Quantum and thermal effects in the double exchange ferromagnet

The physics of the ferromagnetic phase of the ``double exchange'' model has been widely discussed in the context of the CMR manganites. Usually, the double exchange ferromagnet is treated is classically, by mapping it onto an effective Heisenberg model. However this mapping does not permit a correct treatment of quantum or thermal fluctuation effects, and the results obtained lack many of the interesting features seen in experiments on the manganites. Here we outline a new analytic approach to systematically evaluating quantum and thermal corrections to the magnetic and electronic properties of the double exchange ferromagnet.Comment: 4 pages summary of results for spin excitations in DE model with a few comments on associated electronic physics (from talk given at European Conference on Physics of Magnetism, Poznan 2002

Optimizing expected word error rate via sampling for speech recognition

State-level minimum Bayes risk (sMBR) training has become the de facto standard for sequence-level training of speech recognition acoustic models. It has an elegant formulation using the expectation semiring, and gives large improvements in word error rate (WER) over models trained solely using cross-entropy (CE) or connectionist temporal classification (CTC). sMBR training optimizes the expected number of frames at which the reference and hypothesized acoustic states differ. It may be preferable to optimize the expected WER, but WER does not interact well with the expectation semiring, and previous approaches based on computing expected WER exactly involve expanding the lattices used during training. In this paper we show how to perform optimization of the expected WER by sampling paths from the lattices used during conventional sMBR training. The gradient of the expected WER is itself an expectation, and so may be approximated using Monte Carlo sampling. We show experimentally that optimizing WER during acoustic model training gives 5% relative improvement in WER over a well-tuned sMBR baseline on a 2-channel query recognition task (Google Home)

Global Employee Engagement Report: A Corporate Responsibility Practitioner's Guide

This is a Corporate Responsibility Practitioner's Guide designed to provide practical information to companies looking to expand their employee engagement programs internationally. The report explores the employee engagement landscape in five countries: China, Brazil, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom. SVCF surveyed existing literature (global and country-specific) and conducted in-depth interviews with 65 corporate and nonprofit practitioners who have direct experience with employee engagement programs in the five countries studied. The report identifies cultural nuances, policies and trends that practitioners should be aware of as they design locally relevant programs

Unseen and Unheard: Exploring the Mental Health of Mostly Heterosexual College Students

College years have long been understood to be a difficult yet important developmental period in an individual’s life, which may be particularly challenging for sexual minority students who tend to face discrimination on campus, which can undermine their mental health. Research in both college student and non-college student samples has shown that mostly heterosexual is a distinct sexual orientation. However, little is known about the wellbeing of individuals, including college students, who identify as mostly heterosexual. Moreover, among college students, little is known about the intersections between a mostly heterosexual identity and mental health. This study examined the association between sexual orientation and anxiety, depression, and risk for alcohol abuse. Specifically, it compared outcomes between students who identify as mostly heterosexual and students who identify as completely heterosexual. This study also compared outcomes between mostly heterosexual participants and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGB+) students (as one group) to investigate potential differences among sexual minority students. In order to attempt to explain why differences exist, the mediating role of discrimination, namely incivility and hostility, were investigated. Several key findings emerged showing that mostly heterosexuals differ significantly from their completely heterosexual and LGB+ peers, in terms of their mental health and the role that forms of discrimination play in explaining disparities. Implications for the field of social work and other allied health professionals are discussed

Mixed valence on a pyrochlore lattice - LiV2O4 as a geometrically frustrated magnet

Above 40K, the magnetic susceptibility of the heavy Fermion spinel LiV2O4 has many features in common with those of geometrically frustrated magnetic insulators, while its room temperature resistivity comfortably exceeds the Mott-Regel limit. This suggests that local magnetic moments, and the underlying geometry of the pyrochlore lattice, play an important role in determining its magnetic properties. We extend a recently introduced tetragonal mean field theory for insulating pyrochlore antiferromagnets to the case where individual tetrahedra contain spins of different lengths, and use this as a starting point to discuss three different scenarios for magnetic and electronic transitions in LiV2O4.Comment: 15 pages latex, 12 eps figures, uses EPJ macro

Technology Advancement Influence in Accounting and Information System Fields

This research serves to relate the accounting and information technology fields. The information in the research documents changes in the accounting and information technology fields, and how the fields are expected to change in the coming years. The research also discuss the relationship between the accounting and information technology fields. The topics on the ideal accounting candidates for employers and the expectation gap between graduates skills and employers’ expectations are also discussed. Careers in accounting and information systems and also similar and different basic skills of both fields are documented in the research. The changes in accounting are influenced by the improvements in technology as time progress. Information technology makes integration and communication possible anywhere in the world between businesses. Information technology systems have created a lot of job opportunities. Accounting and Information Systems are two different fields but combined they create a means of collecting, storing, managing, processing, retrieving and reporting financial data effectively