Suchergebnisse

A method of simulating the neutron scattering by a textured polycrystal is presented. It is based on an expansion of the scattering cross sections in terms of the spherical harmonics of the incident and scattering directions, which is derived from the generalized Fourier expansion of the polycrystal orientation distribution function. The method has been implemented in a Monte Carlo code as a component of the McStas software package, and it has been validated by computing some pole figures of a Zircaloy-4 plate and a Zr–2.5Nb pressure tube, and by simulating an ideal transmission experiment. The code can be used to estimate the background generated by components of neutron instruments such as pressure cells, whose walls are made of alloys with significant crystallographic texture. As a first application, the effect of texture on the signal-to-noise ratio was studied in a simple model of a diffraction experiment, in which a sample is placed inside a pressure cell made of a zirconium alloy. With this setting, the results of two simulations were compared: one in which the pressure-cell wall has a uniform distribution of grain orientations, and another in which the pressure cell has the texture of a Zr–2.5Nb pressure tube. The results showed that the effect of the texture of the pressure cell on the noise of a diffractogram is very important. Thus, the signal-to-noise ratio can be controlled by appropriate choice of the texture of the pressure-cell walls. ; Funding for this research was provided by the European Union's Horizon 2020 (grant No. 654000); Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (Spain) (grant No. PGC2018-099024-B- I00); Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Spain) (grant No. I-COOP B20319). ; Peer reviewed

Comunicació presentada a: 17th IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA) celebrada del 17 al 20 de 2018 a Orlando, Estats Units. ; Decision trees (DTs) are a widely used prediction tool, owing to their interpretability. Standard learning methods follow a locally-optimal approach that trades off prediction performance for computational efficiency. Such methods can however be far from optimal, and it may pay off to spend more computational resources to increase performance. Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS) is an approach to approximate optimal choices in exponentially large search spaces. Since exploring the space of all possible DTs is computationally intractable, we propose a DT learning approach based on MCTS. To bound the branching factor of MCTS, we limit the number of decisions at each level of the search tree, and introduce mechanisms to balance exploration, DT size and the statistical significance of the predictions. To mitigate the computational cost of our method, we employ a move pruning strategy that discards some branches of the search tree, leading to improved performance. The experiments show that our approach outperformed locally optimal search in 20 out of 31 datasets, with a reduction in DT size in most of the cases. ; This work is supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme for Research and Innovation, under grant agreement No. 642676 (CardioFunXion).

We are thankful to the reviewers for their thorough analysis of the original manuscript and for many comments and suggestions. ; After a brief description of the essentials of Monte Carlo simulation methods and the definition of simulation efficiency, the rationale for variance-reduction techniques is presented. Popular variance-reduction techniques applicable to Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport are described and motivated. The focus is on those techniques that can be used with any transport code, irrespective of the strategies used to track charged particles; they operate by manipulating either the number and weights of the transported particles or the mean free paths of the various interaction mechanisms. The considered techniques are 1) splitting and Russian roulette, with the ant colony method as builder of importance maps, 2) exponential transform and interaction-forcing biasing, 3) Woodcock or delta-scattering method, 4) interaction forcing, and 5) proper use of symmetries and combinations of different techniques. Illustrative results from analog simulations (without recourse to variance-reduction) and from variance-reduced simulations of various transport problems are presented. ; Financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/ European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of European Union (projects nos. RTI2018-098117-B-C22 and PID2019- 104888GB-I00) and the Junta de Andalucía (projects nos. FQM387 and P18-RT-3237) is gratefully acknowledged.

One of the main challenges in indoor time-of-arrival (TOA)-based wireless localization systems is to mitigate non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation conditions, which degrade the overall positioning performance. The positive skewed non-Gaussian nature of TOA observations under LOS/NLOS conditions can be modeled as a heavy-tailed skew t-distributed measurement noise. The main goal of this article is to provide a robust Bayesian inference framework to deal with target localization under NLOS conditions. A key point is to take advantage of the conditionally Gaussian formulation of the skew t-distribution, thus being able to use computationally light Gaussian filtering and smoothing methods as the core of the new approach. The unknown non-Gaussian noise latent variables are marginalized using Monte Carlo sampling. Numerical results are provided to show the performance improvement of the proposed approach. ; Grant numbers . This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through project TEC2015-69868-C2-2-R (ADVENTURE) and by the Government of Catalonia under Grant 2014--SGR-1567.

Gli archivi costituiscono il luogo della memoria per eccellenza; una memoria per fortuna custodita e preservata in vista della sua trasmissione a molte generazioni future. Nonostante la dispersione dell'archivio personale di Carlo Giachery, la sua intensa attività di docente, professionale e istituzionale è ancora oggi ampiamente documentata presso gli archivi pubblici e, talvolta, anche quelli privati. Nell'Archivio Storico dell'Università di Palermo i 133 volumi della serie Cautele per conto dei Regi Studi e Fabbriche restituiscono per intero le vicende edilizie dei cantieri che dal 1837 al 1865 avevano visto l'esclusivo impegno progettuale di Giachery. L'attività istituzionale è invece documentata da quell'incredibile «pozzo di San Patrizio» della storia siciliana dell'Ottocento pre-unitario che è il fondo Ministero e Real Segreteria di Stato presso il Luogotenente Generale di Sicilia, Primo e Secondo Carico, nelle sezioni Lavori Pubblici e Ripartimento Interno dell'Archivio di Stato di Palermo. L'attività professionale per conto dei privati e per il Comune di Palermo, invece, è ben documentata nel fondo Lavori Pubblici - Sezione Edilizia Privata, sezione C1 dell'Archivio Storico Comunale. Le vicende familiari, personali e ancora una volta quelle professionali di Giachery trovano, invece, il loro naturale campo di indagine presso le minute dei notai custodite negli Archivi Notarili distrettuali di Palermo e Termini Imerese. Fra le pagine ingiallite dei loro registri si sviluppa, per oltre un secolo, l'intensa storia familiare di diverse generazioni attraverso un susseguirsi di disposizioni testamentarie, inventari ereditari, contratti matrimoniali e atti dotali, acquisti di immobili e di terreni, procure e donazioni. Pur non vastissima, la «biblioteca dell'architetto» ci restituisce a pieno la versatile identità disciplinare di Giachery, e dà l'idea di come la sua erudizione fosse equanimemente orientata verso colti interessi per l'architettura e il suo passato, e verso gli ambiti delle scienze applicate e della tecnica. La raccolta aveva un carattere marcatamente specialistico, con sezioni cospicue dedicate all'architettura, al disegno architettonico e topografico, alla storia dell'arte, alla geometria descrittiva e applicata, alle matematiche «miste e sublimi», alla scienza idraulica, alla fisica, alla meccanica, alla scienza delle costruzioni, all'arte e all'architettura militare.

Se la parcia chiave per comprendere il '500 e la conquista militare, quella relativa al '700 e la colanizzazione economica: durante tale periodo, infatti, non si realizza piu tanto I'espansione come predominio territoriale, quante piuttosto si attua iI tentativo di "creare ricchezza". Insieme cioe ai Lumi, lumiérés, ilustrados, si diffonde i1 desiderio di trasformare il territorio, al fine di migliorare le condizioni economiche del paese.

4 páginas, 2 fotografís. Trabajo presentado con motivo del 100 aniversario de la creación de la EEHAR. Pertenece al Capítulo V: La proyección española en el Mediterráneo y los proyectos de la Escuela. Noticia de la publicación en http://www.eehar.csic.es/publicaciones/ ; El presente artículo analiza, a raíz de una lápida honoraria colocada en una de las fachadas de la nueva sede de la EEHAR, la figura de Carlo Mazzaresi, joven patriota italiano caído en la primera guerra mundial condecorado con los máximos honores militares. ; Peer reviewed

The combination of experts' probability distributions involved in a due diligence is valuable for encapsulating the accumulated information for decision makers and providing the current state of expert opinion regarding important uncertainties. Therefore, this paper shows how to create and combinate experts' probability distributions which can be used in a monte-carlo simulation to calculate company values.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1) evades adaptive immunity by means of its extremely high mutation rate, which allows the HIV envelope glycoprotein to continuously escape from the action of antibodies. However, some broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) targeting specific viral regions show the ability to block the infectivity of a large number of viral variants. The discovery of these antibodies opens new avenues in anti-HIV therapy; however, they are still suboptimal tools as their amplitude of action ranges between 50% and 90% of viral variants. In this context, being able to discriminate between sensitive and resistant strains to an antibody would be of great interest for the design of optimal clinical antibody treatments and to engineer potent bNAbs for clinical use. Here, we describe a hierarchical procedure to predict the antibody neutralization efficacy of multiple viral isolates to three well-known anti-CD4bs bNAbs: VRC01, NIH45-46 and 3BNC117. Our method consists of simulating the three-dimensional binding process between the gp120 and the antibody by using Protein Energy Landscape Exploration (PELE), a Monte Carlo stochastic approach. Our results clearly indicate that the binding profiles of sensitive and resistant strains to a bNAb behave differently, showing the latter's weaker binding profiles, that can be exploited for predicting antibody neutralization efficacy in hypermutated HIV-1 strains. ; This research was funded by a predoctoral fellowship from the Government of Catalonia (2020FI_B2_00138 to P.A.-R.). The research was conducted under funds from the Spanish Government, grant PID2019-106370RB-I00. J.B. laboratory is funded by the Spanish Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII, projects PI17/01518 and PI20/00093) and by MAC Foundation (project E-C-YY-24414). ; Peer Reviewed ; Postprint (published version)

The development of Information Technology has a huge impact on various sides of life, from government, administration, economy, and education. Regarding the issue of education in particular, the use of information technology will bring very good changes in the education system in which the material presented will be developed. With the existence of computer technology as a support in processing data and information, it has become a necessity for all humans, so that the required information can be obtained quickly and accurately. In fact, one of the most important factors in information technology problems is the problem of network or media access which becomes a bridge between learning resources and parties involved in the learning process. The online motorcycle taxi simulation process using the Monte Carlo method is very good in developing the level of knowledge in the general public, so that the use of information technology can be of maximum benefit to every level of society.

The evaluation of interventions such as active labor market policies or medical programs by means of a randomized controlled trial is often considered the gold standard. However, randomized experiments might face severe shortcomings especially if performed at the group level. One such problem is caused by small sample size which might prevent the experiment from developing its fundamental virtue in balancing all relevant covariates. This paper investigates the potential and limits of experimental and non-experimental approaches to the evaluation problem, in particular the use of instrumental variables, in a numerical simulation study, against the particular background of community-based interventions. In our simulations, we emphasize the trade-off between bias and precision by imposing a smaller number of communities whenever we model a randomized experiment, and by allowing for a correspondingly larger number of communities in all cases where selection into the program is not controlled completely by the analyst.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (nicknamed "The Trocks") have been performing "serious" ballets en travesti since 1974. Acclaimed worldwide, the Trocks are on tour forty weeks a year. Last time they performed in New York, Time Out New York listed them as "pick of the week," in three categories simultaneously: best dance performance, best gay & lesbian event, and best children's activity (Chung). What does all this popularity mean, politically? Is it necessary to concede that the Trocks are merely another lovably harmless manifestation of drag, just as well assimilated as Mrs. Doubtfire and Dame Edna, or can we trace from their double heritage - edgy 1970's gay performance tactics, and those monumentally iconic Russian prima ballerinas - an underlying political strategy of activism and cultural relevance? In this article, I will argue that political motivation is embedded in each of these traditions, in a number of different ways. The strategies of resistance employed by the Ballets Trockadero draw on each of these inherited histories in order to mount a camp performance that confronts the tenets of gender identity, of classical ballet, of issues of race and class in the performing arts, of enforced theatrical illusion - and even of drag itself.

17 USC 105 interim-entered record; under temporary embargo. ; The monetary impact of mega data breaches has been a significant concern for enterprises. The study of data breach risk assessment is a necessity for organizations to have effective cybersecurity risk management. Due to the lack of available data, it is not easy to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the interactions among factors that affect the cost of mega data breaches. The Monte Carlo analysis results were used to explicate the interactions among independent variables and emerging patterns in the variation of the total data breach cost. The findings of this study are as follows: The total data breach cost varies significantly with personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive personally identifiable information (SPII) with unique patterns. Second, SPII must be a separate independent variable. Third, the multilevel factorial interactions between SPII and the other independent variables elucidate subtle patterns in the total data breach cost variation. Fourth, class action lawsuit (CAL) categorical variables regulate the variation in the total data breach cost. ; U.S. Government affiliation is unstated in article text.

Questo saggio intende riaffermare l'importanza del concetto di "guerra di posizione" per gli studi culturali, e in particolare per l'analisi del documentario contemporaneo, e pertanto ripercorre la genesi del concetto, articolato per la prima volta da Antonio Gramsci nei suoi "Quaderni del carcere", e ne segue lo sviluppo, sia in relazione ad altri elementi chiave del pensiero di Gramsci, sia all'interno degli studi culturali, attraverso l'analisi di alcuni interventi di Stuart Hall. La guerra di posizione è, per Hall, la metafora politico-militare che Gramsci usa per descrivere la transizione verso uno stato che non ha più soltanto funzione coercitiva, ma esercita una leadership morale ed educativa sui suoi cittadini e quindi non può più essere considerato un'entità fisica da abbattere con un veloce colpo militare, ma deve essere affrontato dispiegando strategie complesse che minino tutti i centri da cui s'irradia la sua egemonia. Il concetto di guerra di posizione viene poi applicato all'analisi del documentario di Francesca Comencini "Carlo Giuliani, ragazzo", per affermare che l'efficacia di un intervento culturale nella società contemporanea, almeno nei paesi occidentali ad economia capitalista avanzata, può essere misurata in modo proficuo in base al suo apporto alla definizione dell'egemonia, non solo in termini politici, ma in tutti i campi in cui essa si manifesta. Il concetto di guerra di posizione aiuta ad affrontare questo compito perché permette di analizzare i rapporti di potere all'interno delle società da una prospettiva insieme più larga e più profonda e a riconoscere che il potere egemonico non è semplicemente la conseguenza di una determinata situazione economica, o di una struttura, ma è un complesso di relazioni che coinvolge la società nel profondo.

The increased awareness on sustainability matters is contributing to the evolution of energy and environmental policies for the building sector at the EU level, oriented toward resource efficiency. There exist today several possible strategies to model building performance through the life cycle. The increase of available computational capacity and of data acquisition capability is opening new scenarios for practical applications, which can contribute to the reduction of the gap usually encountered between simulated and measured energy performance. This article aims to investigate an approach for probabilistic building performance simulation to be used across life cycle phases, employing reduced-order models for performance monitoring and energy management. The workflow proposed aims to establish a continuity among design and operation phases. Design phase simulation is generally subject to relevant temporal and economic constraints and a successful workflow should incorporate elements from current design practices but should also add new features, which have to be reasonably automated to reduce additional effort. Therefore, the workflow proposed is automated and tested for robustness using Monte Carlo technique. In the design phase, the approach can be used for identifying probabilistic performance bounds suitable for risk analysis in energy efficiency investments, employing cost-optimal or life cycle cost accounting methodologies. In the operation phase, it can be used for performance monitoring and energy management based on daily energy consumption analysis, similarly to other multivariate regression-based methods at the state of the art, addressing the problem of maintaining energy consumption and related costs constantly under control.