Explaining Aviation Safety Incidents Using Deep Temporal Multiple Instance Learning

Although aviation accidents are rare, safety incidents occur more frequently and require a careful analysis to detect and mitigate risks in a timely manner. Analyzing safety incidents using operational data and producing event-based explanations is invaluable to airline companies as well as to governing organizations such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States. However, this task is challenging because of the complexity involved in mining multi-dimensional heterogeneous time series data, the lack of time-step-wise annotation of events in a flight, and the lack of scalable tools to perform analysis over a large number of events. In this work, we propose a precursor mining algorithm that identifies events in the multidimensional time series that are correlated with the safety incident. Precursors are valuable to systems health and safety monitoring and in explaining and forecasting safety incidents. Current methods suffer from poor scalability to high dimensional time series data and are inefficient in capturing temporal behavior. We propose an approach by combining multiple-instance learning (MIL) and deep recurrent neural networks (DRNN) to take advantage of MIL's ability to learn using weakly supervised data and DRNN's ability to model temporal behavior. We describe the algorithm, the data, the intuition behind taking a MIL approach, and a comparative analysis of the proposed algorithm with baseline models. We also discuss the application to a real-world aviation safety problem using data from a commercial airline company and discuss the model's abilities and shortcomings, with some final remarks about possible deployment directions

The preparation of a Non-Desiccated Sodium Caseinate Sol and its use in ice cream

1. The body and texture of ice cream are improved by the replacement of dry skimmilk by sodium caseinate sols. This improvement was shown up to 2.5 to 5.0 percent replacement, depending on the composition of the mix. 2. The flavor of ice cream was progressively improved by the replacement of dry skimmilk by sodium caseinate sols up to 3 to 4 percent replacement, depending on the composition of the mix. 3. This flavor improvement was due to the careful pH control used in the preparation of the sodium caseinate sols. 4. The type of melting of the ice cream was altered by the replacement of dry skimmilk by sodium caseinate sols. 5. The use of sodium caseinate sols increased the initial and maximum overrun and decreased the whipping time of the ice creams produced. 6. The curves for whipping time show that from 1.5 to 3.0 percent replacement of dry skimmilk by the sodium caseinate sols is necessary to effect sufficient improvement in whip to warrant their use. A 3 percent replacement would be necessary with a mix containing 14 percent fat and 10 percent serum solids. 7. The use of sodium caseinate preparations as additional solids, i.e., in addition to the amounts of serum solids (8 to 10 percent) commonly used by the trade, has been suggested. The amounts of milk protein that would be required to yield sufficient improvement in whip and in body and texture score would, in the light of the figures presented, be large enough to make their use questionable

Examining the Pathways Linking Chronic Sleep Restriction to Obesity

A growing number of studies have identified chronic sleep restriction as a potential risk factor for obesity. This could have important implications for how obesity is prevented and managed, but current understanding of the processes linking chronic sleep restriction to obesity is incomplete. In this paper, we examined some of the pathways that could underlie the relationship between chronic sleep restriction and obesity. This involved exploring some of the potential environmental, health, behavioral, and sociodemographic determinants of chronic sleep restriction, which require further investigation in this context. Three pathways that could potentially link chronic sleep restriction to obesity were then examined: (1) altered neuroendocrine and metabolic function, (2) impaired glucose regulation, and (3) waking behavior. The selected pathways linking chronic sleep restriction to obesity reviewed in this paper are presented in a schematic representation; this may be used to guide future research in this area. This area of research is important because it may lead to more effective interventions and strategies to combat the present obesity epidemic

Wiki or Word? Evaluating Tools for Collaborative Writing and Editing

Businesses and other organizations are relying increasingly on virtual teams to perform a range of business activities. A key challenge in utilizing virtual teams is to support collaboration among team members who are separated by distance and/or time. In this paper we use a research model based on a combination of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Task Technology Fit (TTF) model to examine two approaches to supporting students in collaboratively creating and editing a report for an introductory course in information systems. In our study, one group of students used MS Word with Track Changes turned on combined with emailing the document among students. A second group was provided access to a wiki where they created the report. Results show that students found the Word and email combination more useful and easier to use than the wiki environment in completing the project. Further, there was no perceived difference in the effort of collaboration between the two methods. This study raises questions about the widely held belief that web-based collaboration platforms are superior to emailing documents among collaborators

Interpreting forest and grassland biome productivity utilizing nested scales of image resolution and biogeographical analysis

Several hardware, software, and data collection problems encountered were conquered. The Geographic Information System (GIS) data from other systems were converted to ERDAS format for incorporation with the image data. Statistical analysis of the relationship between spectral values and productivity is being pursued. Several project sites, including Jackson, Pope, Boulder, Smokies, and Huntington Forest are evolving as the most intensively studied areas, primarily due to availability of data and time. Progress with data acquisition and quality checking, more details on experimental sites, and brief summarizations of research results and future plans are discussed. Material on personnel, collaborators, facilities, site background, and meetings and publications of the investigators are included

Avalanche Dynamics in Wet Granular Materials

We have studied the dynamics of avalanching wet granular media in a rotating drum apparatus. Quantitative measurements of the flow velocity and the granular flux during avalanches allow us to characterize novel avalanche types unique to wet media. We also explore the details of viscoplastic flow (observed at the highest liquid contents) in which there are lasting contacts during flow, leading to coherence across the entire sample. This coherence leads to a velocity independent flow depth at high rotation rates and novel robust pattern formation in the granular surface.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures in color, REVTeX4, for smaller pdfs see http://angel.elte.hu/~tegzes/condmat.htm

Principles And Practices Fostering Inclusive Excellence: Lessons From The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Capstone Institutions

Best-practices pedagogy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) aims for inclusive excellence that fosters student persistence. This paper describes principles of inclusivity across 11 primarily undergraduate institutions designated as Capstone Awardees in Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) 2012 competition. The Capstones represent a range of institutional missions, student profiles, and geographical locations. Each successfully directed activities toward persistence of STEM students, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups, through a set of common elements: mentoring programs to build community; research experiences to strengthen scientific skill/identity; attention to quantitative skills; and outreach/bridge programs to broaden the student pool. This paper grounds these program elements in learning theory, emphasizing their essential principles with examples of how they were implemented within institutional contexts. We also describe common assessment approaches that in many cases informed programming and created traction for stakeholder buy-in. The lessons learned from our shared experiences in pursuit of inclusive excellence, including the resources housed on our companion website, can inform others’ efforts to increase access to and persistence in STEM in higher education

Oxidized flavors in strawberry ice cream

At the time this project was initiated only a small amount of material had been published concerning this defect and even that was subject to considerable controversy. That the defect under consideration is important has been emphasized by other workers and needs no reiteration here. It was the opinion of the authors that the study should be made with ice cream manufactured in a commercial manner and from commercial products. This was done wherever possible. The objectives of the project were to attempt to determine which single factor or group of the following possible factors-oxidases in the fruit, copper and iron in the mix, strawberries and types of added solids - was responsible for the occurrence of the defect. It was likewise considered advisable to see whether or not such changes as occur in the fat, if the defect were a fat oxidation, were sufficient to cause detectable variations in the iodine, acetyl and Reichert- Meissl numbers of the fat of the ice cream

How to write an original article for the Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology

The abstract is the precise summary of the article, not a preface. As Baue wrote in a popular editorial of the Archives of Surgery in 1979, “writing a good abstract is not abstract writing” [6]. The main data have to be represented, as they allow readers to understand contents clearly. Sentences like “The paper reports...” or “The authors describe...” have to be avoided as well as any generic statements