Search for: All records

Poverty maps derived from satellite imagery are increasingly used to inform high-stakes policy decisions, such as the allocation of humanitarian aid and the distribution of government resources. Such poverty maps are typically constructed by training machine learning algorithms on a relatively modest amount of “ground truth” data from surveys, and then predicting poverty levels in areas where imagery exists but surveys do not. Using survey and satellite data from ten countries, this paper investigates disparities in representation, systematic biases in prediction errors, and fairness concerns in satellite-based poverty mapping across urban and rural lines, and shows how these phenomena affect the validity of policies based on predicted maps. Our findings highlight the importance of careful error and bias analysis before using satellite-based poverty maps in real-world policy decisions. 

The Guaymas Basin in the Gulf of California is characterized by active seafloor spreading, the rapid deposition of organic-rich sediments, steep geothermal gradients, and abundant methane of mixed thermogenic and microbial origin. Subsurface sediment samples from eight drilling sites with distinct geochemical and thermal profiles were selected for DNA extraction and PCR amplification to explore the diversity of methane-cycling archaea in the Guaymas Basin subsurface. We performed PCR amplifications with general (mcrIRD), and ANME-1 specific primers that target the alpha subunit of methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcrA). Diverse ANME-1 lineages associated with anaerobic methane oxidation were detected in seven out of the eight drilling sites, preferentially around the methane-sulfate interface, and in several cases, showed preferences for specific sampling sites. Phylogenetically, most ANME-1 sequences from the Guaymas Basin subsurface were related to marine mud volcanoes, seep sites, and the shallow marine subsurface. The most frequently recovered methanogenic phylotypes were closely affiliated with the hyperthermophilic Methanocaldococcaceae, and found at the hydrothermally influenced Ringvent site. The coolest drilling site, in the northern axial trough of Guaymas Basin, yielded the greatest diversity in methanogen lineages. Our survey indicates the potential for extensive microbial methane cycling within subsurface sediments of Guaymas Basin. 

In general, people tend to identify the emotions of others from their facial expressions, however recent findings suggest that we may be more accurate when we hear someone’s voice than when we look only at their facial expression. The study reported in the paper examined whether these findings hold true for animated agents. A total of 37 subjects participated in the study: 19 males, 14 females, and 4 of non-specified gender. Subjects were asked to view 18 video stimuli; 9 clips featured a male agent and 9 clips a female agent. Each agent showed 3 different facial expressions (happy, angry, neutral), each one paired with 3 different voice lines spoken in three different tones (happy, angry, neutral). Hence, in some clips the agent’s tone of voice and facial expression were congruent, while in some videos they were not. Subjects answered questions regarding the emotion they believed the agent was feeling and rated the emotion intensity, typicality, and sincerity. Findings showed that emotion recognition rate and ratings of emotion intensity, typicality and sincerity were highest when the agent’s face and voice were congruent. However, when the channels were incongruent, subjects identified the emotion more accurately from the agent’s facial expression than the tone of voice. 

Abstract Purpose The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest. Design/methodology/approach The research approach consisted of mixed methods, including content analyses and descriptive statistics. Findings The curricular program successfully included all four of the US National Academies of Sciences' design features for promoting interest and motivation through scientific investigation and engineering design. During interviews, teachers and students expressed evidence of design features associated with interest and motivation. After experiencing the program, more than 60% of all students scored high on all four science and engineering meaningfulness and interest survey items. Originality/value A curricular program that extends science learning through the engineered design of solutions is an innovative approach to foster both conceptual knowledge development and interest and motivation in science and engineering.