Visual Interest Prediction with Attentive Multi-Task Transfer Learning

Visual interest & affect prediction is a very interesting area of research in the area of computer vision. In this paper, we propose a transfer learning and attention mechanism based neural network model to predict visual interest & affective dimensions in digital photos. Learning the multi-dimensional affects is addressed through a multi-task learning framework. With various experiments we show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Evaluation of our model on the benchmark dataset shows large improvement over current state-of-the-art systems

Developing and Implementing an Online Course Framework

Integration of technology tools and resources is imperative when working with today’s students as many are expecting to encounter various apps and media-based software in the curriculum. It is important, however, to have a clear purpose for integrating technology into the classroom; technology should not be integrated into the curriculum simply for the sake of doing so! To assist with purposeful integration, faculty members from Nova Southeastern University and St. Thomas University created a Technology Integration Learning Community (TILC); an online professional learning community where members teach each other about the latest and greatest technological tools and share ideas for integration into the curriculum. Anytime an instructor is thinking of integrating technology into a classroom, it is important to use a model or framework as a guide to enhance the objectives or outcomes as well as ensure accessibility for all students. Therefore, the TILC developed The TILC Online Course Framework (TOCF), based on the ASSURE model (Smaldino, Lowther, Russell, & Mims, 2016), to guide this technology integration

Identification of surgeon burnout via a single-item measure

Background Burnout is endemic in surgeons in the UK and linked with poor patient safety and quality of care, mental health problems, and workforce sustainability. Mechanisms are required to facilitate the efficient identification of burnout in this population. Multi-item measures of burnout may be unsuitable for this purpose owing to assessment burden, expertise required for analysis, and cost. Aims To determine whether surgeons in the UK reporting burnout on the 22-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) can be reliably identified by a single-item measure of burnout. Methods Consultant (n = 333) and trainee (n = 217) surgeons completed the MBI and a single-item measure of burnout. We applied tests of discriminatory power to assess whether a report of high burnout on the single-item measure correctly classified MBI cases and non-cases. Results The single-item measure demonstrated high discriminatory power on the emotional exhaustion burnout domain: the area under the curve was excellent for consultants and trainees (0.86 and 0.80), indicating high sensitivity and specificity. On the depersonalisation domain, discrimination was acceptable for consultants (0.76) and poor for trainees (0.69). In contrast, discrimination was acceptable for trainees (0.71) and poor for consultants (0.62) on the personal accomplishment domain. Conclusions A single-item measure of burnout is suitable for the efficient assessment of emotional exhaustion in consultant and trainee surgeons in the UK. Administered regularly, such a measure would facilitate the early identification of at-risk surgeons and swift intervention, as well as the monitoring of group-level temporal trends to inform resource allocation to coincide with peak periods

The Development and Implementation Plan of an Infused 1-5 Environmental Education Program for the Little Chute Elementary School Interdisciplinary Curriculum

The purpose of this project was to develop a curriculum document which infuses environmental education into present grades 1 - 5 teaching themes at Little Chute Elementary School in Little Chute, Wisconsin. The intended outcome of this effort was to create a meaningful document for the teachers. A document which would first and foremost be used by the teachers. A document which would mesh present whole language teaching themes with expected Environmental Education (EE) goals. To accomplish this goal, the thematic curriculum was examined, the EE goats identified, and the two fused together in a semantic map for the teacher's working curriculum document. Another "administrative" document was created so an overall scope of the 1 - 5 infusion process is documented and available. Support was provided to teachers, for two years, through a full-time Science and EE Resource person on staff at the elementary school. This support person was able to coordinate all efforts of the Science and EE curriculum development. An evaluation was given to the staff after an in service meeting in May of 1996 . It was found that the new document will be helpful and give meaning-to expected EE goals and improve the delivery of EE to the students. The process of infusion will allow the EE material to be covered but not taught as another subject area. A resource person will continue to support the program through the 1996-1997 school year. Knowledge of this support has reduced staff anxiety. Overall, the program's acceptance was positive

Red maple (Acer rubrum L.) trees demonstrate acclimation to urban conditions in deciduous forests embedded in cities.

The impacts of urbanization, such as urban heat island (UHI) and nutrient loads, can influence tree function through altered physiology and metabolism and stress response, which has implications for urban forest health in cities across the world. Our goal was to compare growth-stimulating and stress-mitigating acclimation patterns of red maple (Acer rubrum) trees in deciduous forests embedded in a small (Newark, DE, US) and a large (Philadelphia, PA, US) city. The study was conducted in a long-term urban forest network on seventy-nine mature red maple trees spanning ten forests across Newark and Philadelphia. We hypothesized that red maples in Philadelphia forests compared to Newark forests will be healthier and more acclimated to warmer temperatures, elevated CO2 concentrations and reactive nitrogen (Nr) deposition, and higher nutrient/heavy metal loads. Therefore, these red maples will have higher foliar pigments, nutrients, and stress-indicating elements, enriched δ15N isotopes and increased free polyamines and amino acids to support a growth-stimulating and stress-induced response to urbanization. Our results indicate red maples are potentially growth-stimulated and stress-acclimated in Philadelphia forests experiencing a greater magnitude of urban intensity. Red maples in Philadelphia forests contained higher concentrations of foliar chlorophyll, %N, δ15N, and nutrients than those in Newark forests. Similarly, lower foliar magnesium and manganese, and higher foliar zinc, cadmium, lead, and aluminum reflected the difference in soil biogeochemistry in Philadelphia forests. Accumulation patterns of foliar free amino acids, polyamines, phosphorous, and potassium ions in red maples in Philadelphia forests shows a reallocation in cellular metabolism and nutrient uptake pathways responsible for physiological acclimation. Our results suggest the approach used here can serve as a model for investigating 'plant physiology' and the use of urban trees as a biomonitor of the impacts of 'urban pollution' on urban forests. The results suggest that cellular oxidative stress in trees caused by pollutant uptake is mitigated by the accumulation of free amino acids, polyamines, and nutrients in a larger city. Our study provides a framework for determining whether trees respond to complex urban environments through stress memory and/or acclimation