Signal Enhancement for Magnetic Navigation Challenge Problem

Harnessing the magnetic field of the earth for navigation has shown promise as a viable alternative to other navigation systems. A magnetic navigation system collects its own magnetic field data using a magnetometer and uses magnetic anomaly maps to determine the current location. The greatest challenge with magnetic navigation arises when the magnetic field data from the magnetometer on the navigation system encompass the magnetic field from not just the earth, but also from the vehicle on which it is mounted. It is difficult to separate the earth magnetic anomaly field magnitude, which is crucial for navigation, from the total magnetic field magnitude reading from the sensor. The purpose of this challenge problem is to decouple the earth and aircraft magnetic signals in order to derive a clean signal from which to perform magnetic navigation. Baseline testing on the dataset shows that the earth magnetic field can be extracted from the total magnetic field using machine learning (ML). The challenge is to remove the aircraft magnetic field from the total magnetic field using a trained neural network. These challenges offer an opportunity to construct an effective neural network for removing the aircraft magnetic field from the dataset, using an ML algorithm integrated with physics of magnetic navigation.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures. See https://github.com/MIT-AI-Accelerator/MagNav.jl for accompanying data and cod

Modern American populism: Analyzing the economics behind the Silent Majority, the Tea Party and Trumpism

This article researches populism, more specifically, Modern American Populism (MAP), constructed of white, rural, and economically oppressed reactionarianism, which was borne out of the political upheaval of the 1960’s Civil Rights movement. The research looks to explain the causes of populism and what leads voters to support populist movements and politicians. The research focuses on economic anxiety as the main cause but also examines an alternative theory of racial resentment. In an effort to answer the question, what causes populist movements and motivations, I apply a research approach that utilizes qualitative and quantitative methods. There is an examination of literature that defines populism, its causes and a detailed discussion of the case studies, including the 1972 election of Richard Nixon; the Tea Party election of 2010; and the 2016 election of Donald Trump. In addition, statistical data analysis was run using American National Election Studies (ANES) surveys associated with each specific case study. These case studies were chosen because they most represent forms of populist movements in modern American history. While ample qualitative evidence suggested support for the hypothesis that economic anxiety is a necessary condition for populist voting patterns that elected Nixon, the Tea Party and Trump, the statistical data only supported the hypothesis in two cases, 2010 and 2016, with 1972 coming back inconclusive. The data also suggested that both economic anxiety and racial resentment played a role in 2010 and 2016, while having no significant effect in 1972 in either case. This suggests that further research needs to be conducted into additional populist case studies, as well as an examination into the role economic anxiety and economic crises play on racial resentment and racially motivated voting behavior

Abstracts from the NIHR INVOLVE Conference 2017

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Safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) co-administered with seasonal influenza vaccines: an exploratory substudy of a randomised, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial

Background: Safety and immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines when co-administered with influenza vaccines have not yet been reported. Methods: A sub-study on influenza vaccine co-administration was conducted as part of the phase 3 randomised trial of NVX-CoV2373’s safety and efficacy; ~400 participants meeting main study entry criteria, with no contraindications to influenza vaccination, were enroled. After randomisation to receive NVX-CoV2373 or placebo, sub-study participants received an open-label influenza vaccine at the same time as the first dose of NVX-CoV2373. Reactogenicity was evaluated for 7 days post-vaccination plus monitoring for unsolicited adverse events (AEs), medically-attended AEs (MAAEs), and serious AEs (SAEs). Vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 was assessed. Findings: Sub-study participants were younger (median age 39; 6.7 % ≥65 years), more racially diverse, and had fewer comorbid conditions than main study participants. Reactogenicity events more common in co-administration group included tenderness (70.1% vs 57.6%) or pain (39.7% vs 29.3%) at injection site, fatigue (27.7% vs 19.4%), and muscle pain (28.3% vs 21.4%). Rates of unsolicited AEs, MAAEs, and SAEs were low and balanced between the two groups. Co-administration resulted in no change to influenza vaccine immune response, while a reduction in antibody responses to the NVX-CoV2373 vaccine was noted. Vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 was 87.5% (95% CI: -0.2, 98.4) in those 18-<65 years in the sub-study while efficacy in the main study was 89.8% (95% CI: 79.7, 95.5).  Interpretation: This is the first study to demonstrate safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine when co-administered with influenza vaccines

Making Different Differences: Representation and Rights in Sexuality Activism

This paper argues that current iterations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights are limited by an overreliance on particular representations of sexuality, in which homosexuality is defined negatively through a binary of homosexual/heterosexual. The limits of these representations are explored in order to unpick the possibility of engaging in a form of sexuality politics that is grounded in difference rather than in sameness or opposition. The paper seeks to respond to Braidotti’s call for an “affirmative politics” that is open to forms of creative, future-oriented action and that might serve to answer some of the more common criticisms of current LGBTI rights activism

The Effects of Parental Involvement on the College Student Transition: A Qualitative Study at a Large Midwestern University

This qualitative research studied the phenomenon of parental involvement in the college transition process and sought to understand if students perceived they were affected, relative to the development of independence and autonomy, by the amount of parental involvement they experienced during this transition. Six traditional college freshmen were interviewed and asked about their relationships with their parents, their parent’s involvement during the college search, application, and transition process, and how they perceived this involvement affected their development of independence and autonomy. This study explored the effects of parental involvement as students transitioned from high school to college. The study looked at levels and impacts of parental involvement during high school through the college application process through the students\u27 freshman year of college. Specifically, this research explored how students perceived parental involvement influenced their abilities to transition into the college environment and develop independence and autonomy. The research added to literature in the field by investigating the impact of parental involvement on the college transition process and exploring how involvement may affect the “moving in” phase of this transition. By looking at student-parent relationships and parental involvement, student affairs professionals can gain insight as to how to provide programs and services to support students and their parents as they transition through these developmental stages. This study added to previous research on how students perceive parental involvement affects students’ transition to college. Theories from Chickering and Reisser as well as Schlossberg were applied to help analyze the findings of the study related to how students experienced the transition from high school to college to better understand the development of independence and autonomy. Each of the six participants in this study expressed that they had parental support. Because of this support, these students were able to transition easier into college and were more comfortable taking risks, meeting new people, and experiencing a new environment. Adviser: Richard E. Hoove