2,884 research outputs found
Analytic Methods for Optimizing Realtime Crowdsourcing
Realtime crowdsourcing research has demonstrated that it is possible to
recruit paid crowds within seconds by managing a small, fast-reacting worker
pool. Realtime crowds enable crowd-powered systems that respond at interactive
speeds: for example, cameras, robots and instant opinion polls. So far, these
techniques have mainly been proof-of-concept prototypes: research has not yet
attempted to understand how they might work at large scale or optimize their
cost/performance trade-offs. In this paper, we use queueing theory to analyze
the retainer model for realtime crowdsourcing, in particular its expected wait
time and cost to requesters. We provide an algorithm that allows requesters to
minimize their cost subject to performance requirements. We then propose and
analyze three techniques to improve performance: push notifications, shared
retainer pools, and precruitment, which involves recalling retainer workers
before a task actually arrives. An experimental validation finds that
precruited workers begin a task 500 milliseconds after it is posted, delivering
results below the one-second cognitive threshold for an end-user to stay in
flow.Comment: Presented at Collective Intelligence conference, 201
A Successful Case of Information Management Reengineeringin the Government Sector
Business Process Reengineering (BPR) provides organizations with a valuable tool to assess business processes. It can help to reduce costs and improve quality, customer satisfaction and productivity. Business ProcessReengineering is most successful when coupled with targeted use of Information Technology in designing new processes. This paper presents a case of BPR at the Environment Safety and Health Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The case illustrates the success and benefits of BPR in an organization of the federal government. The case demonstrates the need for developing strategic processes, a toolbox of solutions to attack corporate-wide information management and tactics to address organizational obstacle
Crowds in two seconds: Enabling realtime crowd-powered interfaces
Interactive systems must respond to user input within seconds. Therefore, to create realtime crowd-powered interfaces, we need to dramatically lower crowd latency. In this paper, we introduce the use of synchronous crowds for on-demand, realtime crowdsourcing. With synchronous crowds, systems can dynamically adapt tasks by leveraging the fact that workers are present at the same time. We develop techniques that recruit synchronous crowds in two seconds and use them to execute complex search tasks in ten seconds. The first technique, the retainer model, pays workers a small wage to wait and respond quickly when asked. We offer empirically derived guidelines for a retainer system that is low-cost and produces on-demand crowds in two seconds. Our second technique, rapid refinement, observes early signs of agreement in synchronous crowds and dynamically narrows the search space to focus on promising directions. This approach produces results that, on average, are of more reliable quality and arrive faster than the fastest crowd member working alone. To explore benefits and limitations of these techniques for interaction, we present three applications: Adrenaline, a crowd-powered camera where workers quickly filter a short video down to the best single moment for a photo; and Puppeteer and A|B, which examine creative generation tasks, communication with workers, and low-latency voting
Coinductive subtyping for abstract compilation of object-oriented languages into Horn formulas
In recent work we have shown how it is possible to define very precise type
systems for object-oriented languages by abstractly compiling a program into a
Horn formula f. Then type inference amounts to resolving a certain goal w.r.t.
the coinductive (that is, the greatest) Herbrand model of f.
Type systems defined in this way are idealized, since in the most interesting
instantiations both the terms of the coinductive Herbrand universe and goal
derivations cannot be finitely represented. However, sound and quite expressive
approximations can be implemented by considering only regular terms and
derivations. In doing so, it is essential to introduce a proper subtyping
relation formalizing the notion of approximation between types.
In this paper we study a subtyping relation on coinductive terms built on
union and object type constructors. We define an interpretation of types as set
of values induced by a quite intuitive relation of membership of values to
types, and prove that the definition of subtyping is sound w.r.t. subset
inclusion between type interpretations. The proof of soundness has allowed us
to simplify the notion of contractive derivation and to discover that the
previously given definition of subtyping did not cover all possible
representations of the empty type
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: Post-Starburst Signatures in Quasar Host Galaxies at z < 1
Quasar host galaxies are key for understanding the relation between galaxies
and the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at their centers. We present a study
of 191 broad-line quasars and their host galaxies at z < 1, using high
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) spectra produced by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Reverberation Mapping project. Clear detection of stellar absorption lines
allows a reliable decomposition of the observed spectra into nuclear and host
components, using spectral models of quasar and stellar radiations as well as
emission lines from the interstellar medium. We estimate age, mass (M*), and
velocity dispersion (sigma*) of the host stars, the star formation rate (SFR),
quasar luminosity, and SMBH mass (Mbh), for each object. The quasars are
preferentially hosted by massive galaxies with M* ~ 10^{11} Msun characterized
by stellar ages around a billion years, which coincides with the transition
phase of normal galaxies from the blue cloud to the red sequence. The host
galaxies have relatively low SFRs and fall below the main sequence of
star-forming galaxies at similar redshifts. These facts suggest that the hosts
have experienced an episode of major star formation sometime in the past
billion years, which was subsequently quenched or suppressed. The derived Mbh -
sigma* and Mbh - M* relations agree with our past measurements and are
consistent with no evolution from the local Universe. The present analysis
demonstrates that reliable measurements of stellar properties of quasar host
galaxies are possible with high-SNR fiber spectra, which will be acquired in
large numbers with future powerful instruments such as the Subaru Prime Focus
Spectrograph.Comment: ApJ in pres
Chronic l-Alpha Acetylmethadol in Rhesus Monkeys: Discriminative Stimulus and Other Behavioral Measures of Dependence and Withdrawal 1
ABSTRACT This study characterized discriminative stimulus and other effects of naltrexone in rhesus monkeys treated daily with the long-acting opioid l-alpha acetylmethadol (LAAM). An initial dose-finding study assessed the rate-decreasing effects of naltrexone in three monkeys receiving LAAM daily (0.32-1.78 mg/ kg); subsequently, these monkeys and a fourth received 1.0 mg/kg/12 hr of LAAM although discriminating between naltrexone and saline. Responding occurred on the saline lever after the administration of LAAM, whereas Ͼ90% drug-lever responding occurred after the administration of 0.1 mg/kg of naltrexone that also elicited signs of withdrawal. Naloxone and quadazocine, but not morphine, nalbuphine or ketamine, substituted for naltrexone. Morphine and nalbuphine shifted the naltrexone dose-effect curve to the right. Compared to precipitated withdrawal, deprivation-induced withdrawal occasioned less naltrexone-lever responding and fewer observable signs of withdrawal. Maximal naltrexone-level responding occurred 24 to 48 hr after the discontinuation of LAAM treatment; the frequency of other withdrawal signs also peaked 24 to 48 hr after the discontinuation of LAAM. Partial naltrexone-lever responding occurred for up to 10 days after discontinuation of LAAM treatment; 4 and 8 days after the discontinuation of LAAM treatment, 0.1 mg/kg of naltrexone did no further increase naltrexone-lever responding or withdrawal signs suggesting that less-then-maximal naltrexone-lever responding was not due to long-lasting effects of LAAM or its metabolites. The discriminative stimuli that are associated with LAAM deprivation might be different from the stimuli associated with either training condition. This study is the first antagonist discrimination in non-humans primates treated chronically with LAAM and the results indicate that the naltrexone stimulus is related to opioid withdrawal. The frequent administration of some drugs often results in the development of dependence that can be quantified by the severity of withdrawal that occurs after either the discontinuation of drug treatment or the administration of a pharmacologic antagonist. Of particular clinical relevance are the adverse signs and symptoms (i.e., withdrawal) that often emerge on the discontinuation of drug use and that can contribute to the continued drug use. Moreover, individuals often report an increased motivation to obtain and use drugs during periods of withdrawal LAAM is a mu opioid agonist that is used as a maintenance therapy in opioid-dependent patients. In huma
Nova Sco and coalescing low mass black hole binaries as LIGO sources
Double neutron star binaries, analogous to the well known Hulse--Taylor
pulsar PSR 1913+16, are guaranteed-to-exist sources of high frequency
gravitational radiation detectable by LIGO. There is considerable uncertainty
in the estimated rate of coalescence of such systems, with conservative
estimates of ~1 per million years per galaxy, and optimistic theoretical
estimates one or more magnitude larger. Formation rates of low-mass black
hole-neutron star binaries may be higher than those of NS-NS binaries, and may
dominate the detectable LIGO signal rate.
We estimate the enhanced coalescence rate for BH-BH binaries due to weak
asymmetric kicks during the formation of low mass black holes like Nova Sco,
and find they may contribute significantly to the LIGO signal rate, possibly
dominating the phase I detectable signals if the range of BH masses for which
there is significant kick is broad enough. For a standard Salpeter IMF,
assuming mild natal kicks, we project that the R6 merger rate of BH-BH systems
is ~0.5, smaller than that of NS-NS systems. However, the higher chirp mass of
these systems produces a signal nearly four times greater, on average, with a
commensurate increase in search volume.
The BH-BH coalescence channel considered here also predicts that a
substantial fraction of BH-BH systems should have at least one component with
near-maximal spin (a/M ~ 1).The waveforms produced by the coalescence of such a
system should produce a clear spin signature, so this hypothesis could be
directly tested by LIGO.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX/AASTeX, 5 figure
Pharmacotherapy of vestibular and ocular motor disorders, including nystagmus
We review current pharmacological treatments for peripheral and central vestibular disorders, and ocular motor disorders that impair vision, especially pathological nystagmus. The prerequisites for successful pharmacotherapy of vertigo, dizziness, and abnormal eye movements are the “4 D’s”: correct diagnosis, correct drug, appropriate dosage, and sufficient duration. There are seven groups of drugs (the “7 A’s”) that can be used: antiemetics; anti-inflammatory, anti-Ménière’s, and anti-migrainous medications; anti-depressants, anti-convulsants, and aminopyridines. A recovery from acute vestibular neuritis can be promoted by treatment with oral corticosteroids. Betahistine may reduce the frequency of attacks of Ménière’s disease. The aminopyridines constitute a novel treatment approach for downbeat and upbeat nystagmus, as well as episodic ataxia type 2 (EA 2); these drugs may restore normal “pacemaker” activity to the Purkinje cells that govern vestibular and cerebellar nuclei. A limited number of trials indicate that baclofen improves periodic alternating nystagmus, and that gabapentin and memantine improve acquired pendular and infantile (congenital) nystagmus. Preliminary reports suggest suppression of square-wave saccadic intrusions by memantine, and ocular flutter by beta-blockers. Thus, although progress has been made in the treatment of vestibular neuritis, some forms of pathological nystagmus, and EA 2, controlled, masked trials are still needed to evaluate treatments for many vestibular and ocular motor disorders, including betahistine for Ménière’s disease, oxcarbazepine for vestibular paroxysmia, or metoprolol for vestibular migraine
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