The Segment Ontology: Bridging Music-generic and Domain-specific

Existing semantic representations of music analysis encapsulate narrow sub-domain concepts and are frequently scoped by the context of a particular MIR task. Segmentation is a crucial abstraction in the investigation of phenomena which unfold over time; we present a Segment Ontology as the backbone of an approach that models properties from the musicological domain independently from MIR implementations and their signal processing foundations, whilst maintaining an accurate and complete description of the relationships that link them. This framework provides two principal advantages which are explored through several examples: a layered separation of concerns that aligns the model with the needs of the users and systems that consume and produce the data; and the ability to link multiple analyses of differing types through transforms to and from the Segment axis

A Plan for Designating Primitive Camping Areas in the Escalante Canyons Special Recreation Management Area of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

The Bureau of Land Management Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Management Plan requires the use of designated primitive camping areas to promote the Monument’s purpose of protecting and preserving scientific and historic resources. This project provides a plan for the Bureau of Land Management to locate, develop, and maintain designated primitive camping areas in the Escalante Canyons Special Recreation Area of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The first part of this project provides a review of the GSENM Management Plan and academic literature as a basis for the development and implementation of the designated primitive camping area program. The second part of this project consists of a land-use suitability analysis which is developed by overlaying desired location factors in a Geographic Information System. The suitability for designated primitive camping areas in the Escalante Canyons Special Recreation Area is illustrated by maps created by this process. The third part of this project offers recommendations for the implementation of the designated primitive camping area program

A Text-based Simulation Framework for the Automated Simulation and Analysis of Manufacturing Assembly Systems

The rapid advancement of manufacturing has led to the creation of a myriad of technologies that facilitate the analysis and simulation of manufacturing processes. These technologies have become a pivotal component in maintaining and improving processes in today’s complex manufacturing environments. Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is one such technology that has seen widespread use in the analysis of manufacturing assembly systems. However, despite its widespread use, organizations recognize that most of the commercially available DES software packages used to develop and maintain simulation models are costly and require significant levels of expertise, time, and resources. This research introduces a new text-based simulation framework titled the Automated Simulation Analysis Engine (ASAE) that aims to reduce the steep learning curve typically experienced by users when creating, running, and analyzing a simulation model. Two testing approaches were used to validate the correctness and usability of the proposed test-based simulation framework. The results of these tests suggest that the ASAE simulation framework has the potential of reducing the skills, time, and resources required when conducting a simulation-based study

Microfabrication Lab Furnace Upgrade

This project, undertaken by the Mechanical Engineering Department at California Polytechnic State University, aimed to upgrade the control system, user interface, and control software for Cal Poly\u27s oxidation and diffusion furnaces. The upgrade was designed to enhance the usability of the furnaces for students learning in the microfabrication lab and improve the lab\u27s image for prospective students. The project involved a comprehensive design process, including mechanical design, controls, software, human factors, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, electrical design, integration, and testing. The implementation phase entailed procurement of over 300 distinct components, manufacturing, and assembly. The project\u27s primary goal was to ensure safety and reliability, considering the operational conditions of the furnace and the associated safety requirements. A structural prototype was developed, which provided insights into the real-world operations of the design. The design verification process was exhaustive and thorough, conforming to the specifications detailed in the Specifications Table. Various tests were conducted to evaluate the functionality and safety of the system, including a dry run test, sensor test, and code testing. The project matters as it enhances the educational experience for students in the microfabrication lab, providing a user-friendly control over the furnace system. It also improves the lab\u27s image, making it more appealing to prospective students. The project\u27s success demonstrates the effectiveness of a comprehensive design and implementation process in achieving safety and reliability in a complex engineering system

Combined Behavioral and Engineering Approach to Preventing Highway Fatalities

Traditional, single-discipline highway safety approaches can be augmented through multidisciplinary approaches that consider both engineering and behavioral interventions (e.g., education, enforcement, public outreach campaigns). Leveraging a systems-based conceptual framework of roadway safety, multiple forms of statistical and geospatial analysis, and SPF modeling and network screening, this report proposes and demonstrates methods for unpacking the influence of behavioral-related factors on crash occurrences and outcomes. The primary focus is on behaviors targeted in the Strategic Highway Safety Plan — aggressive driving, distracted driving, impaired driving, and driving without proper restraint (i.e., seatbelts). Based on application of these methods, the report highlights areas and highway corridors in Kentucky where behavioral-related crashes have been most common. Practitioners can use methods presented in the report to locate areas where behavioral-related crashes are problematic and based on this knowledge design behavioral modification strategies and countermeasures which focus on at-risk populations

Structure-function relationships at the human spinal disc-vertebra interface.

Damage at the intervertebral disc-vertebra interface associates with back pain and disc herniation. However, the structural and biomechanical properties of the disc-vertebra interface remain underexplored. We sought to measure mechanical properties and failure mechanisms, quantify architectural features, and assess structure-function relationships at this vulnerable location. Vertebra-disc-vertebra specimens from human cadaver thoracic spines were scanned with micro-computed tomography (μCT), surface speckle-coated, and loaded to failure in uniaxial tension. Digital image correlation (DIC) was used to calculate local surface strains. Failure surfaces were scanned using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and adjacent sagittal slices were analyzed with histology and SEM. Seventy-one percent of specimens failed initially at the cartilage endplate-bone interface of the inner annulus region. Histology and SEM both indicated a lack of structural integration between the cartilage endplate (CEP) and bone. The interface failure strength was increased in samples with higher trabecular bone volume fraction in the vertebral endplates. Furthermore, failure strength decreased with degeneration, and in discs with thicker CEPs. Our findings indicate that poor structural connectivity between the CEP and vertebra may explain the structural weakness at this region, and provide insight into structural features that may contribute to risk for disc-vertebra interface injury. The disc-vertebra interface is the site of failure in the majority of herniation injuries. Here we show new structure-function relationships at this interface that may motivate the development of diagnostics, prevention strategies, and treatments to improve the prognosis for many low back pain patients with disc-vertebra interface injuries. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Orthopaedic Research® Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Orthopaedic Research Society. J Orthop Res 36:192-201, 2018

Automatic Group-Interactive Radio Using Social-Networks of Musicians

Using request radio shows as a base interactive model, we present the Steerable Optimizing Self-Organized Radio (SoSoRadio) system as a prototypical music rec- ommender system with robust automatic playlist gen- eration. This work describes a web-based radio system that interacts with current listeners through the selection of periodic request songs from a pool of nominees

Predictors and Moderators in the Randomized Trial of Multi-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy for Childhood Mood Disorders

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated predictors and moderators of mood symptoms in the randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Multi-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy (MF-PEP) for childhood mood disorders. METHOD: Based on predictors and moderators in RCTs of psychosocial interventions for adolescent mood disorders, we hypothesized that children’s greater functional impairment would predict worse outcome, while children’s stress/trauma history and parental expressed emotion and psychopathology would moderate outcome. Exploratory analyses examined other demographic, functioning, and diagnostic variables. Logistic regression and linear mixed effects modeling were used in this secondary analysis of the MF-PEP RCT of 165 children, ages 8–12, with mood disorders, a majority of whom were male (73%) and White, non-Hispanic (90%). RESULTS: Treatment nonresponse was significantly associated with higher baseline levels of global functioning (i.e., less impairment; Cohen’s d = 0.51) and lower levels of stress/trauma history (d = 0.56) in children and Cluster B personality disorder symptoms in parents (d = 0.49). Regarding moderators, children with moderately impaired functioning who received MF-PEP had significantly decreased mood symptoms (t = 2.10, d = 0.33) compared with waitlist control. MF-PEP had the strongest effect on severely impaired children (t = 3.03, d = 0.47). CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive assessment of demographic, youth, parent, and familial variables should precede intervention. Treatment of mood disorders in high functioning youth without stress/trauma histories and with parents with elevated Cluster B symptoms may require extra therapeutic effort, while severely impaired children may benefit most from MF-PEP

Scaling Digital Humanities on (and utilising) the Web

The work of a humanities e-researcher is scoped by the possibilities offered in digital artefacts: in their ever increasing number and their distribution and access over the Internet. This is recognised through a shift to an increasingly data-intensive method characterised as the "fourth paradigm" of e-Research and enabled by the new computational tools and techniques that characterise e-Science and e-Research. To realise these systems we propose an approach built upon the defining properties of the Web: adopting the REST style and Linked Data principles to enable the radical publication, sharing, and linking of data for, and by, researchers. Within this Resource Oriented architecture we utilise distinct but interwoven models to represent services, data collections, workflows, and -- so to simplify the rapid development of integrated applications to explore specific findings -- the domain of the application. We illustrate this conceptual framework in a prototype system for enhancing the application of Music Information Retrieval workflows, driven by several related aims: to enable MIR researchers to utilise these datasets through incorporation in their research systems and workflows; to publish MIR research output on the Semantic Web linked to existing datasets; and to present MIR research output, with cross-referencing to other linked data sources, for manipulation and evaluation by MIR and musicology researchers and re-use within the wider Semantic Web and Digital Humanities communities. As an illustration of a specific domain-driven application with which to explore findings, we gather and publish metadata describing audio collections derived from the country of an artist. Genre analysis over these collections, and integration of this analysis with collection metadata enables us to ask: "how country is my country?"

Mapping systematic errors in helium abundance determinations using Markov Chain Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo techniques have been used to evaluate the statistical and systematic uncertainties in the helium abundances derived from extragalactic H~II regions. The helium abundance is sensitive to several physical parameters associated with the H~II region. In this work, we introduce Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to efficiently explore the parameter space and determine the helium abundance, the physical parameters, and the uncertainties derived from observations of metal poor nebulae. Experiments with synthetic data show that the MCMC method is superior to previous implementations (based on flux perturbation) in that it is not affected by biases due to non-physical parameter space. The MCMC analysis allows a detailed exploration of degeneracies, and, in particular, a false minimum that occurs at large values of optical depth in the He~I emission lines. We demonstrate that introducing the electron temperature derived from the [O~III] emission lines as a prior, in a very conservative manner, produces negligible bias and effectively eliminates the false minima occurring at large optical depth. We perform a frequentist analysis on data from several "high quality" systems. Likelihood plots illustrate degeneracies, asymmetries, and limits of the determination. In agreement with previous work, we find relatively large systematic errors, limiting the precision of the primordial helium abundance for currently available spectra.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figure