Movie Plot Analysis via Turning Point Identification

According to screenwriting theory, turning points (e.g., change of plans, major setback, climax) are crucial narrative moments within a screenplay: they define the plot structure, determine its progression and segment the screenplay into thematic units (e.g., setup, complications, aftermath). We propose the task of turning point identification in movies as a means of analyzing their narrative structure. We argue that turning points and the segmentation they provide can facilitate processing long, complex narratives, such as screenplays, for summarization and question answering. We introduce a dataset consisting of screenplays and plot synopses annotated with turning points and present an end-to-end neural network model that identifies turning points in plot synopses and projects them onto scenes in screenplays. Our model outperforms strong baselines based on state-of-the-art sentence representations and the expected position of turning points.Comment: Accepted to appear at EMNLP 201

Pharmacological Or Genetic Targeting Of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Channels Can Disrupt The Planarian Escape Response

In response to noxious stimuli, planarians cease their typical ciliary gliding and exhibit an oscillatory type of locomotion called scrunching. We have previously characterized the biomechanics of scrunching and shown that it is induced by specific stimuli, such as amputation, noxious heat, and extreme pH. Because these specific inducers are known to activate Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels in other systems, we hypothesized that TRP channels control scrunching. We found that chemicals known to activate TRPA1 (allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) and hydrogen peroxide) and TRPV (capsaicin and anandamide) in other systems induce scrunching in the planarian species Dugesia japonica and, except for anandamide, in Schmidtea mediterranea. To confirm that these responses were specific to either TRPA1 or TRPV, respectively, we tried to block scrunching using selective TRPA1 or TRPV antagonists and RNA interference (RNAi) mediated knockdown. Unexpectedly, co-treatment with a mammalian TRPA1 antagonist, HC-030031, enhanced AITC-induced scrunching by decreasing the latency time, suggesting an agonistic relationship in planarians. We further confirmed that TRPA1 in both planarian species is necessary for AITC-induced scrunching using RNAi. Conversely, while co-treatment of a mammalian TRPV antagonist, SB-366791, also enhanced capsaicin-induced reactions in D. japonica, combined knockdown of two previously identified D. japonica TRPV genes (DjTRPVa and DjTRPVb) did not inhibit capsaicin-induced scrunching. RNAi of DjTRPVa/DjTRPVb attenuated scrunching induced by the endocannabinoid and TRPV agonist, anandamide. Overall, our results show that although scrunching induction can involve different initial pathways for sensing stimuli, this behavior’s signature dynamical features are independent of the inducer, implying that scrunching is a stereotypical planarian escape behavior in response to various noxious stimuli that converge on a single downstream pathway. Understanding which aspects of nociception are conserved or not across different organisms can provide insight into the underlying regulatory mechanisms to better understand pain sensation

Additive opportunistic capture explains group hunting benefits in African wild dogs

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are described as highly collaborative endurance pursuit hunters based on observations derived primarily from the grass plains of East Africa. However, the remaining population of this endangered species mainly occupies mixed woodland savannah where hunting strategies appear to differ from those previously described. We used high-resolution GPS and inertial technology to record fine-scale movement of all members of a single pack of six adult African wild dogs in northern Botswana. The dogs used multiple short-distance hunting attempts with a low individual kill rate (15.5%), but high group feeding rate due to the sharing of prey. Use of high-level cooperative chase strategies (coordination and collaboration) was not recorded. In the mixed woodland habitats typical of their current range, simultaneous, opportunistic, short-distance chasing by dogs pursuing multiple prey (rather than long collaborative pursuits of single prey by multiple individuals) could be the key to their relative success in these habitats

Mapping the Universe: The 2010 Russell Lecture

Redshift surveys are a powerful tool of modern cosmology. We discuss two aspects of their power to map the distribution of mass and light in the universe: (1) measuring the mass distribution extending into the infall regions of rich clusters and (2) applying deep redshift surveys to the selection of clusters of galaxies and to the identification of very large structures (Great Walls). We preview the HectoMAP project, a redshift survey with median redshift z = 0.34 covering 50 square degrees to r= 21. We emphasize the importance and power of spectroscopy for exploring and understanding the nature and evolution of structure in the universe.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures (2 videos available in the on-line journal article

Product placement in movies: questioning the effectiveness according to the spectator's viewing conditions

While adding to the academic knowledge about product placement, this exploratory research comforts the advertisers in their communication choice for the technique. It focuses on the efficiency as a result of a relationship between a spectator and a movie (before, during and after viewing the movie). Choosing a DVD movie because of the movie director improves the number of brand placement recalled as well as liking the kind of the movie. Such an improvement also occurs when the viewer appreciates the movie. Unfortunately, speaking with someone else while watching the movie does not decrease the number of brand placement recalledBrand placement, consumer, movie, product placement, spontaneous day after recall

Malayali young men and their movie heroes

Here we bring together masculinities and popular culture to think about how they are configured within the arena of cinema, focusing in on Kerala's two major male movie stars and the relationship they have with their young male fans. In their relative lack of interest in female stars and turn towards male stars young men are playing out an approach towards gendering which does not take as its foundation hierarchic or compulsory heterosexuality. Young men's tentative (and illicit, difficult) relationships with young women lack the substance of their relationships with each other and with their male movie heroes. We consider cinema as a forum for collective fantasy which acts as a source of helpful orientations, stars being particular nodes within this arena, dense points of transfer of desire, belief, self-affirmation or transformation and so on. Film audiences receive or subvert cinematic messages and form relationships with stars - whether in fantasy or actually - and with each other, mediated through cinematic modes of being or styles of doing. Another effect of cinema-related activities is to provide adolescent and post-adolescent boys with a safe segregated social space in which they can socialise, share information, try out fledgling masculine identities and grapple with the demands of emerging sexualities. The star makes possible identifications with the self- (for Mohan Lal, one who is working class and in solidarity with the poor, in Mammootty's case a solidly bourgeoios self); transformations of the self - opportunities through fan association work to distribute largesse like a high-caste wealthy patron; and an extended sense of self - the possiblity that through the fan association one might participate in the star's power and reach. In Kerala, unlike other states, fandom is not a matter of rivalry, political partisanship or even life and death. While there is a 'hard-core' central group who remain partisan and always committed to 'their' star, in general young men frequently shift associations and change allegiances. Yet the two heroes seem to embody different styles of hero and to have different types of appeal to audiences; sociologically, their fan bases trace slightly different social groupings. Mammootty has an affinity with roles implying powerful and high-status men in control, strong in family drama; Mohan Lal is admired for his abilities in romance, song, dance and fighting. One might wish to be like Mammootty but often feels that one already is in some way like Mohan Lal. Despite considerable overlap and dispute, Mammootty and Mohan Lal embody and perform different styles of manliness, none of which one could dispense with in one's potential repertiore. Both Mammootty and Mohan Lal are necessary in a full fantasy life and a necessarily internally fragmented and shifting gendered identity. Cinema also relates to ethnicity. Mammotty allows young non-Muslim men to experience a fantasy relationship with a powerful mature Muslim man, a community coded 'other' in Kerala. A twist to this is that (similar to analyses of white anglo masculinities and work on the 'blackness' of Elvis) we find working class Hindu masculinity, while explicitly defined in opposition to the Muslim other, at another level actually relies upon an incorporation of aspects of masculinity especially associated in the cultural landscape with Muslimness. In a more mediated and disguised manner, Mohan Lal also plays with elements of fantasy identity culturally coded by young Hindus as 'Muslim'

Growth and structure of Slovenia's scientific collaboration network

We study the evolution of Slovenia's scientific collaboration network from 1960 till present with a yearly resolution. For each year the network was constructed from publication records of Slovene scientists, whereby two were connected if, up to the given year inclusive, they have coauthored at least one paper together. Starting with no more than 30 scientists with an average of 1.5 collaborators in the year 1960, the network to date consists of 7380 individuals that, on average, have 10.7 collaborators. We show that, in spite of the broad myriad of research fields covered, the networks form "small worlds" and that indeed the average path between any pair of scientists scales logarithmically with size after the largest component becomes large enough. Moreover, we show that the network growth is governed by near-liner preferential attachment, giving rise to a log-normal distribution of collaborators per author, and that the average starting year is roughly inversely proportional to the number of collaborators eventually acquired. Understandably, not all that became active early have till now gathered many collaborators. We also give results for the clustering coefficient and the diameter of the network over time, and compare our conclusions with those reported previously.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in Journal of Informetrics [related work available at http://arxiv.org/abs/1003.1018 and http://www.matjazperc.com/sicris/stats.html

Community structure and the evolution of interdisciplinarity in Slovenia's scientific collaboration network

Interaction among the scientific disciplines is of vital importance in modern science. Focusing on the case of Slovenia, we study the dynamics of interdisciplinary sciences from 1960 to 2010. Our approach relies on quantifying the interdisciplinarity of research communities detected in the coauthorship network of Slovenian scientists over time. Examining the evolution of the community structure, we find that the frequency of interdisciplinary research is only proportional with the overall growth of the network. Although marginal improvements in favor of interdisciplinarity are inferable during the 70s and 80s, the overall trends during the past 20 years are constant and indicative of stalemate. We conclude that the flow of knowledge between different fields of research in Slovenia is in need of further stimulation.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in PLoS ONE [related work available at http://arxiv.org/abs/1004.4824 and http://www.matjazperc.com/sicris/stats.html