Effective Approaches to Attention-based Neural Machine Translation

An attentional mechanism has lately been used to improve neural machine translation (NMT) by selectively focusing on parts of the source sentence during translation. However, there has been little work exploring useful architectures for attention-based NMT. This paper examines two simple and effective classes of attentional mechanism: a global approach which always attends to all source words and a local one that only looks at a subset of source words at a time. We demonstrate the effectiveness of both approaches over the WMT translation tasks between English and German in both directions. With local attention, we achieve a significant gain of 5.0 BLEU points over non-attentional systems which already incorporate known techniques such as dropout. Our ensemble model using different attention architectures has established a new state-of-the-art result in the WMT'15 English to German translation task with 25.9 BLEU points, an improvement of 1.0 BLEU points over the existing best system backed by NMT and an n-gram reranker.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, EMNLP 2015 camera-ready version, more training detail

Anthropogenic impacts in the deep sea of the Azores : fishing and litter

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências do Mar, especialidade em Ecologia Marinha.[...]. Os objetivos deste trabalho são, essencialmente, os de caracterizar e entender duas ameaças importantes para o mar profundo dos Açores: a pesca e o lixo. [...]. De um modo geral, este trabalho sugere que a gestão sustentável dos recursos do oceânico profundo deve incluir todos os efeitos das atividades humanas. No caso particular dos Açores, a gestão dos recursos vivos marinhos, se baseada no funcionamento dos ecossistemas, deve ter em consideração as rejeições da pesca, os danos induzidos pela pesca aos habitats bentónicos e a acumulação de lixo.ABSTRACT: [...]. The objectives of this work are to further characterize and understand two important threats for deep sea ecosystem off the Azores; fishing and litter disposal. [...]. My thesis work suggests that sustainable management of deep-sea resources must include all likely effects of human activities. Ecosystem-based management of the deep-sea in the Azores needs to address fisheries discards, damages to benthic habitats, and litter disposal.This research was funded by the the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Grant number (SFRH/BD/31286/2009) and conducted in the framework of the EU FP7 projects CoralFISH (FP7 ENV/2007/1/21314 4) and HERMIONE (FP7 ENV/ 2008/1/226354

The Study of the Regulon of OxyR in Escherichia coli and Porphyromonas gingivalis

The facultative anaerobe, Escherichia coli and the obligate anaerobe, Porphyromonas gingivalis are two bacteria that reside in our body. Although they reside in separate environments, they are both subject to hydrogen peroxide stress and have mechanisms to regulate the stress. OxyR is the primary transcriptional regulator/sensor of oxidative stress response caused by hydrogen peroxide. OxyR in P. gingivalis is not well-characterized compared to OxyR in E. coli. We sought to characterize and compare the two forms of OxyR in order to gain a better understanding of the protein. We determined the oligomeric state of both proteins: primarily a tetramer for E. coli and primarily a tetramer for P. gingivalis OxyR.. We demonstrated DNA binding with E. coli OxyR, indicating purification of the functional form of E. coli OxyR.Through pulldown assays we discovered potential novel binding targets, mobB for E. coli OxyR and PG1209 for P. gingivalis OxyR. Many of the other targets corresponded to intergenic regions within genes, which may pertain to small RNAs or small proteins. These results show that OxyR in E. coli and P. gingivalis has novel function and properties indicating an expanded role in addition to the well-characterized oxidative stress response

Experimental harvesting of juvenile common octopus Octopus vulgaris, for commercial ongrowing in the Azores

Octopus aquaculture is currently restricted to ongrowing of sub-adult to commercial size because culture of paralarvae remains a bottleneck. In most countries, commercial ongrowing rely upon existing pot fisheries for octopuses for obtaining their specimens. In the Azores, such fishery does not exist and effective methods of harvest are required if farming is to be implemented. In this study, we investigated the potential of obtaining subadult octopuses on the coast of Faial Island, Azores. Two sets of traps (n=30) consisting of 3 PVC tubes within cement blocks were set-up on two different substrates; soft sediment (Pedro Miguel) and rocky-sand (Pasteleiro) at depth varying between 10 and 30 metres. From June to August 2006, 11 hauls per site were performed. A total of 191 octopuses (from 1.1 to 989 g; average = 135.3 g) were captured. Catches in the soft sediment site were significantly higher than in the other location (CPUE: mean ± SD: 0.33 ± 0.17 vs. 0.15 ± 0.17 octopus trap-1 hour-1*100). The catch was initially dominated by octopus of 300-400 g but as fishing continued, this size classes disappeared and was replaced by smaller individuals. As a result, half of the catch at both sites (51.8%) was composed of specimens with a weight equal or inferior to 50 grams. The occurrence of summer recruitment event combined with a natural displacement of larger individuals into deeper waters is most probably responsible for this pattern. Our results showed that in shallow water and during this period of the year, individuals inferior to 50 grams are far more abundant than larger octopuses and should be the target size class for ongrowing activities

The Quickly Universally Integrated CubeSat: Rapid Integration for Small Packages

The Quickly Universally Integrated Concept CubeSat platform, or QUIC, is an experimental space mission architecture that intends to address the need for a rapid development path towards flight readiness by standardizing essential engineering aspects of a satellite, such as chassis, avionics, and power systems, while providing an interface that can quickly and readily accept mission payloads. While the smaller form factor and theoretical simplicity of CubeSats have enabled space access at relatively low costs there still exists a very high barrier to success for first-time CubeSat builders. This is especially true in academia where engineering a CubeSat from the ground up is the longest and most difficult part of development compared to preparing the payload, especially in teams without structural, thermal, or electrical analytical expertise. Independent research has also shown that CubeSat missions often suffer from a high rate of failure and lack of replicability due to these challenges being pitted against teams unfamiliar with traditional space systems engineering processes. Furthermore, in a competitive market of space access, supply for launches has begun to outpace the demand, as not enough small satellites can be produced to keep up with traditional methods. By consolidating communication through a universal interface, various payloads can be connected without compatibility issues and clients can program data collection, computation, and transmission to suit their needs with the onboard computer without incurring significant challenges with hardware integration. As QUIC is designed to accelerate prototyping and development, all components would be easily machined or purchased as commercial off the shelf parts, and assembly can be done by even high school students, vastly expanding the range of access for Low Earth Orbit research. It also is not limited to space, as Bronco Space at Cal Poly Pomona will employ the first stages of QUIC for their high-altitude balloon program, the Balloon Launch Assessment Directive for Engineers, or BLADE

Sustainable rice cultivation in the deep flooded zones of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

This paper explains how the management of the full-dyke system in the deep flooded zones of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta affects rice cultivation, and outlines how alternative dyke management strategies could offer more sustainable adaptations in the face of future environmental threats. The current management of the ‘full-dyke’ network has been successful in promoting triple-cropping rice cultivation, but this practice has prevented sediment deposition on the land surface. River-borne sediments deposited on the delta land surface have high economic value because they are (i) rich in nutrients (potentially 26 million USD/yr of free fertiliser to An Giang Province) and can (ii) help to maintain the Mekong Delta land above sealevel. Without a continuing supply of sediment to the delta, triple-cropping paddies may not continue to be sustainable or profitable for the majority of rice farmers over the next 10 to 20 years. The economic value of sediment as a free fertiliser is particularly important to poor farmers, as without sediment, they run a significant risk of debt due to fluctuations in rice, fertiliser, and other input prices. With incoming loads now declining, sediment must be managed carefully as a resource. Our projections show that the best use of the remaining sediment resource can be achieved by allowing full paddy flooding only in years of high sediment potential, and this would greatly increase the sustainability of rice agriculture in the face of future environmental change. This recommended policy is an option with few regrets, in that its other benefits include maximising groundwater replenishment, ensuring freshwater availability during drought periods (including countering salt water intrusion), cleansing rice paddies of pests and disease, and tempering downstream flooding. If triple-rice-cropping continues to have priority, financial support will particularly be needed to provide help to poorer farmers coping with increases in artificial fertiliser prices

Chemical and sensory analysis of commercial Navel oranges in California.

Seven lots of commercially available Navel oranges grown in California were evaluated with flavoromic, metabolomic, sensory descriptive analysis, and consumer testing techniques to identify sensory and chemical drivers of liking. Eight identified chemical clusters related to numerous sensory attributes and consumer preferences. Differences in adult and child preferences led to the discovery of six consumer clusters (four adult and two child). Sweetness, overall flavor, sourness, fruity flavor, and juiciness were identified as the main sensory drivers of liking for the consumers. Fructose, glucose, and proline were among the compounds that best explained perceived sweetness while sourness was correlated with citrate and ascorbate. Perceived fruity flavor increased with higher concentrations of ethanol. We conclude that consumers differ in their preferences for Navel oranges and desire fruit that is higher in both sweetness and sourness

Recruitment and growth of Megabalanus azoricus (Pilsbry, 1916) on artificial substrates: first steps towards commercial culture in the Azores

This paper reports the results of preliminary research evaluating the potential of farming Megabalanus azoricus. From March 2006 to September 2006, artificial substrates were immersed bi-monthly in a shallow water bank located in the channel separating the islands of Faial and Pico, Azores. They were monitored monthly for a period of 12 months by scuba-diving. M. azoricus rapidly colonised the immersed substrates, establishing itself as the dominant organism. Even though recruitment was observed year round, there was a peak in recruitment between June and October. The substrate immersed for the longest period (15 months) presented final densities of 1109 ind. m-2, from which 20.2% were of edible size. Growth was monitored for 18 isolated barnacles for 8 months. Growth rate proved to be high (base diameter; 0.08 ± 0.02 mm day-1; mean ± SD), with individuals reaching diameters of 21.35 ± 6.2 mm after 8 months. Considering this growth rate, it was estimated that after a further 9 months, over 80% of the total densities (on the oldest substrate ) would be harvestable, thus suggesting a production cycle of 17 to 24 months. Although much further research is needed, the species presents all characteristics of a potential candidate to initiate the aquaculture industry in the Azores

CHARACTERIZATION OF OSLDS FOR USE IN SMALL FIELD PHOTON BEAM DOSIMETRY

The goal of this study was to redesign a Radiological Physics Center (RPC) mailable remote audit tool used for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) single beam dosimetry. A prototype phantom was designed and built housing nanoDot (Landauer Inc., Glenwood, IL) Al2O3:C optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters (OSLDs) whose visible active luminescent area has been masked. The phantom has two measurement points with two OSLDs at each location and a film insert for localization purposes only. The masked OSLDs were characterized accounting for various correction factors associated with OSLD dose calculations. The uncertainties for each correction factor were also investigated. It was determined that the linearity, depletion, fading, and energy correction factors were identical to the RPC commissioning data for non-masked OSLDs. The element correction factor (ECF) for masked OSLDs must be determined separately. Two new correction factors were introduced to the OSL dose calculation formula, scatter and field size dependence factor. The field size dependence factor was proven to be unity. The minimum field size the masked OSLD system can accommodate as an audit tool was determined to be 10 mm diameter field for circular cones or 1 x 1 cm2 field sizes. The overall system uncertainty was 3.72% (95% C.I.) for irradiations performed using a 1 x 1 cm2 field size. The uncertainty was suitable in advocating a ±5% acceptance criterion for RPC remote audits. Feasibility studies were performed at various locations on multiple SRS treatment configurations. CyberKnife, linac based cones, and MLC trial audits produced an average RPC OSLD measured to institution reported dose ratio of 0.982 with a standard deviation of 0.036

Health and Housing Trends of Single Homeless Adults in Chittenden County, Vermont

Introduction. Homeless individuals are at an increased risk for both physical and mental health comorbidities compared to those with stable housing. Prior studies have demonstrated that many of these individuals do not seek or receive proper medical care. This study provides a landscape analysis of health characteristics in the single adult homeless population in Chittenden County, Vermont. Methods. Interviews were conducted using a modified version of the Vulnerability Index – Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool to determine vulnerability indices across a range of different health and social wellness domains. Single home- less adults were sampled from community self-help clinics and transitional living and homeless shelters from September to November 2017. Results. 56 in-person surveys were conducted. Mean age of participants was 45.3 years and over half were male (63%). Extended periods or multiple episodes of homelessness were experienced most by those who reported sleeping outdoors (89%); this group also reported the highest use of emergency services (47%). The highest incidence of abuse/trauma as a contributing factor for homelessness was reported most in the 18-30 age group (71%) and least in the above 51 age group (35%). Nearly all participants owned a cell phone (86%). Conclusions. Single homeless adults self-reported a variety of health and social is- sues, including substance abuse, increased emergency department use, and in- creased abuse, trauma, and deteriorated social relationships. This study highlights different risk factors that contribute to homelessness in this select population. Future research should evaluate how to individually address these vulnerabilities to optimize health care and well-being.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1255/thumbnail.jp