3,949 research outputs found
Optical Properties of the DIRC Fused Silica Cherenkov Radiator
The DIRC is a new type of Cherenkov detector that is successfully operating
as the hadronic particle identification system for the BABAR experiment at
SLAC. The fused silica bars that serve as the DIRC's Cherenkov radiators must
transmit the light over long optical pathlengths with a large number of
internal reflections. This imposes a number of stringent and novel requirements
on the bar properties. This note summarizes a large amount of R&D that was
performed both to develop specifications and production methods and to
determine whether commercially produced bars could meet the requirements. One
of the major outcomes of this R&D work is an understanding of methods to select
radiation hard and optically uniform fused silica material. Others include
measurement of the wavelength dependency of the internal reflection
coefficient, and its sensitivity to surface contaminants, development of
radiator support methods, and selection of good optical glue.Comment: 36 pages, submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods
Structural Anomalies at the Magnetic and Ferroelectric Transitions in (R=Tb, Dy, Ho)
Strong anomalies of the thermal expansion coefficients at the magnetic and
ferroelectric transitions have been detected in multiferroic . Their
correlation with anomalies of the specific heat and the dielectric constant is
discussed. The results provide evidence for the magnetic origin of the
ferroelectricity mediated by strong spin-lattice coupling in the compounds.
Neutron scattering data for indicate a spin reorientation at the
two low-temperature phase transitions
Unveiling Coordinated Groups Behind White Helmets Disinformation
Propaganda, disinformation, manipulation, and polarization are the modern
illnesses of a society increasingly dependent on social media as a source of
news. In this paper, we explore the disinformation campaign, sponsored by
Russia and allies, against the Syria Civil Defense (a.k.a. the White Helmets).
We unveil coordinated groups using automatic retweets and content duplication
to promote narratives and/or accounts. The results also reveal distinct
promoting strategies, ranging from the small groups sharing the exact same text
repeatedly, to complex "news website factories" where dozens of accounts
synchronously spread the same news from multiple sites.Comment: To be presented at WWW 2020 Workshop on Computational Methods in
Online Misbehavior and forthcoming in the Companion Proceedings of the Web
Conference 202
Pseudorehearsal in value function approximation
Catastrophic forgetting is of special importance in reinforcement learning,
as the data distribution is generally non-stationary over time. We study and
compare several pseudorehearsal approaches for Q-learning with function
approximation in a pole balancing task. We have found that pseudorehearsal
seems to assist learning even in such very simple problems, given proper
initialization of the rehearsal parameters
Level and source of supplemental selenium for beef steers
Selenium (Se) is deficient in many Arkansas soils; therefore, an experiment was conducted on steers to evaluate the effects of two supplemental Se sources on performance, blood metabolites, and immune function. Thirty Angus-crossbred steers were blocked by weight and assigned within block to one of 15 pens (two steers/pen). Pens were assigned randomly within blocks to one of three dietary treatments consisting of a corn-soybean meal supplement devoid of supplemental Se (negative control, NC) or corn-soybean meal supplements providing 1.7 mg supplemental Se/d as sodium selenite (inorganic Se, ISe) or as Se yeast (organic Se, OSe). Steers were offered fescue hay to allow for approximately 10% refusals, and 1.1 kg/d (as fed basis) of the appropriate grain supplement. Level and source of supplemental Se did not affect average daily gain for the 105-d trial. By d 42, steers fed both sources of supplemental Se had greater blood Se concentrations than those fed the NC. On d 63 and 84, blood Se concentrations differed among all dietary treatments (NC \u3c ISe \u3c OSe), and on d 105 steers fed both sources of supplemental Se had greater blood Se concentrations than NC. Antibody response to vaccination for bovine respiratory viruses, or in vitro lymphocyte blastogenesis did not differ among steers fed the different diets. Both sources of supplemental Se increased blood Se concentrations, the organic source more rapidly than the inorganic source; however, Se level and source had minimal effects on immune function of weaned beef steers
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