diseased trees which were less productive. We conducted a study to investigate the accessibility and use of hybrid cocoa seedlings (Series II, the Modified Series II, Inter Amazon, Trinitario, Clones, Criollo and Nacional) for the cocoa rehabilitation exercise. Working with 385 cocoa farmers selected from the Amenfi Central District using the multi-stage sampling technique, we analyzed the data with statistical tools such as the mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, multiple linear regression and chi-square test of independence. Based on the general perception of the cocoa farmers (PI=3.71), we found that they had positive perceptions of the improved hybrid cocoa seedlings. Cocoa farmers’ access to all the hybrid cocoa seedlings is significantly associated with their use (P<0.05). We also found that cocoa farmers who were highly experienced and had small farm sizes had more access to and used hybrid cocoa seedlings (P<0.05). While, access to labour and ownership of lands had influence on access to hybrid cocoa seedlings (P<0.05), high yields and membership of cooperatives had influence on the use of hybrid cocoa seedlings (P<0.05). The lack of access to credit is indicated by farmers as their most severe challenge in accessing and using hybrid seedlings. The outcome of the study suggests that the cost of the hybrid seedlings must be subsidized and the distribution of the seedlings must be done through the farmer cooperatives to enhance accessibility and use

Solidification of Al alloys under electromagnetic pulses and characterization of the 3D microstructures under synchrotron x-ray tomography

A novel programmable electromagnetic pulse device was developed and used to study the solidification of Al-15 pct Cu and Al-35 pct Cu alloys. The pulsed magnetic fluxes and Lorentz forces generated inside the solidifying melts were simulated using finite element methods, and their effects on the solidification microstructures were characterized using electron microscopy and synchrotron X-ray tomography. Using a discharging voltage of 120 V, a pulsed magnetic field with the peak Lorentz force of ~1.6 N was generated inside the solidifying Al-Cu melts which were showed sufficiently enough to disrupt the growth of the primary Al dendrites and the Al2Cu intermetallic phases. The microstructures exhibit a strong correlation to the characteristics of the applied pulse, forming a periodical pattern that resonates the frequency of the applied electromagnetic field

Active learning with RESSPECT: Resource allocation for extragalactic astronomical transients

The authors would like to thank David Kirkby and Connor Sheere for insightful discussions. This work is part of the Recommendation System for Spectroscopic Followup (RESSPECT) project, governed by an inter-collaboration agreement signed between the Cosmostatistics Initiative (COIN) and the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC). This research is supported in part by the HPI Research Center in Machine Learning and Data Science at UC Irvine. EEOI and SS acknowledge financial support from CNRS 2017 MOMENTUM grant under the project Active Learning for Large Scale Sky Surveys. SGG and AKM acknowledge support by FCT under Project CRISP PTDC/FIS-AST-31546/2017. This work was partly supported by the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute (HPE DSI) at the University of Houston. DOJ is supported by a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Support for this work was provided by NASA through the NASA Hubble Fellowship grant HF2-51462.001 awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA, under contract NAS5-26555. BQ is supported by the International Gemini Observatory, a program of NSF's NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation, on behalf of the Gemini partnership of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Republic of Korea, and the United States of America. AIM acknowledges support from the Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in the framework of the Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award endowed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. L.G. was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 839090. This work has been partially supported by the Spanish grant PGC2018-095317-B-C21 within the European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER).The recent increase in volume and complexity of available astronomical data has led to a wide use of supervised machine learning techniques. Active learning strategies have been proposed as an alternative to optimize the distribution of scarce labeling resources. However, due to the specific conditions in which labels can be acquired, fundamental assumptions, such as sample representativeness and labeling cost stability cannot be fulfilled. The Recommendation System for Spectroscopic followup (RESSPECT) project aims to enable the construction of optimized training samples for the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), taking into account a realistic description of the astronomical data environment. In this work, we test the robustness of active learning techniques in a realistic simulated astronomical data scenario. Our experiment takes into account the evolution of training and pool samples, different costs per object, and two different sources of budget. Results show that traditional active learning strategies significantly outperform random sampling. Nevertheless, more complex batch strategies are not able to significantly overcome simple uncertainty sampling techniques. Our findings illustrate three important points: 1) active learning strategies are a powerful tool to optimize the label-acquisition task in astronomy, 2) for upcoming large surveys like LSST, such techniques allow us to tailor the construction of the training sample for the first day of the survey, and 3) the peculiar data environment related to the detection of astronomical transients is a fertile ground that calls for the development of tailored machine learning algorithms.HPI Research Center in Machine Learning and Data Science at UC IrvineCNRS 2017 MOMENTUM grant under the project Active Learning for Large Scale Sky SurveysFCT under Project CRISP PTDC/FIS-AST-31546/2017Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute (HPE DSI) at the University of HoustonGordon and Betty Moore Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Santa CruzSpace Telescope Science InstituteNational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) HF2-51462.001 NAS5-26555International Gemini Observatory, a program of NSF's NOIRLabNational Science Foundation (NSF)Max Planck SocietyFoundation CELLEXAlexander von Humboldt FoundationEuropean Commission 839090Spanish grant within the European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER) PGC2018-095317-B-C2

ANALYSING COCOA FARMERS' PERCEPTION ON THE USE OF PRINT MEDIA FOR EXTENSION DELIVERY IN ADANSI ASOKWA, GHANA

Community extension agents have been using various print materials like books, posters, flip charts, brochures, leaflets, newspapers, journals, magazines, and additional livelihood books to transfer improved agricultural technologies and information to cocoa farmers. However, the perception of farmers on these materials in aiding the adoption of innovations is unknown. A quantitative research approach was employed, and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 310 respondents. The study utilized both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques to achieve its research objectives. Results indicate that cocoa farmers perceive there are low levels of print media availability, utilization, preferability, and effectiveness. Despite the low perception of effectiveness, print media remains highly accessible to cocoa farmers and is a cost-effective method for delivering extension services. Its longevity and high engagement also contribute to its effectiveness. Factors such as household size, farm distance, marital status, years of cocoa cultivation, years of cooperative membership, economic activity, and educational level have a positive and significant influence on cocoa farmers' accessibility, utilization, and effectiveness of print media. Farmers are challenged by the infrequent and delayed delivery of print media. Agricultural agencies must therefore prioritize the timely delivery of print materials for extension activities to ensure that farmers can use them effectively

Professionalism, Golf Coaching and a Master of Science Degree: A commentary

As a point of reference I congratulate Simon Jenkins on tackling the issue of professionalism in coaching. As he points out coaching is not a profession, but this does not mean that coaching would not benefit from going through a professionalization process. As things stand I find that the stimulus article unpacks some critically important issues of professionalism, broadly within the context of golf coaching. However, I am not sure enough is made of understanding what professional (golf) coaching actually is nor how the development of a professional golf coach can be facilitated by a Master of Science Degree (M.Sc.). I will focus my commentary on these two issues

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter