Multi-modal Embedding Fusion-based Recommender

Recommendation systems have lately been popularized globally, with primary use cases in online interaction systems, with significant focus on e-commerce platforms. We have developed a machine learning-based recommendation platform, which can be easily applied to almost any items and/or actions domain. Contrary to existing recommendation systems, our platform supports multiple types of interaction data with multiple modalities of metadata natively. This is achieved through multi-modal fusion of various data representations. We deployed the platform into multiple e-commerce stores of different kinds, e.g. food and beverages, shoes, fashion items, telecom operators. Here, we present our system, its flexibility and performance. We also show benchmark results on open datasets, that significantly outperform state-of-the-art prior work.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

The use of respeaking for the transcription of non-fictional genres : an exploratory study

Transcription is not only a useful tool for audiovisual translation, but also a task that is being increasingly performed by translators in different scenarios. This article presents the results of an experiment in which three transcription methods are compared: manual transcription, respeaking, and revision of a transcript generated by speech recognition. The emphasis is put on respeaking, which is expected to be a useful method to speed up the process of transcription and have a positive impact on the transcribers' experience. Both objective and subjective measures were obtained: on the one hand, the time spent on each task and the output quality based on the NER metrics and on the other, the participants' opinions before and after the task, namely the self-reported effort, boredom, confidence in the accuracy of the transcript and overall qualit

Comparación de fórmulas chilenas e internacionales para valorar el arbolado urbano

Ponce-Donoso, M (reprint author), Univ Talca, Fac Ciencias Forestales, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile.The appraisal of urban trees is a practice adopted in diverse cities of world. This survey compared international formulae: Council of Tree Landscape Appraiser (CTLA), Burnley, Helliwell and Standard Tree Evaluation Method (STEM) and three Chilean methods applied in municipalities of Concepcion, La Pintana, Maip (COPIMA), Nunoa and Penalolen, in 14 different trees located in Talca city (Chile). The objective was to identify the differences and similarities of the monetary result in the application of these formulae, which was realized by a professional. These were analyzed using a non parametric variance test of Kruskal - Wallis and the multiple comparisons Duncan test. It was possible to determine that the Chilean formulae did not present statistically significant differences with the international formulae of Burnley and CTLA; whereas Penalolen and COPIMA formulae did not present any difference when contrasted with Helliwell. In addition, the STEM formula presented differences with all the Chilean analyzed formulae. In the valuation by tree, statistically significant differences were obtained, which showed the independence of the used formula. The exception was when being applied to emblematic species or to species that stand-out in some amenity. Likewise, it was observed that the basic value continues having a high impact in the appraisal final result and the use of the statistical test applied allows extending this type of analyses

Life Cycle Analysis of a SpaceCube Printed Circuit Board Assembly Using Physics of Failure Methodologies

In this reliability life cycle evaluation of the SpaceCube 2.0 processor card, a partially populated version of the card is being evaluated to determine its durability with respect to typical GSFC mission loads

Effects of fertility education on knowledge, desires and anxiety among the reproductive-aged population: findings from a randomized controlled trial

STUDY QUESTION What are the effects of fertility education on knowledge, childbearing desires and anxiety? SUMMARY ANSWER Providing fertility information contributed to greater knowledge, but increased anxiety. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Past studies have found that exposure to educational material improved fertility awareness and changed desires toward childbearing and its timing. Existing educational websites with evidence-based medical information provided in a non-judgmental manner have received favorable responses from reproductive-aged men and women. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This three-armed (one intervention and two control groups), randomized controlled trial was conducted using online social research panels (SRPs) in Japan in January 2015. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS A total of 1455 participants (726 men and 729 women) between 20 and 39 years of age who hoped to have (more) children in the future were block-randomized and exposed to one of three information brochures: fertility education (intervention group), intake of folic acid during pregnancy (control group 1) or governmental financial support for pregnancy and childbirth (control group 2). Fertility knowledge was measured with the Japanese version of the Cardiff Fertility Knowledge Scale (CFKS-J). Knowledge, child-number and child-timing desires, subjective anxiety (i.e. whether participants felt anxiety [primary outcome]), and scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were assessed immediately after exposure. Non-inferiority comparisons were performed on subjective anxiety with non-inferiority declared if the upper limit of the two-sided 95% confidence interval (CI) for risk difference did not exceed a margin of 0.15. This test for non-inferiority was only performed for subjective anxiety; all the other variables were tests of superiority. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Posttest scores on the CFKS-J (mean, SD) were higher in the intervention group than that of the control groups: intervention versus Control 1 and versus Control 2: 52.8 (28.8) versus 40.9 (26.2) (P< 0.001) versus 45.1 (27.1) (P = 0.003) among men and 64.6 (26.0) versus 50.8 (26.9) (P< 0.001) versus 53.0 (26.4) (P< 0.001) among women. The percentage of participants who felt subjective anxiety after exposure to the intervention brochure was significantly higher than that of the control groups: intervention versus Control 1 and versus Control 2: 32.6 versus 17.8% (risk difference [RD] = 0.149, 95% CI: 0.073–0.225) versus 14.5% (RD = 0.182, 95% CI: 0.108–0.256) among men, and 50.2 versus 26.3% (RD = 0.239, 95% CI: 0.155–0.322) versus 14.0% (RD = 0.362, 95% CI: 0.286–0.439) among women. Non-inferiority of the intervention was inconclusive (i.e. the CI included 0.15) among men whereas inferiority was declared among women. The incidence of anxiety was higher in the intervention group than that of the control groups especially among men aged 30 and older and among women aged 25 and older. No difference existed in childbearing desires between groups after exposure. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The possibility of selection bias associated with the use of SRPs (higher socioeconomic status and education) and volunteer bias toward those more interested in fertility may limit the generalizability of these findings. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS In addition to education targeting a younger generation, psychological approaches are needed to alleviate possible anxiety caused by fertility information. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This study was funded by National Center for Child Health and Development, Seiiku Medical Study Grant (24-6), the Daiwa Foundation Small Grants and Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (26-1591). No competing interest declared. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER UMIN Clinical Trials Registry. Trial registration number, 000016168. TRIAL REGISTRATION DATE 13 January 2015. DATE OF FIRST PATIENT'S ENROLMENT 15 January 2015

Experiencing male infertility: A review of the qualitative research literature

This article examines the qualitative research literature that exists in relation to men’s experiences of male infertility. Since men have often been marginalized in the realm of reproduction, including academic research on infertility, it is important to focus on any qualitative research that gives voices to male perspectives and concerns. Given the distress documented by studies of infertile women, we focus in particular on the emotive responses and lived experiences of men in relation to infertility. In this article then, we present an analysis of the core themes across 19 qualitative articles, which include “infertility as crisis”; “emoting infertility- men as “being strong”’ “infertility as a source of stigma”; and the “desire for fatherhood.” In light of these insights, we identify key areas for future research and development including men’s emotional responses to infertility, how men seek support for infertility, the intersection between masculinity and infertility, the relationship between the desire to father and infertility, and the outcomes of infertility for men in terms of other aspects of their lives. We suggest that such research would facilitate making the experiences of men more central within our understandings of infertility within a field that has primarily been female focused

Concurrent programming and futures

If we are manage complexity, we must create a model of the universe. The goal of model is to create a meaningful abstraction of the real world. Such an abstraction should be simpler than the real world but should also reflect accurately the real world so that we can use the model to predict the behavior of things in the real world. The object-oriented software design is about building good models. It consists of two significant pieces: a modelling language and process. In the present paper a new and little-known approach for concurrent programming is presented

USING OF FOLK WARES IN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF THE FUTURE TEACHERS OF FINE ARTS

The possibility of using folk arts products in the professional training of future teachers of fine arts are theoretically groundeded and elucidated in the article. The methodical aspects of introducing the traditional art technique teacher in the educational process are considered, features of creation of folk toys, folk weaving, artistic weaving, manufacturing of ceramic products are described in it. The preparation of modern teachers of fine arts is not possible without realizing the role of their national community, perceiving and rethinking of the cultural experience of the ethnic group, the need to master the knowledge of material and spiritual culture. It is folk art that reproduces the national model of the world, is an objective factor in the spiritual development of the personality of the future teachers of fine arts in the context of national tradition, ethnic stereotypes of world perception.The possibility of using folk arts products in the professional training of future teachers of fine arts are theoretically groundeded and elucidated in the article. The methodical aspects of introducing the traditional art technique teacher in the educational process are considered, features of creation of folk toys, folk weaving, artistic weaving, manufacturing of ceramic products are described in it. The preparation of modern teachers of fine arts is not possible without realizing the role of their national community, perceiving and rethinking of the cultural experience of the ethnic group, the need to master the knowledge of material and spiritual culture. It is folk art that reproduces the national model of the world, is an objective factor in the spiritual development of the personality of the future teachers of fine arts in the context of national tradition, ethnic stereotypes of world perception