Worker “Right to Know” in 30-year Retrospect: Did We Get it Right, with What We Know Today?

Three decades later, did we negotiators get it right? When in 2007 we passed the 30th anniversary of the first “right to know” workplace disclosure rules, 1 should we who negotiated the rule reflect favorably on what was produced? And which of the competing sides, once labeled Doomsayers or Pollyannas, has been proven correct by the miraculous clarity of hindsight? We who were “present at the creation” of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (“OSHA”) Hazard Communication Standard2 find the saga a mixture of success, frustration and unmet expectations. This essay offers one player’s historical and policy retrospective, and I draw an ambiguous conclusion about an unsettled controversy

Island Loss for Learning Discriminative Features in Facial Expression Recognition

Over the past few years, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have shown promise on facial expression recognition. However, the performance degrades dramatically under real-world settings due to variations introduced by subtle facial appearance changes, head pose variations, illumination changes, and occlusions. In this paper, a novel island loss is proposed to enhance the discriminative power of the deeply learned features. Specifically, the IL is designed to reduce the intra-class variations while enlarging the inter-class differences simultaneously. Experimental results on four benchmark expression databases have demonstrated that the CNN with the proposed island loss (IL-CNN) outperforms the baseline CNN models with either traditional softmax loss or the center loss and achieves comparable or better performance compared with the state-of-the-art methods for facial expression recognition.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Letters

The Challenge of Man's Future, Harrison Brow

Optimizing Filter Size in Convolutional Neural Networks for Facial Action Unit Recognition

Recognizing facial action units (AUs) during spontaneous facial displays is a challenging problem. Most recently, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have shown promise for facial AU recognition, where predefined and fixed convolution filter sizes are employed. In order to achieve the best performance, the optimal filter size is often empirically found by conducting extensive experimental validation. Such a training process suffers from expensive training cost, especially as the network becomes deeper. This paper proposes a novel Optimized Filter Size CNN (OFS-CNN), where the filter sizes and weights of all convolutional layers are learned simultaneously from the training data along with learning convolution filters. Specifically, the filter size is defined as a continuous variable, which is optimized by minimizing the training loss. Experimental results on two AU-coded spontaneous databases have shown that the proposed OFS-CNN is capable of estimating optimal filter size for varying image resolution and outperforms traditional CNNs with the best filter size obtained by exhaustive search. The OFS-CNN also beats the CNN using multiple filter sizes and more importantly, is much more efficient during testing with the proposed forward-backward propagation algorithm

Agronomic performance of acid-based liquid fertilisers on winter wheat.

End of Project ReportIn the early 90’s, a new and novel means (liquid Flex system) of crop fertilisation was launched on the Irish market which was capable of supplying the crop’s total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace element requirement in liquid form, formulated to meet specific crop requirements. This system included novel chemistry, untested under Irish conditions and with little specific reference in the scientific literature. The chemistry of the liquid Flex system consists of an acid-based material. Stable compounds i.e. urea sulphate, urea phosphate and urea-metal complexes are formed by the reaction of urea with sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid and metal salts, respectively. Interest in these materials has been generated because they possess a number of physical and chemical characteristics, which, in theory, should be beneficial. However, the ability of the Flex system to effectively supply nutrients to the plant has not been researched. A field and greenhouse experimental programme was carried out over the three seasons, 1996-1998 to compare acid-base/urea-metal complexes with conventional fertilisers and to investigate whether this unconventional chemistry could lead to increased biological efficiency. The trial programme evaluated the Flex system, both as individual components and as a complete fertiliser. In field comparisons, formulation of P as urea phosphate gave similar results to conventional granular superphosphate in terms of grain yield, recovery of P by the crop and grain quality, regardless of soil type. This was supported by the results from the greenhouse experiment. In field comparisons of the main soil-applied liquid Flex source of N, i.e. N24 (urea with the addition of a standard level of acid and metal salts) with conventional N formulations, N24 gave poorer performance than CAN and granular urea in warm dry conditions due to insufficient inhibition to substantially reduce ammonia volatilisation. In wet conditions, the slow release of N from inhibited urea may have reduced the potential loss from leaching or denitrification, and led to a better performance than CAN or urea. The additional product of the Flex system, i.e. liquid Flex urea - N18 (urea with the addition of metal salts), applied as a foliar spray, was no more efficient than liquid urea as a late N source. The Flex urea had the disadvantage that it gave higher scorch levels than conventional liquid urea. When flag leaf scorch was excessive, grain yield was affected and quality suffered, with reduced grain and hectolitre weights. Where early application of P may have been critical to obtain maximum response, the N that accompanied the early application of P as urea phosphate was most likely lost through leaching. The application of large quantities of K in any one application with the liquid system was restricted due to solubility problems, which ultimately resulted in delayed application in soils with low K levels. The Flex system does not lead to increased biological efficiency. However, as farms get bigger and greater emphasis is placed on the reduction of water and air pollution, the liquid Flex system may become attractive because of its practical advantages in handling, storage and application and the ability to tailor-make specific formulations for given crop requirements

Measuring the difference between actual and reported food intakes in the context of energy balance under laboratory conditions

Acknowledgements The present study was funded by the Food Standards Agency, UK. The Food Standards Agency had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. The authors’ responsibilities were as follows: R. J. S., L. M. O’R. and G. W. H. designed the research; L. M. O’R. and Z. F. conducted the research and analysed the data; G. W. H. performed the statistical analyses; P. R. carried out the DLW analysis; R. J. S. had primary responsibility for the final content; R. J. S., L. M. O’R., Z. F., S. W. and M. B. E. L. wrote the paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effects of maternal stress and obesity on human feto-placental glucocorticoid exposure

Fetal exposure to excess glucocorticoids has been proposed as a key determinant of pregnancy outcome, as well as a predictor of long term health of the offspring through a phenomenon known as ‘developmental programming’. Obesity and ‘stress’ during pregnancy are two potential sources of altered fetal exposure to glucocorticoids. One in five pregnant women is obese at antenatal booking, and maternal obesity increases risk of offspring complications including higher birth weight, potentially leading to long-term programming effects on the offspring. Likewise, maternal anxiety during pregnancy has been identified as a programming factor, increasing the risk of psychopathology in the offspring. This thesis tests the hypothesis that in humans this association is mediated by altered action of glucocorticoids, by examining circulating levels of maternal glucocorticoids during pregnancy and through measurement of key genes in the placenta regulating fetal glucocorticoid exposure. Serum cortisol levels were measured at 16, 28 and 36 weeks gestation in n=173 class III obese (BMI 44.0±4.5kg/m2) and n=107 lean (BMI 22.8±1.6kg/m2) pregnant women. Serial corticosteroid binding globulin (CBG) concentrations were measured in a subset (n=39 lean, 26 obese) and free cortisol levels calculated using Coolen’s equation. CRH concentrations were measured at the same time points in obese (n=20) and lean (n=22) pregnant women Salivary cortisol was measured in samples collected at bed-time, waking and 30 minutes after waking. mRNA levels of candidate genes regulating glucocorticoids and fetal/placental growth including 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11βHSD2), which inactivates cortisol, insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) were measured in first trimester (n=32), second trimester (n=15) and term (n=60) placental samples. DNA methylation of key regions controlling the expression of the IGF2, GR and 11βHSD2 genes was measured by pyrosequencing in first trimester and term samples. Levels of mRNAs encoding 11βHSD1, 11βHSD2, GR and MR were measured in term placentas collected from women from Helsinki, Finland in whom anxiety during pregnancy had been prospectively assessed using validated questionnaires. Term placental samples from a subset of the obese and lean women who had also completed stress questionnaires during pregnancy were used to examine replication of findings. Cortisol levels rose similarly during pregnancy in obese and lean but were significantly lower throughout pregnancy in obese women (p<0.05). The diurnal rhythm of cortisol was maintained. CBG levels also increased, though this change was lower in obese (1.21-fold (±0.9) vs 1.56-fold (±0.07), p<0.01). In obese women, lower calculated free cortisol at 16 weeks gestation was associated with higher birth weight after adjustment for other factors (r=-0.46, p<0.05). Placental mRNA encoding 11βHSD2 increased in association with increasing obesity in early pregnancy (r=0.44, p<0.01) and was highest in term placenta in obese women with macrosomic (>4000g) offspring (p<0.05). Placental transcript abundance of GR also increased in association with increasing obesity in early pregnancy (r=0.38, p<0.05), but was lowest in term placenta from obese with macrosomic offspring (p<0.05). IGF2 mRNA abundance was lower in the placentas of obese women with macrosomic offspring at term compared to both lean women and obese women with normal weight offspring (p<0.01). Methylation results are reported. Placental mRNA levels encoding 11βHSD1 (which converts inactive cortisone to active cortisol) at term was found to positively associate with maternal anxiety measured in the first trimester of pregnancy in a group of pregnant Finnish women (β=0.3, p<0.05). Findings were similar in the replication sample in lean women only (β=4.6, p<0.05). Lower circulating and bioavailable cortisol levels in early pregnancy, together with a greater placental ‘barrier’ to maternal glucocorticoids represent key mechanisms contributing to higher birth weight in offspring of obese women. Regeneration of active glucocorticoids in placenta and increasing placental sensitivity to glucocorticoids increases fetal glucocorticoid exposure and offers insight into the biological mechanisms underlying adverse offspring effects of maternal prenatal anxiety

Midshelf to Surfzone Coupled ROMS-SWAN Model Data Comparison of Waves, Currents, and Temperature: Diagnosis of Subtidal Forcings and Response

AbstractA coupled wave and circulation model that includes tide, wind, buoyancy, and wave processes is necessary to investigate tracer exchange in the shelf region. Here, a coupled Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS)–Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) model, resolving midshelf to the surfzone region of the San Pedro Bay, California, is compared to observations from the 2006 Huntington Beach experiment. Waves are well modeled, and surfzone cross- and alongshore velocities are reasonably well modeled. Modeled and observed rotary velocity spectra compare well in subtidal and tidal bands, and temperature spectra compare well in the subtidal band. Observed and modeled mid- and inner-shelf subtidal velocity ellipses and temperature variability determined from the first vertical complex EOF (cEOF) mode have similar vertical structure. Although the modeled subtidal velocity vertical shear and stratification are weaker than observed, the ratio of stratification to shear is similar, suggesting model vertical mixing is consistent with observations. On fortnightly and longer time scales, the surface heat flux and advective heat flux divergence largely balance on the inner shelf and surfzone. The surfzone and inner-shelf alongshore currents separated by 220 m are unrelated. Both modeled and observed subtidal alongshelf current and temperature are cross-shelf coherent seaward of the surfzone. Wind forcing explains 50% of the observed and modeled inner-shelf alongshore current variability. The observed and modeled inner-shelf alongshelf nonuniformities in depth-averaged alongshore velocities are similar. Inferred, inner-shelf, wave-induced, cross-shore exchange is more important than on the U.S. East Coast. Overall, the coupled ROMS–SWAN model represents well the waves and subtidal circulation dynamics from the midshelf to the surfzone.</jats:p