Exploring Deep Space: Learning Personalized Ranking in a Semantic Space

Recommender systems leverage both content and user interactions to generate recommendations that fit users' preferences. The recent surge of interest in deep learning presents new opportunities for exploiting these two sources of information. To recommend items we propose to first learn a user-independent high-dimensional semantic space in which items are positioned according to their substitutability, and then learn a user-specific transformation function to transform this space into a ranking according to the user's past preferences. An advantage of the proposed architecture is that it can be used to effectively recommend items using either content that describes the items or user-item ratings. We show that this approach significantly outperforms state-of-the-art recommender systems on the MovieLens 1M dataset.Comment: 6 pages, RecSys 2016 RSDL worksho

An investigative study of a spectrum-matching imaging system Final report

Evaluation system for classification of remote objects and materials identified by solar and thermal radiation emissio

Partnering Preservation with Sustainability

As the archival profession is inextricable from future-focused thinking, sustainable preservation must be incorporated into archival practice. Sustainable thinking considers the economic, environmental, social, and cultural needs of both present and future generations, without privileging one factor over another. This article investigates the existing literature on sustainable preservation practices in archives. Sustainability presents a challenge to the archival mission. Becoming more sustainable begins with changing practices, which requires investing time, money, and energy to learn new information. The imperative to provide care for cultural resources is an argument for proceeding with caution. Nevertheless, the reality of the climate crisis and an ever-growing body of evidence from the archives field suggest that archives can and should adopt more sustainable practices. Research indicates that preservation goals may be more effectively met through sustainable practices, leading to more reliable preservation environments and financial savings for the institution as a result of reduction in energy use. This article identifies opportunities for action archives can take to become more sustainable through building design, learning from cultural preservation traditions, rethinking the role of archivists, and reconsidering the impact of practices, both small and large. In the 1980s, Hugo Stehkämper drew attention to principles for natural air-conditioning reliant upon building design, but civilizations have been developing procedures for preserving cultural heritage materials for centuries prior to the advent of so-called modern technology. In the current century, archives, libraries, and museums are continuing to discover a multitude of effective sustainable methods. Drawing upon decades of study, successes, and failures will allow archivists to assess and rethink practices

The Right of Entry into Maritime Ports in International Law

This Article will examine the Aramco arbitration together with the authorities upon which the Tribunal relied. It will also consider other authorities and sources of law which might offer the evidence in support of a right of entry. The second part of the Article will attempt to define a right of entry, and it will discuss the sparse precedents of State practice. It will then review the arguments advanced by publicists concerning the right of entry. Finally a formulation of the current body of law will be attempted, suggesting that no right of entry has been established in customary international law

Surficial Geology of the Smithfield Quadrangle, Cache County, Utah

The Smithfield 7.5\u27 quadrangle is located about 13.8 kilometers (8.6 miles) south of the Utah-Idaho State Line and occupies the central portion of the eastern side of Cache Valley, Utah. The mapped area contains more than 55 square miles. The Bear River Range on the eastern side of the quadrangle contains stratigraphic units ranging from Precambrian to Quaternary age. Cache Valley contains deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age. Quaternary units in the Smithfield quadrangle are subdivided into thirty-two map units based on age and genesis. Five ages of Quaternary units are identified, and these units are assigned to one of fourteen genetic types. The East Cache fault zone is mapped along the western edge of the Bear River Range. Early Quaternary time was principally a period of pediment formation, followed by normal faulting, erosion, and alluvial-fan deposition. Cache Valley was later occupied by a pre-Bonneville cycle lake which is tentatively correlated with the Little Valley lake cycle. This lacustrine cycle was followed by more erosion and alluvial-fan deposition. The current Cache Valley landscape is dominated by the sediments and geomorphic features of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. Alluvial-fan deposition has been the principal geologic process in post-Lake Bonneville time. Geologic hazards in the Smithfield quadrangle include flooding, landslides, debris flows, rock fall, problem soils, shallow ground water, earthquake ground shaking, surface fault rupture, and liquefaction. Some of the areas affected by these hazards and measures for mitigating the hazards are identified. Bonneville lake cycle fine-grained offshore deposits and the Tertiary Salt Lake Formation are the primary geologic units susceptible to landsliding

Promoting Transformative Encounters in Libraries and Archives

Purpose In several existing studies of Information Encountering (IE), a recurring sub-phenomenon of serendipity arises that indicates the potential for certain unexpected encounters with information to be transformative. The author labels this sub-phenomenon Transformative Information Encountering (TIE), deriving its definition from an application of Transformative Education (TE) theory to existing understandings of IE. This paper aims to discuss the potential for librarians and archivists to promote TIE through everyday practices. Design/methodology/approach After defining and identifying TIE in existing studies of IE, this article will put models of IE in conversation with theories of TE and propose ways in which TIE may arise in the everyday work of librarians and archivists. Findings In TE theory, there are three phases of the process of critical premise reflection that may be especially relevant to the work of libraries and archives. These are a disorienting dilemma (phase 1); recognition that the process of transformation is shared (phase 4); and acquiring knowledge and skills (phase 7). Each of these aligns with aspects of IE models. Practical implications Understanding how TIE might inform everyday Library and Information Science (LIS) work may increase the positive impact cultural institutions have on the communities they serve. Originality/value While several IE studies have suggested the existence of TIE as a sub-phenomenon, none thus far have attempted to define it or apply an understanding of it to LIS work

The International Seabed and the Single Negotiating Text

This Article attempts to outline the events leading up to the submission of Part I of the Informal Single Negotiating Text by the Chairman of Committee I at the end of the Geneva session of the Conference, to examine the contents of that document, and to suggest some of the wider implications of developments regarding the international seabed area

The Family Law Reform Act 1987 - Useful Reform but an Unhappy Compromise?

The Family Law Reform Act 1987 - Useful Reform but an Unhappy Compromise