Adapting Visual Question Answering Models for Enhancing Multimodal Community Q&A Platforms

Question categorization and expert retrieval methods have been crucial for information organization and accessibility in community question & answering (CQA) platforms. Research in this area, however, has dealt with only the text modality. With the increasing multimodal nature of web content, we focus on extending these methods for CQA questions accompanied by images. Specifically, we leverage the success of representation learning for text and images in the visual question answering (VQA) domain, and adapt the underlying concept and architecture for automated category classification and expert retrieval on image-based questions posted on Yahoo! Chiebukuro, the Japanese counterpart of Yahoo! Answers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to tackle the multimodality challenge in CQA, and to adapt VQA models for tasks on a more ecologically valid source of visual questions. Our analysis of the differences between visual QA and community QA data drives our proposal of novel augmentations of an attention method tailored for CQA, and use of auxiliary tasks for learning better grounding features. Our final model markedly outperforms the text-only and VQA model baselines for both tasks of classification and expert retrieval on real-world multimodal CQA data.Comment: Submitted for review at CIKM 201

Geometry, kinematics and rates of deformation in a normal fault segment boundary, central Greece

The geometry, kinematics and rates of deformation within a fault segment boundary between the ends of two major active normal fault segments have been investigated through examination of a faulted 126 ka marine terrace. Slip‐vector azimuths defined by striations on the faults indicate N‐S extension on c. E‐W faults, sub‐parallel to those from earthquake focal mechanisms, together with significant and contemporaneous E‐W extension on c. N‐S faults. Summed rates of E‐W extension along a c. 550 m transect (0.17 mm/yr) are comparable with those for N‐S extension (0.20 mm/yr) along a c. 350 m transect. Our observations show that distributed non‐plane strain extension occurs in fault segment boundaries and this should be noted when studying fault‐tip fracture toughness and regional deformation rates

Perceived Barriers to Higher Education in STEM Among Disadvantaged Rural Students: A Case Study

This case study examined the perceptions of scholarship recipients participating in Southwest Virginia Community College’s (SWCC’s) S-STEM scholarship program which examined whether the program helped remove barriers to students’ educational goals and STEM career aspirations. The study used a focus group and a survey to elicit responses from student participants in the SWCC S-STEM program. Participants were low-income residents of rural Appalachia, and many were first generation college students. Results indicated that students in the SWCC S-STEM program experienced a wide variety of barriers to STEM educational and career success, including economic, geographic, social, and educational barriers, and that the S-STEM program assisted students in overcoming these barriers. This study may inform efforts to further increase the number of underrepresented students who enroll in and complete STEM education programs

Scald risk in social housing can be reduced through thermostatic control system without increasing Legionella risk: a cluster randomised trial.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the effects of a thermostatic control system in social (public) housing on the prevalence of dangerous (>60°C) water temperatures and on fuel consumption. DESIGN: Pair-matched double-blind cluster randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Social housing in a deprived inner-London borough. PARTICIPANTS: 150 households recruited as clusters from 22 social housing estates. Four small estates were combined into two clusters (resulting in a total of 10 pairs of clusters). INTERVENTION: Social housing estate boiler houses were randomised to a thermostatic control sterilisation programme (heating water to 65°C during 00:00-06:00 h and to 50°C from 06:00 to 00:00 h daily) or to standard control (constant temperature 65°C). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Water temperature over 60°C ('dangerous') after running taps for 1 min and daily fuel consumption (cubic feet of gas). RESULTS: 10 clusters (80 households) were allocated to the sterilisation programme and 10 clusters (70 households) to control, of which 73 and 67 households, respectively, were analysed. Prevalence of dangerous (>60°C) hot water temperatures at 1 min was significantly reduced with the sterilisation programme (mean of cluster prevalence 1% in sterilisation programme group vs 34% in control group; absolute difference 33%, 95% CI 12% to 54%; p=0.006). Prevalence of high (>55°C) hot water temperatures at 1 min was significantly reduced (31% sterilisation vs 59% control; absolute difference 28%, 95% CI 9% to 47%; p=0.009). Gas consumption per day reduced more in the control group than in the sterilisation programme group, although not statistically significantly (p=0.125). CONCLUSIONS: The thermostatic control with daily sterilisation was effective in capping hot water temperatures and therefore reduced scald risk. Although expected to save energy, fuel consumption was increased relative to the control group. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT00874692

Tri-bimaximal Neutrino Mixing and Quark Masses from a Discrete Flavour Symmetry

We build a supersymmetric model of quark and lepton masses based on the discrete flavour symmetry group T', the double covering of A_4. In the lepton sector our model is practically indistinguishable from recent models based on A_4 and, in particular, it predicts a nearly tri-bimaximal mixing, in good agreement with present data. In the quark sector a realistic pattern of masses and mixing angles is obtained by exploiting the doublet representations of T', not available in A_4. To this purpose, the flavour symmetry T' should be broken spontaneously along appropriate directions in flavour space. In this paper we fully discuss the related vacuum alignment problem, both at the leading order and by accounting for small effects coming from higher-order corrections. As a result we get the relations: \sqrt{m_d/m_s}\approx |V_{us}| and \sqrt{m_d/m_s}\approx |V_{td}/V_{ts}|.Comment: 27 pages, 1 figure; minor correction

A bifunctional kinase-phosphatase in bacterial chemotaxis.

addresses: Oxford Centre for Integrative Systems Biology and Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, United Kingdom.notes: PMCID: PMC2587623types: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tCopyright © 2008, The National Academy of SciencesPhosphorylation-based signaling pathways employ dephosphorylation mechanisms for signal termination. Histidine to aspartate phosphosignaling in the two-component system that controls bacterial chemotaxis has been studied extensively. Rhodobacter sphaeroides has a complex chemosensory pathway with multiple homologues of the Escherichia coli chemosensory proteins, although it lacks homologues of known signal-terminating CheY-P phosphatases, such as CheZ, CheC, FliY or CheX. Here, we demonstrate that an unusual CheA homologue, CheA(3), is not only a phosphodonor for the principal CheY protein, CheY(6), but is also is a specific phosphatase for CheY(6)-P. This phosphatase activity accelerates CheY(6)-P dephosphorylation to a rate that is comparable with the measured stimulus response time of approximately 1 s. CheA(3) possesses only two of the five domains found in classical CheAs, the Hpt (P1) and regulatory (P5) domains, which are joined by a 794-amino acid sequence that is required for phosphatase activity. The P1 domain of CheA(3) is phosphorylated by CheA(4), and it subsequently acts as a phosphodonor for the response regulators. A CheA(3) mutant protein without the 794-amino acid region lacked phosphatase activity, retained phosphotransfer function, but did not support chemotaxis, suggesting that the phosphatase activity may be required for chemotaxis. Using a nested deletion approach, we showed that a 200-amino acid segment of CheA(3) is required for phosphatase activity. The phosphatase activity of previously identified nonhybrid histidine protein kinases depends on the dimerization and histidine phosphorylation (DHp) domains. However, CheA(3) lacks a DHp domain, suggesting that its phosphatase mechanism is different from that of other histidine protein kinases

Differences in prefrontal blood oxygenation during an acute multitasking stressor in ecstasy polydrug users

Background: Cognitive deficits are well documented in ecstasy (MDMA) users with such deficits being taken as evidence of dysregulation of the 5HT system. More recently neuroimaging has been used to corroborate these deficits. The present study aimed to assess multitasking performance in ecstasy polydrug users, polydrug users and drug naïve individuals. It was predicted that ecstasy polydrug users would perform worse than nonusers on the behavioural measure and this would be supported by difference in cortical blood oxygenation. Methods: Twenty ecstasy-polydrug users, 17 polydrug users and 19 drug naïve individuals took part. On day 1 drug use history was taken and questionnaire measures were completed. On day 2, participants completed a 20 minute multitasking stressor while brain blood oxygenation was measured using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Results: There were no significant differences between the 3 groups on the subscales of the multitasking stressor. In addition, there were no significant differences on self-report measures of perceived workload (NASA – TLX). In terms of mood, ecstasy users were significantly less calm and less relaxed compared to drug-naïve controls. There were also significant differences at 3 voxels on the fNIRS indicating decreased blood oxygenation in ecstasy users compared to drug naïve controls at V2 (left DLPFC), V14 and V16 (right DLPFC), and compared to polydrug controls at V14. Conclusions: The results of the present study provide support for changes in brain activation during performance of demanding tasks in ecstasy polydrug users, which could be related to cerebral vasoconstriction

alpha - HgS Nanocrystals: Synthesis, Structure and Optical Properties

Well-separated mercury sulfide (HgS) nanocrystals are synthesized by a wet chemical route. Transmission electron microscopy studies show that nanocrystals are nearly spherical in shape with average size of 9 nm. Grazing angle X-ray diffraction confirms that HgS nanocrystals are in cinnabar phase. Particle induced X-ray emission and Rutherford back scattering spectrometry analysis reveal HgS nanocrystals are stoichiometric and free from foreign impurities. The optical absorption measurements show two excitonic peaks corresponding to electron-heavy hole and electron-light hole transitions, which are blue shifted by 0.1 and 0.2 eV, respectively, from its bulk value, due to quantum size effect. The experimental data obtained by optical absorption measurement is simulated with a theoretical model considering the particle size distribution as Gaussian

Incorporating Environmental Health into Pediatric Medical and Nursing Education

Pediatric medical and nursing education currently lacks the environmental health content necessary to appropriately prepare pediatric health care professionals to prevent, recognize, manage, and treat environmental-exposure–related disease. Leading health institutions have recognized the need for improvements in health professionals’ environmental health education. Parents are seeking answers about the impact of environmental toxicants on their children. Given the biologic, psychological, and social differences between children and adults, there is a need for environmental health education specific to children. The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, in partnership with the Children’s Environmental Health Network, created two working groups, one with expertise in medical education and one with expertise in nursing education. The working groups reviewed the transition from undergraduate student to professional to assess where in those processes pediatric environmental health could be emphasized. The medical education working group recommended increasing education about children’s environmental health in the medical school curricula, in residency training, and in continuing medical education. The group also recommended the expansion of fellowship training in children’s environmental health. Similarly, the nursing working group recommended increasing children’s environmental health content at the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing nursing education levels. Working groups also identified the key medical and nursing organizations that would be important in leveraging these changes. A concerted effort to prioritize pediatric environmental health by governmental organizations and foundations is essential in providing the resources and expertise to set policy and provide the tools for teaching pediatric environmental health to health care providers