Hierarchical Data Representation Model - Multi-layer NMF

In this paper, we propose a data representation model that demonstrates hierarchical feature learning using nsNMF. We extend unit algorithm into several layers. Experiments with document and image data successfully discovered feature hierarchies. We also prove that proposed method results in much better classification and reconstruction performance, especially for small number of features. feature hierarchies

Critical Media Literacies in the Twenty-First Century: Writing Autoethnographies, Making Connections, and Creating Virtual Identities

Critical media literacies can help nurture students’ creative agencies and engender positive, sustained change in local communities. Kellner and Share (2005) have noted that students do need to develop faculties with digital technologies but that they must also participate in critical readings of cultural artifacts and discriminate between various multimedia sources. It is important for youth to conceptualize language as perpetuating different kinds of ideologies, for viewpoints are “connected to negotiable, changeable, and sometimes contested stories, histories, knowledge, beliefs, and values encapsulated into cultural models (theories) about the world” (Gee, 2008, p. 29). Semiotic meanings are in constant flux due to individual interests, community dynamics, and sociohistorical contexts, and students need to develop critical stances to better distinguish between authentic narratives, purported truths, and the in-between gray areas of discursive communications. The proliferation of digital and mobile applications expand academic and political boundaries, for within a critical media literacies framework, reading is a collective transaction, learning is a generative act, and political engagement is an accessible and possible achievement. This paper thereby provides an overview of several significant studies that have interrogated the possibilities of critical media pedagogies in youth spaces. The following sections chart ways in which students can engage with critical media literacies — namely by 1) affording the production of meaningful and authentic autoethnographies, 2) facilitating hospitable connections with near and distant others, and 3) encouraging imaginative self-constructions of identities within virtual communities

Real-and-Imagined Spaces: Productive Play in a Multimodal Youth Writing Program

This ethnographic study is driven by the aim of understanding how an out-of-school learning program supports the development of youth artists and writers, particularly when it operates outside of institutional strictures such as mandatory grading, curricular guidelines, and tracking based on age and perceived abilities. The research is guided by the following overarching questions: 1) In what ways do Black, Latinx, and queer students demonstrate investment in critical multimodal literacies? 2) How do world-building projects reveal the possibilities and limits of the imagination? 3) What conditions can inspire youth to articulate their identities as evolving writers and leaders? This work argues that playing with multimodal projects and imaginative world-building opportunities provided generative conditions for young adults’ development as writers, creators, and mentors. By engaging in transdisciplinary projects that invited crafting, coding, urban planning, architectural modeling, and creative writing, youth participants contributed to a participatory learning environment that celebrated their inherent capacities as critical thinkers and actors. My research ultimately highlights the ways that critical multimodal literacies can promote powerful self-expressions, complex articulations of the future, and projections of self confidence through productive play and public engagement with wider audiences

The 1287 G/A polymorphism of the Norepinephrine Transporter gene (NET) is involved in Commission Errors in Korean children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous evidence supports the role of noradrenergic systems in ADHD, and norepinephrine transporter (NET) is critical in regulating the noradrenergic system. The present study aimed to investigate the association between NET gene polymorphism and the performance measures of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) in Korean ADHD children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighty-seven children (mean age = 9.23 ± 1.99 years) with ADHD were recruited from a university hospital. Genotypes of G1287A of the NET gene (SLC6A2) were analyzed. All participants completed the CPT, with performance measures of omission errors, commission errors, reaction time and reaction standardization computed. The relationship between G1287A polymorphisms and CPT performance measures was examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 46 subjects with the G/G genotype, 35 subjects with the G/A genotype and 6 subjects with the A/A genotype. Among the three groups, there were no significant differences in the performance of CPTs. When dichotomized according to whether the subjects have the rare allele or not, subjects with the homozygous G/G genotype showed significantly lower commission errors compared to those without G/G genotypes (by independent T-test, t = -2.18, p = 0.026).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our study found a significant association between commission errors of the CPT and the G1287A genotype of the NET gene in Korean ADHD children. These findings suggest a protective role of the G/G genotype of the NET polymorphisms in the deficits of response inhibition in ADHD children.</p

Integrated Information System for Sustainable Urban Regeneration

Information systems are widely used in urban planning process for communication between different side actors. However, most of them have been implemented without providing possibilities for decision makers to participate together with urban planners in the process. This research aims to outline a framework where an interactive model for decision making plays a key role in creating a collaborative environment. The proposal regards the information representation as the main instrument for encouraging a constructive dialog between different actors. The focus is on the relationship between three elements of information representation: level of detail, type of visualization and interaction. Combining these elements, information can be provided in a dynamic way enabling more effective exploration and understanding. The proposed strategy implements a digital model that operates on different scales and levels in order to support the key stages of the planning process for sustainable urban regeneration in Bulgaria. Positional approach is used to define the functionality and decision making operation for the selected process. As a result research ideas about the use of the digital model are presented

Ru-Catalyzed, cis-Selective Living Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization of Various Monomers, Including a Dendronized Macromonomer, and Implications to Enhanced Shear Stability

An unsaturated polymer’s cis/trans-olefin content has a significant influence on its properties. For polymers obtained by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), the cis/trans-olefin content can be tuned by using specific catalysts. However, cis-selective ROMP has suffered from narrow monomer scope and lack of control over the polymerization (giving polymers with broad molecular weight distributions and prohibiting the synthesis of block copolymers). Herein, we report the versatile cis-selective controlled living ROMP of various endo-tricyclo[4.2.2.0^(2,5)]deca-3,9-diene and various norbornene derivatives using a fast-initiating dithiolate-chelated Ru catalyst. Polymers with cis-olefin content as high as 99% could be obtained with high molecular weight (up to M_n of 105.1 kDa) and narrow dispersity (<1.4). The living nature of the polymerization was also exploited to prepare block copolymers with high cis-olefin content for the first time. Furthermore, owing to the successful control over the stereochemistry and narrow dispersity, we could compare cis- and trans-rich polynorbornene and found the former to have enhanced resistance to shear degradation

catena-Poly[[[aqua­manganese(II)]-di-μ-sulfato-[aqua­manganese(II)]-μ-N,N,N′,N′-tetra­kis(2-pyridylmeth­yl)hexane-1,6-diamine] hexa­hydrate]

In the polymeric title compound, {[Mn2(SO4)2(C30H36N6)(H2O)2]·6H2O}n, the two Mn2+ ions are bridged by two sulfate anions to form dinuclear complexes, and these dinuclear species are linked by the hexa­dentate ligand N,N,N′,N′-tetra­kis(2-pyridylmeth­yl)hexane-1,6-diamine (tphn), forming a one-dimensional chain structure running in the [101] direction. The repeat unit of the polymer, Mn2(SO4)2(H2O)2(tphn), is disposed about a twofold axis passing through the centre of the dinuclear unit. The coordination geometry around the Mn centre is distorted octa­hedral. Two methylene groups are each disordered equally over two positions

Fatigue relief by aromatherapy use in prenatal and postnatal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose The purpose of this systematic review was to examine aromatherapy interventions for prenatal and postnatal women, and to determine the effectiveness of these interventions on fatigue. Methods Six national and international databases were reviewed to retrieve and collect studies published up to September 7, 2021, describing randomized controlled trials and controlled clinical trials of aromatherapy interventions for prenatal and postnatal women’s fatigue. Of the 323 articles initially identified, 64 duplicates were excluded and 259 were screened. After further excluding 216 articles not related to PICO framework, 10 were selected for review. Two reviewers independently selected studies and conducted data extraction and quality appraisal using Cochran’s Risk of Bias and Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Non-randomized Studies. Results The quality of the 10 selected studies was overall satisfactory. A meta-analysis of three studies showed that aromatherapy with lavender oil? produced a 0.75-point reduction in postnatal mothers’ fatigue when compared to control groups. Sleep quality was also analyzed as a secondary outcome of fatigue. A meta-analysis of four studies using lavender and/or orange peel oil found that aromatherapy produced a 0.98-point improvement in postnatal mothers’ quality of sleep. Although a meta-analysis could not be conducted to synthesize the findings for fatigue in pregnant women, inhalation and massage therapy using lavender oil showed positive effects on prenatal fatigue and sleep quality. Conclusion Aromatherapy using lavender oil and orange peel oil is effective in improving prenatal and postnatal fatigue and sleep quality

Ocular sarcoidosis and tuberculous lymphadenopathy: coincidence or real association

Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis share similarity in histopathologic findings and clinically occur in association with each other occasionally. Tuberculosis should always be ruled out before the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. But, the diagnosis is often complicated, especially in extrapulmonary cases. Here we present a case of bilateral vitreous hemorrhage with uveitis. Ocular sarcoidosis was initially diagnosed based on the characteristic ocular findings, negative results on chest radiography, tuberculosis culture, and polymerase chain reaction of aqueous, as well as simultaneous presence of panda and lambda sign on gallium-67 scans. The ocular condition improved after pars plana vitrectomy and systemic steroid therapy. However, TB lymphadenopathy but no recurrent ocular inflammation was found 6 years later. The patient received anti-TB treatment for 6 months thereafter. The eyes remained silent except cataract progression and glaucoma under two medications during this period. In conclusion, TB could occur coincidently or in association with sarcoidosis, continued follow-up is important for patients with ocular sarcoidosis