Knowledge Tracing Challenge: Optimal Activity Sequencing for Students

Knowledge tracing is a method used in education to assess and track the acquisition of knowledge by individual learners. It involves using a variety of techniques, such as quizzes, tests, and other forms of assessment, to determine what a learner knows and does not know about a particular subject. The goal of knowledge tracing is to identify gaps in understanding and provide targeted instruction to help learners improve their understanding and retention of material. This can be particularly useful in situations where learners are working at their own pace, such as in online learning environments. By providing regular feedback and adjusting instruction based on individual needs, knowledge tracing can help learners make more efficient progress and achieve better outcomes. Effectively solving the KT problem would unlock the potential of computer-aided education applications such as intelligent tutoring systems, curriculum learning, and learning materials recommendations. In this paper, we will present the results of the implementation of two Knowledge Tracing algorithms on a newly released dataset as part of the AAAI2023 Global Knowledge Tracing Challenge

Efficiency of Training Volunteers to Converse with Elders with Aphasia

Five volunteers were trained to communicate with three nursing home residents with aphasia. Effects were measured in a multiple baseline across participants and partners design. The efficiency of procedures and the outcomes of training student volunteers to use multi-modality communication in conversations with nursing home residents with aphasia were examined. Better understanding of the necessary training procedures will facilitate future research in involving communication partner training. Effective/efficient procedures are needed to maximize cost-effectiveness and clinical significance. Findings from the study, differences from the original study, and clinical recommendations will be described in this paper

Bombing My Mind

A paper from Itoh et al. has stuck with me since its publication date 8 years ago for many reasons, but primarily because it stretched my mind and pleased my eye.The major conclusion of the paper—that Mind bomb-mediated ubiquitination of Delta promotes its endocytosis, thereby activating Notch signaling in an adjacent cell—was an important advance in the fields of ubiquitin-mediated regulation, Delta-Notch activated signaling, and neuronal development. For these reasons the title and abstract caught my attention. However, this manuscript was a challenging read for a life-long yeast cell biologist. I had heard talks over the years from my developmental biology colleagues, but I wasn't used to looking carefully at zebrafish embryos. I had also never rigorously thought through the experiments that would be needed to test whether a signal was acting cell autonomously in vivo. The paper therefore took time, but it was well worth it: the data are spectacular, both in clarity and aesthetics, and the conclusions are significant. A paper with a protein named Mind bomb, magenta and green fluorescent micrographs, and a description of a new ubiquitin ligase has everything it takes to make my day.This PaperPick relates to “Mind Bomb Is a Ubiquitin Ligase that Is Essential for Efficient Activation of Notch Signaling by Delta” by M. Itoh, C.-H. Kim, G. Palardy, T. Oda, Y.-J. Jiang, D. Maust, S.-Y. Yeo, K. Lorick, G.J. Wright, L. Ariza-McNaughton, A.M. Weissman, J. Lewis, S.C. Chandrasekharappa, and A.B. Chitnis, published in January 2003.Video AbstractThe first author of the original Developmental Cell paper, Dr. Motoyuki Itoh, introduces the mind bomb mutation, the work he did on it in Dr. Ajay Chitnis's laboratory, and some unanswered questions surrounding Notch ligand ubiquitination that persist to this day

Kombucha’s Effect on the Composition of the Human Gut Microbiota, its Connection to Disease, and its Application to Treating an Enteric Strain of Salmonella.

Consumption of kombucha has been shown to promote human gut health and act as an antibacterial agent against enteric pathogens. This thesis investigates if kombucha consumption changes the composition of the human gut microbiota and aims to measure its inhibitory effects on the growth of an enteric pathogen, Salmonella typhimurium. We predicted consumption of kombucha will alter the composition of the gut microbiota and demonstrate antibacterial activity in the presence of S. typhimurium. Research suggested that alterations in the gut microbiota is associated with multiple chronic diseases. It is further noted that kombucha and other probiotics may be used to restore proper gut health. Based on the literature, we suggest that kombucha has an effect on gut health. To test its antibacterial activity, a Kirby-Bauer Disc Diffusion Assay was performed. Kombucha’s zone of inhibition for S. typhimurium was compared to two antibiotics (ampicillin, ciprofloxacin) on TSA agar. Both antibiotics displayed consistent inhibitory effects, however, kombucha did not inhibit S. typhimurium growth. While kombucha and other probiotics affect the composition of the gut microbiota, kombucha did not demonstrate antibacterial activity against S. typhimurium

[Lions: 1] and [Tigers: 2] and [Bears: 3], Oh My! Literary Coreference Annotation with LLMs

Coreference annotation and resolution is a vital component of computational literary studies. However, it has previously been difficult to build high quality systems for fiction. Coreference requires complicated structured outputs, and literary text involves subtle inferences and highly varied language. New language-model-based seq2seq systems present the opportunity to solve both these problems by learning to directly generate a copy of an input sentence with markdown-like annotations. We create, evaluate, and release several trained models for coreference, as well as a workflow for training new models.Comment: Accepted to LaTeCH-CLfL 202

Synchronization and application of delay-coupled semiconductor lasers

The work in this thesis is focused on the complex dynamics of semiconductor laser (SL) devices which receive time-delayed feedback from an external cavity or are delay-coupled with a second semiconductor laser. We investigate fundamental properties of the dynamics and study the utilization of transient complex dynamics of a single SL arising from delayed feedback and external signal injection for a neuro-inspired photonic data processing scheme. Based on experiments and numerical modelling, we investigate systems of two coupled SLs, gaining insights into the role of laser and coupling parameters for the synchronization characteristics of these systems. We link certain features of the synchronization dynamics, like intermittent desynchronization events, to the underlying nonlinear dynamics in the coupled laser system. Our research thus combines both fundamental insights into delay-coupled lasers as well as novel application perspectives

T5 meets Tybalt: Author Attribution in Early Modern English Drama Using Large Language Models

Large language models have shown breakthrough potential in many NLP domains. Here we consider their use for stylometry, specifically authorship identification in Early Modern English drama. We find both promising and concerning results; LLMs are able to accurately predict the author of surprisingly short passages but are also prone to confidently misattribute texts to specific authors. A fine-tuned t5-large model outperforms all tested baselines, including logistic regression, SVM with a linear kernel, and cosine delta, at attributing small passages. However, we see indications that the presence of certain authors in the model's pre-training data affects predictive results in ways that are difficult to assess.Comment: Published in CHR 202

Multiphoton antiresonance in large-spin systems

We study nonlinear response of a spin $S>1/2$ with easy-axis anisotropy. The response displays sharp dips or peaks when the modulation frequency is adiabatically swept through multiphoton resonance. The effect is a consequence of a special symmetry of the spin dynamics in a magnetic field for the anisotropy energy $\propto S_z^2$. The occurrence of the dips or peaks is determined by the spin state. Their shape strongly depends on the modulation amplitude. Higher-order anisotropy breaks the symmetry, leading to sharp steps in the response as function of frequency. The results bear on the dynamics of molecular magnets in a static magnetic field.Comment: Submitted to PR