View-Invariant Object Category Learning, Recognition, and Search: How Spatial and Object Attention Are Coordinated Using Surface-Based Attentional Shrouds

Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-01-1-0397); National Science Foundation (SBE-0354378); Office of Naval Research (N00014-01-1-0624

A Review of the Application of Metal-Organic Frameworks in the Absorption, Storage and Release of Methane

Natural gas, which mainly consists of methane, is a good fuel for vehicles. Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) have attracted much attention as a new group of adsorbent materials in natural gas storage. MOF structures form various networks by connecting secondary structural units composed of metal ions and organic binders. These regular materials have high porosity and have high design capabilities. This feature has made MOFs suitable for special applications in trapping and absorbing various materials. The investigation of these materials has focused on the absorption of pure methane, although natural gas contains a small amount of larger hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane, which have greater absorption than methane. This Manuscript presents an overview of the current state of the metal-organic framework for methane storage

DeepDecipher: Accessing and Investigating Neuron Activation in Large Language Models

As large language models (LLMs) become more capable, there is an urgent need for interpretable and transparent tools. Current methods are difficult to implement, and accessible tools to analyze model internals are lacking. To bridge this gap, we present DeepDecipher - an API and interface for probing neurons in transformer models' MLP layers. DeepDecipher makes the outputs of advanced interpretability techniques for LLMs readily available. The easy-to-use interface also makes inspecting these complex models more intuitive. This paper outlines DeepDecipher's design and capabilities. We demonstrate how to analyze neurons, compare models, and gain insights into model behavior. For example, we contrast DeepDecipher's functionality with similar tools like Neuroscope and OpenAI's Neuron Explainer. DeepDecipher enables efficient, scalable analysis of LLMs. By granting access to state-of-the-art interpretability methods, DeepDecipher makes LLMs more transparent, trustworthy, and safe. Researchers, engineers, and developers can quickly diagnose issues, audit systems, and advance the field.Comment: 5 pages (9 total), 1 figure, submitted to NeurIPS 2023 Workshop XAI

Interpreting Context Look-ups in Transformers: Investigating Attention-MLP Interactions

In this paper, we investigate the interplay between attention heads and specialized "next-token" neurons in the Multilayer Perceptron that predict specific tokens. By prompting an LLM like GPT-4 to explain these model internals, we can elucidate attention mechanisms that activate certain next-token neurons. Our analysis identifies attention heads that recognize contexts relevant to predicting a particular token, activating the associated neuron through the residual connection. We focus specifically on heads in earlier layers consistently activating the same next-token neuron across similar prompts. Exploring these differential activation patterns reveals that heads that specialize for distinct linguistic contexts are tied to generating certain tokens. Overall, our method combines neural explanations and probing isolated components to illuminate how attention enables context-dependent, specialized processing in LLMs.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure

COMPONENTES CUANTITATIVOS Y CUALITATIVOS E INDICADORES DE PRODUCTIVIDAD EN CENTROS EDUCATIVOS

O papel dos recursos humanos na promoção da produtividade das organizações de serviços é importante devido à produção e entrega direta de serviços humanos. A aplicação de mão-de-obra motivada, capacitada e produtiva, além de fornecer serviços de qualidade, pode utilizar outros recursos dentro da organização de maneira eficiente e desejável e realizar os vários aspectos da produtividade e, finalmente, beneficiar a organização. Portanto, o objetivo deste artigo é componentes e indicadores quantitativos e qualitativos em centros educacionais. Esta pesquisa foi prática e descritiva. A população deste estudo incluiu todos os centros educacionais em 2018. O tamanho da amostra foi estimado com base em Krejcie e Morgan Table (123 pessoas) selecionadas por amostragem aleatória estratificada. A ferramenta de coleta de dados foi um questionário composto por 4 componentes de requisitos educacionais (4 itens), indicadores quantitativos de educação (4 itens), indicadores qualitativos de educação (8 itens), especificidade externa do ambiente (6 itens), características ambientais internas (7 itens) ), características do ambiente psicológico (11 itens) e gestão estratégica de recursos humanos (5 itens) que, com base em uma escala Likert de cinco pontos, de fortemente discordado a fortemente aceito. A validade do conteúdo do questionário foi confirmada pela opinião de especialistas. O coeficiente alfa de Cranach das variáveis também foi superior a 0,7, indicando consistência interna dos itens e confirmação de confiabilidade. O método dos mínimos quadrados parciais foi utilizado para testar o modelo de pesquisa usando o software PLS. Com base nos resultados, todos os componentes identificados foram significativos no modelo conceitual padrão e apenas os componentes "qualidade da educação" e "características do ambiente psicológico" não tiveram importância na formação do modelo de produtividade educacional no presente estudo.El papel de los recursos humanos en la promoción de la productividad de las organizaciones de servicios es importante debido a la producción y entrega directa de servicios humanos. La aplicación de mano de obra motivada, empoderada y productiva, además de proporcionar servicios de calidad, puede utilizar otros recursos dentro de la organización de manera eficiente y deseable y darse cuenta de los diversos aspectos de la productividad y, en última instancia, beneficiar a la organización. Por lo tanto, el propósito de este artículo es para componentes e indicadores cuantitativos y cualitativos en centros educativos. Esta investigación fue práctica y descriptiva. La población de este estudio incluyó todos los centros educativos en 2018. El tamaño de la muestra se estimó en base a Krejcie y Morgan Table (123 personas) que seleccionaron mediante muestreo aleatorio estratificado. La herramienta de recolección de datos fue un cuestionario que consta de 4 componentes de requisitos educativos (4 ítems), indicadores cuantitativos de educación (4 ítems), indicadores cualitativos de educación (8 ítems), especificidad del ambiente externo (6 ítems), características ambientales interiores (7 ítems) ), las características del entorno psicológico (11 ítems) y la gestión estratégica de los recursos humanos (5 ítems) que se basa en una escala Likert de cinco puntos desde muy en desacuerdo hasta muy de acuerdo. La validez de contenido del cuestionario fue confirmada por la opinión de expertos. El coeficiente alfa de Cranach de las variables también fue superior a 0.7, lo que indica la consistencia interna de los ítems y la confirmación de confiabilidad. Se usó el método de mínimos cuadrados parciales para probar el modelo de investigación utilizando el software PLS. Con base en los resultados, todos los componentes identificados fueron significativos en el modelo conceptual predeterminado y solo los componentes de "calidad de la educación" y "características del entorno psicológico" no tuvieron un significado en la formación del modelo de productividad educativa en el presente estudio.The role of human resources in promoting productivity of service organizations is important due to the direct production and delivery of human services. Applying manpower motivated, empowered and productive, in addition to providing quality services, can utilize other resources within the organization efficiently and desirably and realize the various aspects of productivity and ultimately benefit the organization. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to quantitative and qualitative components and indicators in educational centers. This research was practical and descriptive. The population of this study included all educational centers in 2018. Sample size was estimated based on Krejcie and Morgan Table (123 people) that selected by stratified random sampling. Data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of 4 components of educational requirements (4 items), quantitative indicators of education (4 items), qualitative indicators of education (8 items), external environment specificity (6 items), indoor environmental characteristics (7 items), characteristics of psychological environment (11 items) and strategic human resource management (5 items) that based on a five-point Likert scale from strongly disagreed to strongly agreed. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by expert opinion. Cranach’s alpha coefficient of the variables was also higher than 0.7 that indicating internal consistency of the items and confirmation of reliability. Partial least squares method was used to test the research model by using PLS software. Based on the results, all identified components were significant in the default conceptual model and only the components of "quality of education" and "characteristics of the psychological environment" did not have a significance in forming the model of educational productivity in the present study

Analytical approaches to vibration analysis of circular, annular and sectorial plates subjected to classical and arbitrary boundary conditions – a literature survey

Plates are one of the most important structural components used in many industries like aerospace, marine and various other engineering fields and thus motivate designers and engineers to study the vibration characteristics of these structures. A lot of research work and studies have been done to study its vibration characteristics. This paper is a review of existing literature on vibration analysis of circular, annular and sector plates. The aim of this paper is to compile prominent studies related to circular, annular and sector plates subjected to classical and arbitrary boundary conditions under different supports and loadings. This review also identifies the analytical methods and approaches used to study the vibration characteristics of circular, annular and sector plates based on classical plate theories, Mindlin plate theory and higher order shear deformation theories. Few important citations related to functionally graded circular, annular and sector plates have also been included. Apart from helping researchers and engineers to identify relevant literature quickly and easily, this review will also help them to apply some of these analytical methods to study the vibration characteristics of other 2D and 3D built up and coupled structures

Three Considerations on Rawls’ Original Position

Rawls, in A Theory of Justice, aims at distributive justice,which would be applied to the basic structure and institutions in a society. He argues, based on a thought experience called “The original position,” for his theory of justice as fairness. In what follows, first, I will elaborate on “the original position” as an argument for Rawls’ theory of justice. Secondly, I will talk about Rawls' ideal methodology. And finally, I shall explain three considerations about Rawls' argument of the original position, to see whether or not this methodologically ideal argument works for justice and fairness in our non-ideal situations

Introducing Robust Design in Product Development Learning from an initiative at Volvo

Robust design (RD) has a large potential to contribute to product and process improvements providing increased customer value. However, it has shown to be difficult to obtain these benefits in practice. This study aims to evaluate and learn from an initial approach to introducing RD within the Volvo Group. It is based on three pilot cases within the product development organisation of a business unit. Data were collected through formal interviews and informal dialogues with pilot participants, supplemented by existing documentation of the pilot cases. The main finding was that a RD initiative, characterised by ‘tool-pushing’ and with a predefined solution introduced by an external consultant, faced many obstacles and could not create a sustainable result. Instead, it was found that there is a need to involve engineers and create a learning culture in which RD principles can become a natural part of work practices. This study identified six obstacles to the success of the initiative, which were perceived as learning points for a broader application of RD at the company. This underscores that RD initiatives can also be hampered by similar types of obstacles that have been identified in research on other change processes

AI Systems of Concern

Concerns around future dangers from advanced AI often centre on systems hypothesised to have intrinsic characteristics such as agent-like behaviour, strategic awareness, and long-range planning. We label this cluster of characteristics as "Property X". Most present AI systems are low in "Property X"; however, in the absence of deliberate steering, current research directions may rapidly lead to the emergence of highly capable AI systems that are also high in "Property X". We argue that "Property X" characteristics are intrinsically dangerous, and when combined with greater capabilities will result in AI systems for which safety and control is difficult to guarantee. Drawing on several scholars' alternative frameworks for possible AI research trajectories, we argue that most of the proposed benefits of advanced AI can be obtained by systems designed to minimise this property. We then propose indicators and governance interventions to identify and limit the development of systems with risky "Property X" characteristics.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, 2 table

EXAMINING HOW CONSUMERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THEMSELVES AFFECT THEIR BRAND PREFERENCES AND PURCHASING BEHAVIOR

Objective: This research explores how self-perception influences brand preferences and purchasing behavior, aiming to provide insights for marketers to enhance brand loyalty.   Theoretical Framework: Self-concept dimensions—actual self, ideal self, and social self—are analyzed to understand their impact on consumer behavior.   Method: A mixed-method approach was utilized, including a survey of 300 participants and in-depth interviews with 30 participants. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and thematic analysis were used to assess relationships between variables and explore underlying psychological mechanisms.   Results and Discussion: Findings suggest significant correlations between self-perception and brand preference, mediated by emotional attachment and perceived value. Specifically, the actual self-concept influences brand preference through emotional attachment, the ideal self-concept drives aspirational brand preferences, and the social self-concept affects brand loyalty through social identity.   Research Implications: These insights offer theoretical contributions to consumer psychology and practical implications for marketers aiming to create effective branding strategies that resonate with consumers' self-concept, ultimately fostering stronger brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.   Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of brand alignment with consumers' self-perceptions, aspirations, and social identities