Listed below are the paper abstracts selected for the NYCSEA journl.(ISBN 979-8-89238-262-5)
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Abstract: Deep convolutional neural networks - the state-of-the-art technique in artificial intelligence for computer vision - achieve notable success rates at simple classification tasks, but are fundamentally lacking when it comes to representation.
These neural networks encode fuzzy textural patterns into vast matrices of numbers which lack the semantically structured nature of human representations (e.g. "a table is a flat horizontal surface supported by an arrangement of identical legs").
This paper takes multiple important steps towards filling in these gaps. I first propose a series of tractable milestone problems set in the abstract two dimensional ShapeWorld, thus isolating the challenge of object compositionality. Then I demonstrate the effectiveness of a new compositional representation approach based on identifying structure among the primitive elements comprising an image and representing this structure through an augmented primitive element tree and coincidence list. My approach outperforms state-of-the-art benchmark algorithms in speed and structural representation in my object representation milestone tasks, while yielding comparable classification accuracy. Finally, I present a mathematical framework for a probabilistic programming approach that can learn highly structured generative stochastic representations of compositional objects from just a handful of examples.
Keywords: Neural networks, Fuzzy textural patterns, Nature of human representations
References
[1] A. Krizhevsky, I. Sutskever, and G. E. Hinton. Imagenet classification with deep convolutional neural networks. In F. Pereira, C. J. C. Burges, L. Bottou, and K. Q. Weinberger, editors, Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 25, pages 1097–1105. Curran Associates, Inc., 2012.
[2] H. Wang, B. Gao, J. Bian, F. Tian, and T. Liu. Solving verbal comprehension questions in IQ test by knowledge-powered word embedding. CoRR, abs/1505.07909, 2015.
[3] J. Johnson, B. Hariharan, L. van der Maaten, L. Fei-Fei, C. L. Zitnick, and R. B. Girshick. CLEVR: A diagnostic dataset for compositional language and elementary visual reasoning. CoRR, abs/1612.06890, 2016.
[4] Y. Lecun, L. Bottou, Y. Bengio, and P. Haffner. Gradient-based learning applied to document recognition. Proceedings of the IEEE, 86(11), 1998.
[5] B. Lake, R. Salakhutdinov, J. Gross, and J. Tenenbaum. One shot learning of simple visual concepts. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 33, 2011.
[6] Image of a leopard-print sofa. https://rocknrollnerd.github.io/ml/2015/05/27/leopard-sofa.html.
Abstract: Economic theory consists of models designed to improve our understanding of economic phenomena. There have been numerous different kinds of data such as goods and services markets and labor markets observed and gathered in the past. The sequential nature of these data require us to account for the dynamic nature using special statistical skill and techniques. Time series analysis provide the appropriate methods necessary in order to analyze sequential data.
It may be problematic to picture the essential, underlying trend of the data if the time series has a lot of noise. To distinguish the signal and the noise from each other, various linear and nonlinear smoothers must be applied.
This paper collected a century’s worth of the data and used a distribution to map out the overall trend of the goods and services markets and labor markets. The data was plotted in a spreadsheet, and multiple fitting models were tested out to see which one fit the data the best. The data was chosen due to its significance in the evaluation of stocks’ values, and the economic theories and models were used due to its ability to incorporate rapidly fluctuating data into statistical analysis. Both micro and macroeconomics were explained in terms of theories and models.
Keywords: Economic theories and models, Goods and services markets, Labor markets, Micro and macroeconomics
Abstract: Contamination in water poses a serious and mostly undetected threat. It is necessary for people to have an economical option to test the water they drink in their own homes. The goal of this research is to develop an economical device to detect contaminants like Lead, Fluoride etc that exceed EPA guidelines. At home usable devices to detect these levels are not available in the market.
Molecular bonds absorb energy and vibrate when exposed to infrared light. The vibrating bonds scatter light transmitted through them and cause frequency shift depending on the frequency of the transmitted light. The amount of scattering is unique to each kind of molecule and also varies with the concentration of the molecules.
A relationship between the frequency shift, the frequency of the transmitted light and concentration of Lead and Fluoride is established. Spot tests on filter paper were performed and a device was created that can capture the frequency shift by varying the frequency of transmitted light. The device is paired with an iPhone application using Bluetooth to calculate the either lead or fluoride content from prior calibration. This device successfully provided fairly accurate measurements for each sample, providing an affordable method to test the water supply at homes.
Keywords: Contamination in water, Economical device to detect contaminants. Lead/Fluori, EPA
References
Abstract: IThis research analyzes how numbers of brothers and sisters as well as the birth order affects his/her junior high school test score, and analyzes through what channels these variables function, using cross-sectional data from China where most families have up to 2 children. The two endougenous variables --- number of brothers and number of sisters --- are instrumented by the first child's gender and its interaction with dummy variables representing different applicable birth control policies. OLS regressions yield an insignificant negative relation between the test score and the number of brothers and sisters. But the 2SLS regressions find large positive impacts of numbers of brothers and sisters. The coefficients of number of brothers and sisters are similar indicating that gender of siblings does not affect test scores. Birth order has negative impacts on test scores and offsets almost all of the positive impact of siblings on the last born child, which means the positive effect of siblings benefits the older instead of the younger children. In addition, the mechanism study shows the numbers of brothers and sisters improve older children's test scores by increasing study time, reducing internet/video game time, and leading to family's requirement on them for outstanding academic performance and higher education degree attainment.
Keywords: OLS regressions, 2SLS regressions. Birth order, Impacts on test scores
Abstract: In this paper, luminol solution was used to measure the stress level and light intensity of plants. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if there was a direct correlation between the amount of reactive oxygen species present in Phaseolus vulgaris seedlings and the amount of chemiluminescence they emit. The plants that were soaked in hydrogen peroxide, had a light reaction that lasted the longest. Whereas, the plants that were soaked in water had a light reaction whose duration was the shortest. It was determined that the higher the amount of reactive oxygen species in an organism, the more chemiluminescence it emits. This demonstrated that a chemiluminescence assay can be used to determine the levels of reactive oxygen species produced by an organism. High levels of reactive oxygen species may be threatening to an organism if the levels are not monitored. .
Keywords: Stress, Oxidizing, Reduction, Luminol, ROS, Chemiluminescence
Introduction: The human body uses electrons during the electron transport chain which releases energy in the form of ATP. These electrons are derived from molecules such as fats, proteins, and carbohydrates and are transferred around the cells by molecules such as the coenzymes NADH and NADPH. The body requires a place to store the used electrons that drive energy requiring processes. When the electrons have given up their energy, they are combined with oxygen to form water. Since the electrons are given away to the oxygen molecules, it is said that the oxygen becomes “reduced”, which forms water (H2O), a completely harmless substance, in the process. In its normal state, oxygen has two unpaired electrons in separate orbitals of its outer shell. This indicates that two electrons are required for each water atom. When one of the electrons is lost or only one electron is given to each oxygen molecule, a free radical is created. These are known as reactive oxygen species.
Plants and other living organisms constantly produce reactive oxygen species in their mitochondria, chloroplasts, and other organelles because of their metabolic processes such as photosynthesis and respiration. These reactive oxygen species function as signaling molecules, which transmit information between cells. The most concerning radicals are those that are derived from oxygen. Overproduction of these oxygen radicals may cause a threat to the organism. When reactive oxygen species production exceeds the capacity for antioxidation, it can lead to cell damage and/ or cell death caused by toxicity. For instance, when cells are exposed to abnormal environments, they may generate dangerous amounts of damaging reactive oxygen species (Bowen, Free Radicals and Reactive Oxygen, colostate.edu). The body normally regulates the oxygen radicals, but if this system malfunctions having oxygen radicals in abundance may harm the cells around them. Many drugs that are used to cure infections and diseases today have oxidizing effects on cells which may lead to the production of oxygen radicals.
The materials that were used in this experiment were eighteen Phaseolus vulgaris seeds, distilled water, a vitamin E solution(which acted as the reducing agent) and a hydrogen peroxide solution (which acted as the oxidizing solution). Using reducing and oxidizing solutions caused the production of reactive oxygen species to either slow down, or speed up. Pieces of plastic were used to crush the plants. Luminol solution and a stopwatch were used to measure the light intensity resulting from the chemiluminescence reaction.
References
Abstract : This study measured psychological and physiological signals, such as brain waves and blood pressures, of a group of students before and after they inhaled the essence of Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), containing terpenoid, the main ingredient of forest bath, which recently has been drawing attention due to its reported effectiveness. In addition to that, psychological tests, such as olfactory sensibility evaluation, as well as short-term memory, concentration, stress, and arousal tests, were likewise conducted in this study.
In summary, when the subjects inhaled the essence of cypress oil, their stresses were reduced and their memory and concentration improved under even working condition as well as under a stable condition. The fragrance, however, more effectively reduced the stress of the female subjects than that of the male subjects.
key words: Chamaecyparis obtusa, concentration, EEG, hinoki cypress, inhalation, , memory, phytoncide, stress
Introduction: The mental pressures and stresses of students brought about by academic demands made them weaken their memory and concentration, thereby depressing their learning faculties. As such, urgent measures must be taken to reduce the mental pressures and stresses of students. Fragrances transmitted to the hippocampus body and the hypophysis in the limbic system in the cerebrum influence the person's emotions, memory, and learning ability.
Thus, this study measured physiological signals, such as brain waves and blood pressures, of a group of students before and after they inhaled the essence of Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), containing terpenoid, the main ingredient of forest bath, which recently has been drawing attention due to its reported effectiveness. In addition to that, psychological tests, such as olfactory sensibility evaluation, as well as short-term memory, concentration, stress, and arousal tests, were likewise conducted in this study.
For the male subjects, the delta wave was reduced in the T5 and T3 zone, the beta wave was reduced, and the theta wave was increased in the TT2 zone after the inhalation of the fragrance. When the Corsi block tapping task (CBT) was carried out during the inhalation of the fragrance, the alpha wave was significantly increased in the TCP1, CP1, and PO1 zones, and the beta wave was significantly reduced in almost all zones. The psychophysiology was then stabilized.
Moreover, with the reduction of stress and systolic pressure, the increase of short-term memory, and the significant reduction of the error rate, the male subjects' sympathetic nervous systems were stabilized and their memory and concentration were improved by the fragrance's induction of emotions. For the female subjects, the alpha wave was increased in the P3 zone after the inhalation of the fragrance.
However, the alpha wave was significantly increased in the T3 and PO1 zones when the CBT was conducted during the inhalation of the fragrance whereas the beta wave was significantly reduced in the FP2, F4, T3, CZ, C4, TCP2, T5, and O1 zones. Furthermore, along with the reduction of stress and of the systolic pressure, and the improvement of short-term memory, the psychophysiology and the sympathetic nervous system were stabilized.
In summary, when the subjects inhaled the essence of cypress oil, their stresses were reduced and their memory and concentration improved under even working condition as well as under a stable condition. The fragrance, however, more effectively reduced the stress of the female subjects than that of the male subjects.
References
Please email paper@jyem.org the summarized paper.
Abstract: This research is an attempt to interpret how the early Buddhist teachings portray Nibbana and how this portrayal might be understood as a fitting conclusion to the Buddha’s quest to overcome suffering. In particular, we have tried to shed light on what is meant by bhava-nirodha (cessation of existence), a common description of Nibbana, and how such a dictum might avoid annihilationist interpretations without, at the same time, leaning towards an eternalist interpretation, the two extremes the Buddha seeks to avoid. In the second section, we attempt to see how the Buddha instructed his disciples to abandon the arising of the self-perspective. We have relied heavily on Bhante Katukurunde Nanananda’s analysis of the sutta-pitika as seen in a number of his books and most notably, in his Nibbana: The Mind Stilled series.
Introduction: Nanananda, formely a Pali lecturer, came under the guidance of Bhante Matara Sri Nanarama and was invited by the latter to deliver the sermons on Nibbana which would comprise the Nibbana:
The Mind Stilled series [1]. Nanananda’s interpretation is notable, first, in its disagreement with the commentarial tradition’s understanding, and second, in its insistence of Nibbana being the cessation of existence while nevertheless avoiding an annihilationist point of view. The sermons also rely heavily on the early texts. For the most part, these sermons were met with much resistance for the very same reasons that they are notable (the commentarial tradition is held in very high esteem in Sri Lanka, where these sermons were delivered).
Abstract: This research focuses on the conceptual characteristics of monophony, homophony, and polyphony in western music to identify the role of improvisation as well as its impact and change in Jazz piano. The main purpose is to set up the texture such as monophony, homophony, and polyphony in Jazz piano technique in order to identify the areas of change in improvisation.
This study limited its subject to jazz piano technique. In order to set up the texture, the instrumental characteristics and an example of jazz piano improvisation are presented. We further identified and analyzed the evolving nature of jazz piano technique improvisation within the textures into monophony, homophony and polyphony. From these procedures, we obtained the following results.
First, the conceptual characteristics of monophony, homophony, and polyphony, when combined with piano improvisation, results in an close relationship and has various inherent functions in the domain. Second, the general overview on the domain of improvisation as a piano technique reveals that there was a texture change. Third, this texture change was understood to be the result of the disintegration of the ensemble, resulting in the tendency of performers to consider the relationship between the harmony and melody. Lastly, the study on piano technique is important for establishing various playing techniques and ideas in the field of improvisation.
Jazz music has the symbolic authority that comes with improvisation and not from the traditional and conventional compositions. Therefore, the value of improvisation research is high. Although research on improvisation is progressing and developing, a multidimensional study and new approaches are needed. This study takes a new perspective of texture in order to identify the area of change in improvisation, and this information can be utilized as evidence and educational direction for new interpretation and approach.
Abstract: Gender, labor and race historians have made a strong case for space as a social construct. A Foucauldian framework of analysis of space has allowed historians to reveal histories of the subaltern, which are otherwise often ignored. Interactions in space are social relations, as individuals relate to the space around them in response to other individuals and societal norms. Even so, the materiality of space cannot be understated, as the built space impacts how those interactions are produced and unfold. The consideration of the materiality of space as an additional layer to social space, make spatial history a more effective and illuminating methodological approach.
Introduction: lthough historian Leif Jerram has criticized historians for overusing imagined space, stating that space is the material physicality of location, gender, labour, and race, historians have used space as a social construct to successfully unearth otherwise hidden transcripts of power relations and resistance [1]. Rather than looking at ‘imagined space’ as in competition with ‘built space,’ a layered definition of space must be adopted. As Sewell has argued, space is imagined, experienced, and built [2]. Discursive imagined space can be defined as the ways in which individuals understand their environment, while experienced space is the ‘material interactions between people and their environment.’[2] Finally, the built environment can be defined as the physical structures that occupy spaces [2]. These overlapping layers must be examined through a social constructivist Foucauldian lens, as space is fundamentally interlinked with the production and reproduction of ‘economic, political, and cultural power,’ and the reaction of those in power and of the subaltern to that power [3]. This relationship of space with power means that ‘spatial relations are social relations’ [4]. The extent to which spatial theory has effectively been applied by labour, gender, and race relations historians must be examined to establish its use in the discipline of history.
References
[1] Jerram, Leif. “Space: A Useless Historical Category for Historical Analysis.” History and Theory 52 (2013) p. 400-419.
[2] Sewell in R. Percy, ‘Picket Lines and Parades: Labour and Urban Space in Early Twentieth-Century London and Chicago’, Urban History, 41/4 (2013), p. 457.
[3] Percy, Ruth. “Picket Lines and Parades: Labour and Urban Space in Early Twentieth-Century London and Chicago.” Urban History 41 (2014): 456-477.
[4] Lefebvre, Henri. “Space: Social Product and Use Value.” In State, Space, World: Selected Essays, edited by N. Brenner and S. Elden, translated by J. W. Freiberg, 185-195. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2009.
[5] Herod, Andrew. “From a Geography of Labor to a Labor Geography: Labor’s Spatial Fix and the Geography of Capitalism.” Antipode 29 (1997): 1-31.
[6] Remus, Emily A. Remus, Tippling Ladies and the Making of Consumer Culture: Gender and Public Space in Fin-de-Siècle Chicago (2014).
[7] R. Kelley, “‘We are not what we seem’: Rethinking black working-class opposition in the Jim Crow South” (1993) p. 99.
[8] Kruse, Kevin M. “The Politics of Race and Public Space: Desegregation, Privatization, and the Tax Revolt in America.” Journal of Urban History 31 (2005): 610-633.
[9] Butler, J. 'Bodies in Alliance and the Politics of the Street' http://eipcp.net/transversal/1011/butler/en.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the conceptual value of the Buddhist teachings of no-self and mindfulness for contemporary activism. First it explores how the doctrine of no-self promotes extended empathy, self-awareness, self-love, and self-care. Second, it explores how the doctrine of mindfulness both resolves some of the organization-related tensions between no-self and activism and provides additional tools for effective activism, as mindfulness promotes embodied care and right action.
The main purpose of this paper was to propose a new philosophical approach to contemporary activism that would address its central problems on personal, interpersonal, and organizational levels.
Keywords: Buddhism, Zen, No-Self, Mindfulness, Activism
Introduction: It may seem counterintuitive to suggest that the Zen Buddhist doctrines of no-self and mindfulness might be effective tools for activism, considering that no-self completely undermines the Western conception of moral agency, and mindfulness promotes an awareness and acceptance of the present and detachment from desire for change. If activism is an organized effort to help others and ourselves in the face of injustice, can that really be achieved without a robust notion of the self and a powerful desire for change?
This paper argues that together, mindfulness and no-self can create a basis for better activism by addressing its central problems on personal, interpersonal, and organizational levels. First, it will be argued that the doctrine of no-self, far from limiting agency, promotes extended empathy, self-awareness, self-love, and self-care. Second, it will be argued that the doctrine of mindfulness both resolves some of the organization-related tensions between no-self and activism and provides additional tools for effective activism, as mindfulness promotes embodied care and right action. In this way, the incorporation of no-self and mindfulness into activism creates a comprehensive new approach to activism that is equipped to combat its main issues.
References
[1] Butnor, Ashby. 2014. “Dogen, Feminism, and the Embodied Practice of Care”. In Asian and Feminist Philosophies in Dialogue, ed. Jennifer McWeeny and Ashby Butnor.
[2] Kalmanson, Leah. “Buddhism and bell hooks: Liberatory Aesthetics and the Radical Subjectivity of No-Self.” Hypatia Vol. 27, No. 4 (2012): 810–827.
[3] Tanahashi Kazuaki, trans. 1985. Moon in a dewdrop: Writings of Zen master Dōgen. New York: North Point.
[4] Uebel, Michael, and Shorkey, Clayton. 2014. "Mindfulness and Engaged Buddhism: Implications for a Generalist Macro Social Work Practice". In Mindfulness and Acceptance in Social Work: Evidence-Based Interventions and Emerging Applications, ed. Matthew S. Boone: 215-234. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
[5] Warren, Henry Clarke. 2005. “There is no ego”. Buddhism in Translations: 129-146. New York: Cosimo Classics.
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