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A View of the Restaurant Script Through the Lens of Hierarchical Planning
No full textThe flexible nature of human cognition and of the structures it uses is well known, as is the difficulty of building cognitive systems that exhibit transfer and use the same structures for radically different tasks. In this paper, we perform a close examination of Schank-Abelsonian scripts, picking apart the goal- and plan- oriented nature of low-level acts and high-level reasoning inherent in them. We then view scripts through the lens of hierarchical planning systems and construct the well-known restaurant script as a hierarchical goal network planning domain. These are evidence in support of a claim that some, if not all, scripts are deeply hierarchical and are plan- and goal-oriented. The continuum that results from this representational unification may provide flexible knowledge structures which may be reused across a broad variety of tasks in language understanding, planning, and tasks requiring both, such as explanation and plan-based understanding of natural language
In the Footsteps of a Shadow: North American Literary Responses to Fernando Pessoa
No full textFernando Pessoa enters the imaginations of these gifted American poets like a frightening medicine, challenging them to self-divide, multiply, renounce stability, and relish in the dead-time that our culture so vehemently abhors. Like a slippery thorn in the myth of bigger, better individualism, Pessoa seems to have privately solicited these poets for disturbing conversations about nothing: a nothing that he promotes as everything. -Larissa Szporluk
This lush florilegium of poetic evocations, variations, and inquiries is a beautiful testament to how far and fruitfully Pessoa\u27s shadow reaches. -Richard Zenith
This book is one of a kind. What it reveals is how a master of nothingness can inspire an endless fabric of thingness woven by others. This book offers us echoes and reechoes springing from a void. It is a reworking of Genesis. Overwhelming. -Alexis Levitin
This superb anthology offers ample testimony to Pessoa\u27s place now in the North American literary mainstream as well as to the momentum towards this distinction that has been building over time. -Onésimo Almeida
Source: Publisherhttps://scholarworks.smith.edu/spp_books/1005/thumbnail.jp
Open Educational Resources at Smith with Professor Kevin Shea
No full textOER (Open Educational Resources) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. OER include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.
Smith College chemistry professor Kevin Shea discusses his experience using and creating OERs, and encourages other Smith faculty to consider the benefits of OERs in their classrooms. Interested in OERs? Smith College Libraries have a wealth of resources to help you start your journey. Go to Smith College Libraries OER Guide to learn more
Everyday Discrimination and Its Predictors in the MASALA Study
No full textSouth Asians are a fast-growing, heterogeneous ethnic group in the United States. However, they remain understudied in health equity research despite experiencing a high burden of cardiovascular disease. Biased assumptions, such as the model minority myth, obscure their unique experiences of discrimination—a known contributor to cardiovascular disease–related health inequities. The form and pattern of everyday discrimination among South Asians has been largely unexamined. We addressed this gap by examining the dimensionality of the everyday discrimination scale (EDS) and its potential predic- tors among South Asians. Data are from the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA; 2010–2018), a cross-sectional community sample (N=1164, 52% male, Mage=56.73, SDage=9.41). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was used to conduct confrmatory factor analyses to estimate a measurement model for the latent variable of everyday discrimination and a structural model to examine associations between hypothesized predictors and the latent everyday discrimination variable. Confrmatory factor analyses revealed that a six-item, unidimensional version of the EDS ft the data best. SEM analyses showed that everyday discrimination was socially patterned across individual-, health-, community-, and cultural characteristics. Findings highlight the importance of considering how social positionali- ties and context may shape exposure to everyday discrimination. Importantly, our results have implications for identifying South Asian individuals at an increased risk of experiencing everyday discrimination and its associated health inequities, including cardiovascular disease–related outcomes
Higher Amounts of Habitual Physical Activity Changes the Relationship between Hot Flashes and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Full text linkThe menopausal transition is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Hot flashes (HF), a cardinal symptom of menopause, have been associated with increased CVD risk, particularly in perimenopausal women. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is an indicator of endothelial function and a subclinical CVD risk factor. Lower FMD has been associated with more HF. As moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is recognized to reduce CVD risk, our goal was to determine whether higher levels of MVPA change the relationship between HF and FMD in perimenopausal women. Healthy perimenopausal women had HF measured objectively using sternal skin conductance for 24 h. MVPA was determined using 7 days of actigraphy. Endothelial function was measured via brachial artery FMD on the non-dominant arm. Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate relationships between variables. Simple slopes analysis was performed to understand how MVPA moderates the relationship between HF and FMD. Lower FMD tended to correlate with a higher objective HF rate, and this relationship was stronger for HF measured during waking hours. Controlling for age and BMI, HF and the interaction between HF and MVPA were significant predictors of FMD. Simple slope analysis showed a significant HF effect on FMD with lower (−1SD) MVPA, whereas there was no significant relationship between HF and FMD with higher (+1SD) MVPA. These results suggest that MVPA moderates the relationship between FMD and objective HFs in perimenopausal women
Visualization of Coastal Carbonate Lithosomes: Color-Intensity Patterns and Georadar Imaging of a Semi-Lithified Strandplain, Eleuthera Island, The Bahamas
Full text linkQuaternary carbonate strandplains serve as archives of land–sea interaction, including the impacts of storms and tsunamis. Incipient lithification, especially of compound beach/dune ridges within the action zone of salt spray, presents challenges to geological research, which is often limited to exposures. This study combines aerial image analysis with geophysical datasets to assess the morphostratigraphy and internal structure of the Freedom Beach Strandplain along southern Eleuthera Island, The Bahamas. Color-intensity analysis of field photographs and satellite images revealed general patterns that can be used to distinguish between areas with different grayscale parameters (sand-covered surfaces, lithified ridges, vegetation, etc.). Cross-shore (dip-section) high-resolution (800 MHz) georadar images across ten ridges (A-J) documented the internal architecture of swash-aligned ridge–swale sets. Signatures attributed to storms include truncations in shore-normal radargrams, scour features in alongshore (strike-section) images, and an extensive accumulation of large mollusk shells along one of the oldest ridges (ridge J). Preliminary radiocarbon dating yielded ages of up to 600 years, suggesting intense storms with 50–60-year periodicity as a possible mechanism for ridge formation
Proteomic Investigation of Aging and Omega-3 Supplementation in Rat Skeletal Muscle
Full text linkAging is a pan-organ process with an intricate and multimodal nature. Deciphering the aging phenomenon is complex, yet recent attention is analyzing the potential benefits of non-invasive life adjustments to achieve healthy aging. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (FA) have emerged as promising nutraceuticals for a plethora of different medical conditions. In the current study we conducted an in-depth, bottom-up, global, shotgun proteomic study (LC-MS/MS) investigating both the effects of aging on skel- etal muscle and the potential alterations due to ω-3 FA. Sprague Dawley rats were fed different diets and divided into four groups (n = 5 per group): adult controls (7–8 months, ADCTL); aged controls (22 months, AGCTL); and adult (ADω3) and aged (AGω3) rats fed an ω-3 supplemented diet. Among the identified 30,000 soleus pro- teins, our proteomic analysis identified 149 proteins differentially expressed in aging; 207 proteins with aging, but fed ω-3 FA; and 105 and 26 proteins, respectively, when aged and adult rats were fed ω-3 FA. Aging alone (ADCTL/AGCTL) affects many processes: carbohydrate and lipid metabolisms, proteostasis, mRNA processing and sarcomeric proteins. With FA supplementation and aging (ADω3/AGω3) similar processes were affected, but increased chromatin-related protein abundances (meth- ylation or histone deacetylation) were observed in AGω3; while proteins involved in OXPHOS and mitochondrial homeostasis, including mTOR, were more represented in ADω3 rats. Supplementation with FA had a greater effect in aged rats (AGCTL/ AGω3) than in adult ones (ADCTL/ADω3). In the ADCTL/ADω3 comparison, modest changes were seen, whereas in the AGCTL/AGω3 comparisons DNA damage repair increased and protein synthesis and degradation were observed. Further, a potential link to enhancement of myogenesis is also evident. The data presented in this work suggest potential beneficial and protective effects of ω3 FA supplementation in the soleus muscle, as well as some potential molecular mechanisms of action
Atomic Physics for Everyone: An Introduction to Atomic Physics, Quantum Mechanics, and Precision Spectroscopy with No College-Level Prerequisites
Full text linkThis open access textbook introduces beginning undergraduate students and high school students to the world of quantum mechanics and atomic spectroscopy. Requiring no previous knowledge of physics and no math beyond basic algebra and sines and cosines, this book focuses on concepts to make the excitement of atomic physics more accessible for learners than ever before. It comes replete with learning goals, exercises and solutions, and an optional experimental component, making this text readily adoptable for both the classroom and the undergraduate lab. The book takes the reader on a lively and engaging tour through topics at the forefront of current science, including photons, quantum numbers, atomic energy levels, some different spectroscopy techniques, electronic structure, atomic notation, angular momentum, hyperfine structure, isotope shifts, the strong force, an introduction to the Standard Model of Particle Physics, and more.https://scholarworks.smith.edu/textbooks/1008/thumbnail.jp
“My Father Was a Wandering Aramean”: Biblical Conceptions of Migration and Their Relevance to Contemporary Immigration Debates in the United States
No full textAncient Israel’s foundational story enshrined the notion that its ancestors emigrated to the land of Canaan, a land that they were forced to leave repeatedly and to which they kept returning. Examples of this recurring biblical motif include: Abraham’s emigration from Mesopotamia and subsequent flight from Canaan to Egypt and return to Canaan; Jacob’s forced exile to Mesopotamia and his return to Canaan that is followed by his family’s eventual emigration to Egypt; the Israelites’ journey to Canaan from Egypt; the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem that resulted in forced migrations to Babylonia and Egypt; and the eventual return of some of the exiles to the Persian province of Judea. This national origin story left a significant imprint on a number of biblical laws and narratives that show a deep concern for resident aliens and certain foreigners. This chapter will explore the complexity of the biblical terrain surrounding ancient Israel’s self-perception as an immigrant people and the effect this had on the biblical understanding and treatment of various categories of non-Israelites. Along the way, we will interrogate in what ways the biblical materials and conceptual categories can or cannot be usefully mapped upon and applied to the contemporary immigration crisis in the United States.https://scholarworks.smith.edu/rel_books/1022/thumbnail.jp
We Are Not Where We Are
No full textSince its publication in 1854, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden has ensnared the American imagination. In We Are Not Where We Are, poets Matt Donovan and Jenny George perform a chapter-by-chapter erasure of Walden, challenging its deeply flawed beliefs about individualism, the natural world, and relationships between people and the land. The resultant poems embody Donovan and George’s collaborative spirit, unearthing in Thoreau’s text a pluralistic vision of limitless possibility and wild beauty.
From the authors:
“I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond,” Thoreau writes in the opening of Walden, a book that is undeniably central to the American literary canon, as well as deeply flawed in its beliefs about individualism, the natural world, and forms of relation between people. If Thoreau’s engagement with nature and experiment in solitude might afford opportunities for self-reflection about our current ecological disasters and technological addictions, for example, it’s also well-worth interrogating his relentlessly patriarchal language, assumptions around land and belonging, and habitual surges of racism. As an act of collaborative intervention, We Are Not Where We Are was inspired both by the ways in which Walden continues to ensnare the American imagination, as well as its inherently problematic nature as a text.
Our rules for creating these erasures were simple. The central chapters of Walden were divided equally between us and follow the order of the original text. All removed words and passages are indicated by a uniform length of blank space, and we didn’t change any of Thoreau’s original language or the order of his words on the page. Rather than create a blackout poem from the book’s long introductory chapter “Economy,” we instead appropriated passages from that section for the titles of our pieces. “Conclusion,” the book’s final chapter, was created together as a collaborative blackout poem at Jenny’s kitchen table.https://scholarworks.smith.edu/eng_books/1026/thumbnail.jp