Modeling Graph Languages with Grammars Extracted via Tree Decompositions

Work on probabilistic models of natural language tends to focus on strings and trees, but there is increasing interest in more general graph-shaped structures since they seem to be better suited for representing natural language semantics, ontologies, or other varieties of knowledge structures. However, while there are relatively simple approaches to defining generative models over strings and trees, it has proven more challenging for more general graphs. This paper describes a natural generalization of the n-gram to graphs, making use of Hyperedge Replacement Grammars to define generative models of graph languages.9 page(s

Identifying Facebook-, Twitter-, And Instagram-Specific Rhetoric And Interaction: A Case Study

A great deal of research has examined social media best practices; however, there has been a gap in looking at nonprofits to examine the efficacy of Facebook-, Twitter-, and Instagram-specific rhetoric to engage stakeholders. This study examined a small, local nonprofit\u27s posts on each of the above platforms, and used surveys and interviews to find which types of rhetoric create the best dialogue between the nonprofit and stakeholders. This study found that for Facebook, the best rhetoric to use are pictures and videos; for Twitter, the best rhetoric to use are retweets; and Instagram, the best types of rhetoric are hashtags or a lack of platform-specific rhetoric

A Study of Decision Analysis Methods in Aerospace Technology Assessments

Managers of aerospace technology programs and projects are faced with the challenge of making technology portfolio decisions under conditions of limited data, rapidly changing macro level factors and organizational uncertainties. To help make these technology investment decisions, some aerospace managers and analysts have used techniques from the field of decision analysis. In addition, there have been a limited number of research studies of real decision problems. This dissertation presents the results of a non-experimental examination of the use of decision analysis methods for the assessment of aerospace technology portfolios. A web-based survey instrument was developed based on the results of a pilot study conducted using cognitive interviewing techniques. Quantitative data was collected from government and industry aerospace researchers and managers with experience in research and/or with the development of aerospace technology portfolios and the completion of their assessments. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test the study hypotheses. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations were made for future research

Psychoeducational interventions in adolescent depression: A systematic review

Background: Adolescent depression is common and leads to distress and impairment for individuals/families. Treatment/prevention guidelines stress the need for good information and evidence-based psychosocial interventions. There has been growing interest in psychoeducational interventions (PIs), which broadly deliver accurate information about health issues and self-management. Objective, methods: Systematic search of targeted PIs as part of prevention/management approaches for adolescent depression. Searches were undertaken independently in PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, guidelines, reviews (including Cochrane), and reference lists. Key authors were contacted. No restrictions regarding publishing dates. Results: Fifteen studies were included: seven targeted adolescents with depression/depressive symptoms, eight targeted adolescents ‘at risk' e.g. with a family history of depression. Most involved family/group programmes; others included individual, school-based and online approaches. PIs may affect understanding of depression, identification of symptoms, communication, engagement, and mental health outcomes. Conclusion, practice implications: PIs can have a role in preventing/managing adolescent depression, as a first-line or adjunctive approach. The limited number of studies, heterogeneity in formats and evaluation, and inconsistent approach to defining PI, make it difficult to compare programmes and measure overall effectiveness. Further work needs to establish an agreed definition of PI, develop/evaluate PIs in line with frameworks for complex interventions, and analyse their active components

Inner experience in bulimia

Inner experience is of crucial importance in bulimia---clearly something experiential leads individuals to binge or purge. We used Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) to examine the inner experience of bulimia in 5 participants, replicating Doucette (1992). Our participants\u27 inner experiences were largely consistent with Doucette\u27s but were substantially different from what is assumed by the non-DES literature: our bulimic participants had a consistent fragmentation of attention, hypersensitivity to the sensory aspects of experience, affect that is poorly differentiated and often confused with cognition, and a striking lack of cognition overall. These results suggest that DES can be a powerful tool to challenge the assumptions of the extant literature and to expand our understanding of bulimia

Evaluating a Discharge Bundle for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of hospital readmissions within 30 days. Frequent readmissions negatively affect hospital reimbursements and patient outcomes. Creative strategies, such as COPD care bundles, have been shown to reduce readmission rates according to existing studies. A COPD discharge bundle was developed and implemented at 1 community hospital in response to an identified problem with COPD readmissions. Evaluation of this quality improvement initiative was the purpose of this project study. The practice-focused question was: Have 30-day readmission rates changed following the implementation of a COPD discharge bundle prior to transitioning from hospital to home? The framework selected for this project was the model for improvement. Sources of evidence included existing hospital data to evaluate the change in readmissions. The chi-square test of independence was used to assess the difference in frequency of 30-day readmissions. Pre and post-bundle implementation comparisons of readmission rates showed a decrease for 3 out of the 4 groups compared; these results were not statistically significant. Analysis of the post-bundle intervention groups revealed lower 30-day readmissions for individuals who were bundle compliant versus noncompliant and for those who spoke with a pharmacist within 48 hours of discharge opposed to those who did not; these results were statistically significant. Continued use of the bundle and maintaining the role of the pharmacist was recommended. Reduction of readmissions within 30-days has positive social implications for hospitals through financial gains and for the COPD population by improving overall health outcomes

The origin of deep ocean microseisms in the North Atlantic Ocean

Oceanic microseisms are small oscillations of the ground, in the frequency range of 0.05–0.3 Hz, associated with the occurrence of energetic ocean waves of half the corresponding frequency. In 1950, Longuet-Higgins suggested in a landmark theoretical paper that (i) microseisms originate from surface pressure oscillations caused by the interaction between oppositely travelling components with the same frequency in the ocean wave spectrum, (ii) these pressure oscillations generate seismic Stoneley waves on the ocean bottom, and (iii) when the ocean depth is comparable with the acoustic wavelength in water, compressibility must be considered. The efficiency of microseism generation thus depends on both the wave frequency and the depth of water. While the theory provided an estimate of the magnitude of the corresponding microseisms in a compressible ocean, its predictions of microseism amplitude heretofore have never been tested quantitatively. In this paper, we show a strong agreement between observed microseism and calculated amplitudes obtained by applying Longuet-Higgins' theory to hindcast ocean wave spectra from the North Atlantic Ocean. The calculated vertical displacements are compared with seismic data collected at stations in North America, Greenland, Iceland and Europe. This modelling identifies a particularly energetic source area stretching from the Labrador Sea to south of Iceland, where wind patterns are especially conducive to generating oppositely travelling waves of same period, and the ocean depth is favourable for efficient microseism generation through the ‘organ pipe’ resonance of the compression waves, as predicted by the theory. This correspondence between observations and the model predictions demonstrates that deep ocean nonlinear wave–wave interactions are sufficiently energetic to account for much of the observed seismic amplitudes in North America, Greenland and Iceland

Two-Tiered Summer Bridge Programming for At-Risk Engineering and Computer Science Students

In this paper, we report on the summer bridge programs offered by University of Portland to support “at-risk” freshman and sophomore engineering students. We define “at-risk” students as first and second-year students in good academic standing (i.e., not on academic probation) who are behind in their degree progress, either because they were not calculus ready when they started college, or because they did not earn a sufficient grade in one or more courses during their first two years in college. Each program targets students at a different point in their education: incoming freshmen and rising sophomores. We developed these bridges in conjunction with a grant-funded retention program and they have evolved based on quantitative and qualitative assessment data. By implementing these interventions, we hope to address the two major leaks in our retention pipeline: between the first and third semester and between the third and fifth semester, so that students graduate within a four-year timeframe that aligns with their financial aid

Semantic Parsing with Bayesian Tree Transducers

Many semantic parsing models use tree transformations to map between natural language and meaning representation. However, while tree transformations are central to several state-of-the-art approaches, little use has been made of the rich literature on tree automata. This paper makes the connection concrete with a tree transducer based semantic parsing model and suggests that other models can be interpreted in a similar framework, increasing the generality of their contributions. In particular, this paper further introduces a variational Bayesian inference algorithm that is applicable to a wide class of tree transducers, producing state-of-the-art semantic parsing results while remaining applicable to any domain employing probabilistic tree transducers.9 page(s