Visually grounded learning of keyword prediction from untranscribed speech

During language acquisition, infants have the benefit of visual cues to ground spoken language. Robots similarly have access to audio and visual sensors. Recent work has shown that images and spoken captions can be mapped into a meaningful common space, allowing images to be retrieved using speech and vice versa. In this setting of images paired with untranscribed spoken captions, we consider whether computer vision systems can be used to obtain textual labels for the speech. Concretely, we use an image-to-words multi-label visual classifier to tag images with soft textual labels, and then train a neural network to map from the speech to these soft targets. We show that the resulting speech system is able to predict which words occur in an utterance---acting as a spoken bag-of-words classifier---without seeing any parallel speech and text. We find that the model often confuses semantically related words, e.g. "man" and "person", making it even more effective as a semantic keyword spotter.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 5 tables; small updates, added link to code; accepted to Interspeech 201

A Phenomenological Study of the Shared Experiences of Former Developmental-Math Students Who Have Successfully Completed a College-Level Math Course

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the shared experiences of former developmental-math students who have successfully completed a college-level math course at a college in the U.S. The theory guiding this study is Schlossberg’s transition theory as it explains the transitions the students make when entering college-level math, taking the college-level math course, and successfully completing the college-level math course (Schlossberg, 1981). The data was drawn from interviews, an online discussion group, focus groups, and questionnaires. The modified Moustakas method was applied to analyzing the data. The data was examined first by horizonalizing the data, giving equal weight to all of the ideas and topics presented in the interview. The data was analyzed to identify and organize the meaning units and then cluster them into common themes. These themes were distilled into the essence of the phenomenon (Moustakas, 1994). The data was carefully examined to discover common themes and arrive at the essence of the phenomenon. Participants in this study were college students who were enrolled in developmental math and continued on to successfully complete a college-level math course. The main question framing the study was: What are the shared experiences of former developmental-math students who have successfully completed a college-level math course? Sub-questions sought to explore the students’ experiences in math classes that preceded enrollment in college-level math courses, their experiences in the college-level math course, and their expectations for the future now that the students have successfully completed a college-level math class

A Process for Technology Prioritization in a Competitive Environment

This slide presentation reviews NASA's process for prioritizing technology requirements where there is a competitive environment. The In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) project is used to exemplify the process. The ISPT project focuses on the mid level Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for development. These are TRL's 4 through 6, (i.e. Technology Development and Technology Demonstration. The objective of the planning activity is to identify the current most likely date each technology is needed and create ISPT technology development schedules based on these dates. There is a minimum of 4 years between flight and pacing mission. The ISPT Project needed to identify the "pacing mission" for each technology in order to provide funding for each area. Graphic representations show the development of the process. A matrix shows which missions are currently receiving pull from the both the Solar System Exploration and the Sun-Solar System Connection Roadmaps. The timeframes of the pacing missions technologies are shown for various types of propulsion. A pacing mission that was in the near future serves to increase the priority for funding. Adaptations were made when budget reductions precluded the total implementation of the plan

Strongest gravitational waves from neutrino oscillations at supernova core bounce

Resonant active-to-active (νa → νa), as well as active-to-sterile (νa → νs) neutrino (ν) oscillations can take place during the core bounce of a supernova collapse. Besides, over this phase, weak magnetism increases the antineutrino (¯ν) mean free path, and thus its luminosity. Because the oscillation feeds massenergy into the target ν species, the large mass-squared difference between the species (νa → νs) implies a huge amount of energy to be given off as gravitational waves (LGW ∼ 1049 erg s−1), due to anisotropic but coherent ν flow over the oscillation length. This asymmetric ν-flux is driven by both the spin–magnetic and the universal spin–rotation coupling. The novel contribution of this paper stems from (1) the new computation of the anisotropy parameter α ∼ 0.1–0.01, and (2) the use of the tight constraints from neutrino experiments as SNO and KamLAND, and the cosmic probe WMAP, to compute the gravitational-wave emission during neutrino oscillations in supernovae core collapse and bounce. We show that the mass of the sterile neutrino νs that can be resonantly produced during the flavor conversions makes it a good candidate for dark matter as suggested by Fuller et al., Phys. Rev. D 68, 103002 (2003). The new spacetime strain thus estimated is still several orders of magnitude larger than those from ν diffusion (convection and cooling) or quadrupole moments of neutron star matter. This new feature turns these bursts into the more promising supernova gravitational-wave signals that may be detected by observatories as LIGO, VIRGO, etc., for distances far out to the VIRGO cluster of galaxies

A Lifetime Alcohol or Other Drug Use Disorder and Specific Psychiatric Symptoms Predict Sexual Risk for HIV Infection Among People With Severe Mental Illness

To clarify the relative contributions of psychiatric and alcohol or other drug (AOD) use disorders on sexual risk for HIV infection among people with severe mental illness, we interviewed 195 psychiatric patients. In the prior 6 months the 100 (51%) sexually active patients had a mean of 3.9 sex partners and 27.5 sex episodes; 49% had known high-risk sex partners; 34% used AOD during sex; 28% traded sex; and 59% never used condoms. The likelihood of being sexually active decreased with age and cognitive symptoms, increased with excited symptoms, and was more than twice as high for African-American patients as others. The likelihood of trading sex increased with cognitive symptoms. The likelihood of having a sexually transmitted disease history (reported by 32% of all patients) increased with depressed/anxious symptoms, a lifetime AOD use diagnosis (obtained for 57% of patients), and was more than twice as high for African-American patients as others. HIV prevention interventions that address specific psychiatric conditions and developmental and cultural issues of psychiatric patients should be developed and tested

First Nesting Record of the Caspian Tern in North Dakota

On June 28, 1977, we observed a single pair of Caspian terns (Sterna caspia) with two young on an island in Lake Williams in central North Dakota. This is the first confirmation of actual nesting by the Caspian tern in the State. Previously, breeding records had been postulated from sightings during the breeding season (Kantrud 1973; Robert Randall, personal communication; and Rohrt Stewart, personal communication). Lake Williams is a shallow, saline, 420-hectare lake located near the town of Turtle Lake in east-central Mclean County. Mean depth during the breeding season (May-June) can range from 0 to 50 centimeters. The island consists of a gravel base covered by sand and is approximately 75 meters long with a tapering width of 33 meters to 66 meters. It covers an approximate area of .4 hectare. The closest point of land is 480 meters from the island. The only vegetation noted was Russian thistle (Salsola kali), which was 30 to 60 centimeters high and covered roughly 60 percent of the island