1,008 research outputs found
Agenda chasing and contests among news providers
This article studies competition in contests with a focus on the news industry that is increasingly influenced by social media. The model assumes publishers to pick a single topic from a large pool based on the topics' prior “success” probabilities, thereby “chasing” potentially successful topics. Firms that publish topics that become successful divide a “reward” which can change with the number of competing firms and the number of successful topics. The results show that share structures can be categorized into three types that, in turn, lead to qualitatively different outcomes for the contest
Coarse-graining in retrodictive quantum state tomography
Quantum state tomography often operates in the highly idealised scenario of
assuming perfect measurements. The errors implied by such an approach are
entwined with other imperfections relating to the information processing
protocol or application of interest. We consider the problem of retrodicting
the quantum state of a system, existing prior to the application of random but
known phase errors, allowing those errors to be separated and removed. The
continuously random nature of the errors implies that there is only one click
per measurement outcome -- a feature having a drastically adverse effect on
data-processing times. We provide a thorough analysis of coarse-graining under
various reconstruction algorithms, finding dramatic increases in speed for only
modest sacrifices in fidelity
Quantum process tomography via completely positive and trace-preserving projection
We present an algorithm for projecting superoperators onto the set of
completely positive, trace-preserving maps. When combined with gradient descent
of a cost function, the procedure results in an algorithm for quantum process
tomography: finding the quantum process that best fits a set of sufficient
observations. We compare the performance of our algorithm to the diluted
iterative algorithm as well as second-order solvers interfaced with the popular
CVX package for MATLAB, and find it to be significantly faster and more
accurate while guaranteeing a physical estimate.Comment: 13pp, 8 fig
Quantum sensors based on weak-value amplification cannot overcome decoherence
Sensors that harness exclusively quantum phenomena (such as entanglement) can
achieve superior performance compared to those employing only classical
principles. Recently, a technique based on postselected, weakly-performed
measurements has emerged as a method of overcoming technical noise in the
detection and estimation of small interaction parameters, particularly in
optical systems. The question of which other types of noise may be combatted
remains open. We here analyze whether the effect can overcome decoherence in a
typical field sensing scenario. Benchmarking a weak, postselected measurement
strategy against a strong, direct strategy we conclude that no advantage is
achievable, and that even a small amount of decoherence proves catastrophic to
the weak-value amplification technique.Comment: Published version with improvements to presentation, including
clarifying our understanding of technical noise and quantum nois
Observations of Global and Local Infall in NGC 1333
We report ``infall asymmetry'' in the HCO (1--0) and (3--2) lines toward
NGC 1333, extended over , a larger extent than has been
reported be fore, for any star-forming region. The infall asymmetry extends
over a major portion of the star-forming complex, and is not limited to a
single protostar, or to a single dense core, or to a single spectral line. It
seems likely that the infall asymmetry represents inward motions, and that
these motions are physically associated with the complex. Both blue-asymmetric
and red-asymmetric lines are seen, but in both the (3--2) and (1--0) lines of
HCO the vast majority of the asymmetric lines are blue, indicating inward
motions. The (3--2) line, tracing denser gas, has the spectra with the
strongest asymmetry and these spectra are associated with the protostars IRAS
4A and 4B, which most likely indicates a warm central source is affecting the
line profiles. The (3--2) and (1--0) lines usually have the same sense of
asymmetry in common positions, but their profiles differ significantly, and the
(1--0) line appears to trace motions on much larger spatial scales than does
the (3--2) line. Line profile models fit the spectra well, but do not strongly
constrain their parameters. The mass accretion rate of the inward motions is of
order 10 M/yr, similar to the ratio of stellar mass to cluster
age.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, 1 colour figur
Self-determined self-other overlap: Interacting effects on partners’ perceptions of support and well-being in close relationships
Self-other overlap, an important dimension of interpersonal closeness, is linked to positive interpersonal and well-being outcomes in relationships with romantic partners and friends. Three studies applied principles from self-determination theory to examine whether individual differences in self-determined motivation moderate the effects of higher self-other overlap on partner outcomes. Studies were crosssectional and longitudinal, and examined personality and relationship specific self-determination in friends (Study 1) and romantic partners (all studies); all were comprised of dyads to examine partner effects. Results suggested that as self-determined individuals reported greater self-other overlap, their partners also reported receiving more positive motivational support as well as enhanced commitment. On the other hand, when individuals were low in self-determination, partners did not benefit from greater self-other overlap
Acute stress induced by the preslaughter use of electric prodders causes tougher beef meat
Adrenergic activation and hormone release preslaughter is an inevitable outcome of the systems used to move cattle to slaughter. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effects of acute preslaughter stress in beef cattle on postmortem muscle metabolism and the meat quality, including consumer-assessed eating quality. Eighty-four cattle were used on three separate days, with ‘mobs’ of four cattle allocated to either a ‘control’ (no electric goads used preslaughter) or a ‘stress’ (six prods given with an electric goad over 5–10 min) treatment at 15 min preslaughter. Cattle undergoing the ‘stress’ treatment had higher plasma lactate at slaughter. The prerigor pH and temperature, ultimate pH and temperature at rigor of the longissimus thoracis muscle were similar between treatments (P\u3e0.05 for all). The water-holding capacity of the longissimus lumborum was reduced by the ‘stress’ treatment, as indicated by higher levels of water lost during suspension (drip loss), storage (purge) for 21 days and cooking (cooking loss at 1 day postslaughter) (P\u3c0.05 for all). ‘Stress’ cattle produced longissimus lumborum muscle with similar sarcomere lengths andWarner–Bratzler shear force at 2, 6 and 21 days , compared to ‘control’ cattle (P\u3c0.05 for all). The longissimus lumborum muscle of cattle undergoing the ‘stress’ treatment was rated less tender, less juicy, with a less acceptable flavour, a lower ‘liking’ and a lower MQ4 score (P\u3c0.05 for all). The ‘bloomed’ surface colour (CIE L*, a*, b*) of the longissimus lumborum muscle at 2, 6 and 21 days postslaughter was similar between the ‘stress’ and ‘control’ treatments (P\u3e0.05 for all). In conclusion, cattle subjected to acute preslaughter stress using electric goads produced meat which the consumer rated as tougher with inferior quality. The inferior quality induced by the acute stress treatment was associated with reduced water-holding capacity but was independent of muscle pH and temperature
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