1025 research outputs found
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Using Long Short Term Memory network to train machine composing Baroque Fugue/Canon.
No full textThe goal of this project is to train a machine to compose Baroque Fugue/Canon by using Long-Short Term Memory architecture (LSTM). LSTM is a type of artificial recursive neural network (RNN), which excels at learning patterns at both long and short time periods. The network takes one symbol at a time, and estimates the probability of next symbol based on previous readings. It is suited to learn temporal structures of the input and applicable to automated music composition since music is temporal and often rich in structures. Due to difficulty in quantitating human aesthetics, art creation is a challenging problem in the field of Artificial Intelligence and an important criterion on evaluating the capability of the future strong AI. The performance of existing techniques for general purpose music composition has been unsatisfactory. By limiting to particular “styles” of structures and patterns, the problem becomes more tractable. In our study, we focus on the Baroque Fugue/Canons as they are polyphonic music with standard rules and structures to regulate the composing process. A 2-layer bi-directional LSTM network has been designed. Approximately 16 hour long data, which are midi files of Fugue/Canon primarily composed by Johan Sebastian Bach, have been collected from internet and translated into a text file. The length, frequency, intensity and timing were considered as training features. The checkpoint file with best validation loss was used to generate output file, and converted back into midi file. The result was evaluated by using phonologic criterions, which are Polyphony, Scale consistency, Repetitions and Tone span. The result shows that the model gained relatively strong counterpoint capability. However, it can not generate apparent melody
Altruistic Helping: Effects of Diversity and Empathy
No full textFactors that have been associated with willingness to help dissimilar others include experience with diversity and personality characteristics including diversity seeking, empathy, openness to experience, and agreeableness. We gave a survey measuring these factors to 53 college students, who also rated their likelihood of help targets who differed in race/ethnicity. The level of help subjects agreed to provide differed by target race/ethnicity. Although diversity experience correlated with personality characteristics, no consistent pattern was observed with helping
Incorporating Play into the Classroom
No full textAs educators, fulfilling the promise of play means sharing our love and knowledge of play with our students. This presentation is a collection of self-study research chronicling the journeys of two pre-service teachers as they examine their own pedagogy and attempts to assimilate play-based learning into their student teaching placements. Evelyn Atwood will be detailing her incorporation of playful transitions into her preschool placement. Emily Lepore will explore student engagement as a result of gamification and game-based learning in a fourth grade classroom
The Effect of an Experimental Slurry Wall on Groundwater Flow by Means of Seismic Refraction and Electrical Resistivity Methods
No full textThe construction of a slurry wall at Montandon Marsh, PA provided an opportunity to use Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Seismic Refraction Tomography methods to determine the impact on local hydrology. The hydrogeophysical study was over a 13-month period where ERT and SRT surveys, ground-truthed by soil drilling logs, were conducted. The field site is comprised of alluvial sediment on the Keyser and Tonoloway formation, which is suitable for the development of zones of high saturation and preferential flow. The ERT has visualized these zones and the SRT identified the depth to bedrock and subsurface stratigraphy. ERT identified the preferential flow areas due to the decrease of resistivity caused by the presence of water. The slurry wall was seen to impact the groundwater flow at the south end of the wall. Due to the small size of the slurry wall, there will be no major impact when considered at large scale
Photocatalytic Degradation of Common Pharmaceuticals
No full textTo find an inexpensive and time-efficient method to degrade the active ingredient of unused prescription drugs for disposal, photocatalytic degradation is being investigated. Famotidine, a water soluble drug used to treat gastric ulcers and esophagus problems and warfarin, a non water soluble drug used to treat blood clots were tested for efficiency of degradation using ultraviolet (UV) light. Samples were added to water and placed in a UV reactor at 254 nm, and concentration of famotidine and warfarin determined by HPLC after various periods of time. Famotidine concentration decreased over time from 100 ppm to below the limit of detection in 9 hours. Warfarin concentration decreased from 100 ppm to below the limit of detection in 8 days. Control samples kept in the dark were also analyzed over the same time periods and did not show a decrease in concentration over the same time period. Pill forms of the drug were also tested using the same procedure. Treated samples are also being evaluated on Microtox M500, an in vitro testing system which uses bioluminescent bacteria (Vibrio fischeri) to detect toxic substances in different substrates such as water, air, soils and sediments. Other pharmaceuticals, including non water-soluble drugs, are currently being evaluated using the same procedures to determine if degradation can reach a non-detected concentration in a reasonable time with a corresponding decrease in toxicity
Comparison of Thalidomide Treated Sperm and Treated Artificial Sea Water on L. pictus and S. purpuratus Embryonic Development
No full textWhen ingested during pregnancy, thalidomide causes birth defects. Extensive research examined the effects of the drug on developing embryos, but little work has been done on detecting how thalidomide affects male reproduction The purpose of this study is to identify whether thalidomide treated sperm results in a higher percentage of developmental abnormalities in sea urchin embryos in comparison to embryos in water treated thalidomide. Thalidomide treated sea urchin sperm and sperm without treatment were used to fertilize untreated eggs and allowed to develop in normal artificial sea water. Embryos fertilized with untreated sperm were cultured in artificial sea water containing thalidomide as well. All embryos were observed at 24, 48, 72 hours and the types and numbers of abnormalities were quantified. Preliminary data shows that embryos fertilized with treated sperm had a higher percentage of abnormal characteristics than controls. Embryos developing in thalidomide containing sea water also exhibited abnormalities. Future experiments will help determine the effect thalidomide has on male reproduction
Synthesis, Characterization and Spectroscopic Comparisons of tris(3-phenylpyrazolyl)borato Zinc(II) and Nickel(II) Semiquinonate Complexes Derived From In Situ Oxidation of Parent Catecholate Complexes
No full textThe synthesis of different (tris(3-phenylpyrazolyl)borato)M(semiquinonate) complexes, TpPhM(SQ) [M = Zn(II) or Ni(II)], was achieved through independent, one-pot reactions of Na[TpPh], M(BF4)2 ∙ xH2O, NaOH and either catechol or 3,5-di-t-butylcatechol in methanol. Ambient dioxygen was used to oxidize the catecholate substituent to the semiquinonate radical in solution. With both metals, the unsubstituted semiquinonate radical dimerized in situ resulting in a [TpPh]2M(µ-bis-semiquinonate) complex [Zn (1), Ni (2)]. The 3,5-di-tert-butylsemiquinonate radical (3,5-DBSQ) is stabilized by the additional bulk of the two t-butyl substituents and was isolated, intact, as blue TpPhZn(3,5-DBSQ) (3) and olive TpPhNi(3,5-DBSQ) (4). Small molecule X-ray diffraction data of 1, 3, and 4 confirms the presence of the κ3-TpPh ligand and bidentate binding of the semiquinonate ligand giving rise to 5-coordinate metal complexes in each case. UV-visible spectroscopy of 1-4 confirm the presence of charge transfer bands with absorptivity values ranging from 20,000 to 423 cm-1 M-1 across all complexes giving rise to their intensely colored solutions. The electrochemical properties of 1-4 were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in methylene chloride. The voltammograms of 1 and 3 show ligand-based electrochemistry only consistent with zinc(II) compounds whereas 2 and 4 indicate both metal- and ligand-based processes. There are no consistent redox trends across the four complexes. Computational analysis suggests the best electronic description of 4 is Ni(II) bound to a ligand radical with antiferromagnetic coupling between unpaired spins on the metal and ligand
Effects of Student Background and Personality on Academic Success, Campus Involvement, and Life Satisfaction in College
No full textAchievement gaps in college indicate that ethnic background and personality factors affect academic performance. It has also been shown that a student\u27s reason for attending a specific university affects their social and academic life. A student\u27s background may also impact their ability to adjust to college life, thus impacting their college experience. This research examines the role of student\u27s ethnic and geographical background and personality on academic success, campus involvement and life satisfaction during college. We believe that students who come from geographical and ethnic backgrounds similar to the environment at their institution will have higher scores of academic success, campus involvement, self-esteem and life satisfaction
May I Kill? Just War, Non-Violence, and Civilian Self-Defense
No full textToday, we live in a world where we are less exposed to violence than at any other time in history. However, we also know that violence can come knocking on our door at any moment. Preparing for this possibility means more than physical safety; it means being clear with ourselves about the ethics of violence. Can violence be justified? When should we fight? How should we fight? And in situations when things have gone badly, may we kill? These questions are not only for politicians, soldiers, and police officers, but are also important considerations for civilians whose lives do not normally intersect with violence. Whether advocating for government policies, marching in the streets, or defending ourselves and loved ones, a coherent moral framework is essential to good decision-making. May I Kill? examines the efficacy of different approaches to non-violence and Just War Theory. By scrutinizing these ethical theories, the reader is encouraged to critically examine occasions for the use of force from a moral perspective, whether nations at war or violent encounters in our own neighborhoods. We may then determine how best to develop ourselves; body, mind, and spirit; to respond effectively and make the world a safer place.https://scholarlycommons.susqu.edu/facultybooks/1076/thumbnail.jp
Climate Change and the Inescapable Present
Get PDFThe crisis of climate change is a difficult phenomenon to conceptualize, particularly in light of how we experience time and how our consciousness works. It is an event that spans tense in ways that are difficult to pinpoint, and it provides no past precedent to shape our future anticipations. Furthermore, climate change encounters us at a moment when time also feels compressed. This paper explores climate change and its relationship to time by assessing how theatre, with its own phenomenologically unique qualities of time and experience, has portrayed these tensions. Utilizing phenomenological theories of time from Husserl and Heidegger, and drawing on philosophical and cultural theories of presentism, this paper examines how these ideas manifest in two climate change plays: Moira Buffini, Matt Charman, Penelope Skinner, and Jack Thorne’s Greenland (2011) and Stephen Emmott’s Ten Billion (2012). In conclusion, it is argued that theatre’s own conventions of time and space allows an inescapable present to exist, in which audiences are given a phenomenological experience of climate change that is otherwise unparalleled