8,498 research outputs found
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory: Instrumentation and Online Systems
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic-kilometer-scale high-energy
neutrino detector built into the ice at the South Pole. Construction of
IceCube, the largest neutrino detector built to date, was completed in 2011 and
enabled the discovery of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. We describe here
the design, production, and calibration of the IceCube digital optical module
(DOM), the cable systems, computing hardware, and our methodology for drilling
and deployment. We also describe the online triggering and data filtering
systems that select candidate neutrino and cosmic ray events for analysis. Due
to a rigorous pre-deployment protocol, 98.4% of the DOMs in the deep ice are
operating and collecting data. IceCube routinely achieves a detector uptime of
99% by emphasizing software stability and monitoring. Detector operations have
been stable since construction was completed, and the detector is expected to
operate at least until the end of the next decade.Comment: 83 pages, 50 figures; updated with minor changes from journal review
and proofin
The Spontaneous Emergence of Social Influence in Online Systems
Social influence drives both offline and online human behaviour. It pervades
cultural markets, and manifests itself in the adoption of scientific and
technical innovations as well as the spread of social practices. Prior
empirical work on the diffusion of innovations in spatial regions or social
networks has largely focused on the spread of one particular technology among a
subset of all potential adopters. It has also been difficult to determine
whether the observed collective behaviour is driven by natural influence
processes, or whether it follows external signals such as media or marketing
campaigns. Here, we choose an online context that allows us to study social
influence processes by tracking the popularity of a complete set of
applications installed by the user population of a social networking site, thus
capturing the behaviour of all individuals who can influence each other in this
context. By extending standard fluctuation scaling methods, we analyse the
collective behaviour induced by 100 million application installations, and show
that two distinct regimes of behaviour emerge in the system. Once applications
cross a particular threshold of popularity, social influence processes induce
highly correlated adoption behaviour among the users, which propels some of the
applications to extraordinary levels of popularity. Below this threshold, the
collective effect of social influence appears to vanish almost entirely in a
manner that has not been observed in the offline world. Our results demonstrate
that even when external signals are absent, social influence can spontaneously
assume an on-off nature in a digital environment. It remains to be seen whether
a similar outcome could be observed in the offline world if equivalent
experimental conditions could be replicated
Evaluating Online Systems
Focuses on the importance of evaluation skills in relation to studying library online systems. Factors that should be considered in selecting an online system; Various systems used by libraries
Sorting Through Online Systems
Librarians often ask if there\u27s a simple way to keep online systems straight in order to help users and conduct efficient searches. Although there is danger in oversimplifying the complexities and contrasts among the hundreds of online systems and databases to which libraries provide access, all but full-time online searchers should practice a simple coping mechanism. First recognize the similarities rather than the differences (today\u27s commercial online services are more alike than not) and then focus on the few important differences that make each system stand out
Incremental Grid-like Layout Using Soft and Hard Constraints
We explore various techniques to incorporate grid-like layout conventions
into a force-directed, constraint-based graph layout framework. In doing so we
are able to provide high-quality layout---with predominantly axis-aligned
edges---that is more flexible than previous grid-like layout methods and which
can capture layout conventions in notations such as SBGN (Systems Biology
Graphical Notation). Furthermore, the layout is easily able to respect
user-defined constraints and adapt to interaction in online systems and diagram
editors such as Dunnart.Comment: Accepted to Graph Drawing 201
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