Silver Medal Research Articles

Distribution-Aware Dual-LLM Collaborative Framework for Human Preference Prediction

This paper proposes a novel Distribution-aware Dual-LLM Collaborative Framework (D2CF) for human preference prediction in large language model dialogue systems. Through data analysis in the Kaggle LMSYS Chatbot Arena competition, we innovatively selected two complementary base models: Gemma-2-9b and Llama-3.1-8b. The framework's main technical innovations include: (1) A model complementarity quantification method based on Wasserstein distance, optimizing model selection from a data distribution perspective; (2) A parameter-efficient QLoRA improvement strategy that reduced computational overhead by 42.6% through adaptive rank adjustment and quantization optimization; (3) A validation set-driven dynamic weight fusion mechanism that achieves adaptive feature fusion through attention mechanisms. In the competition evaluation, this solution achieved stable performance on both public and private test sets, ultimately winning a silver medal, validating the effectiveness and robustness of distribution-aware strategies in practical applications. The significant performance improvement from public to private test sets demonstrates the superiority of this method in handling different data distributions. This paper details the technical principles and implementation details of the solution, providing reproducible engineering practice references for human preference prediction tasks in large-scale language models.

Analysis of successful and unsuccessful snatch and clean and jerk lifts in IWF World Championships (2011–2023)

In this research, male and female athletes who won gold, silverand bronze medals at the International Weightlifting Federation Senior World Championship (between 2011 and 2023); (a) analysis of successful and unsuccessful lifts in snatch and clean and jerk techniques, (b) analysis of successful and unsuccessful lifts in 3 lift attempts in both techniques and, (c) It is aimed to investigate the lifting attempts of athletes that determine their medal rankings in snatch, clean and jerk and total. In this retrospective study, data of 3144 (1603 and 1541 for male and female, respectively) individual results obtained from the lifting performances of 528 athletes (male n = 270; female n = 258) participating in the Senior World Championship (between 2011 and 2023) in snatch and clean and jerk were analyzed. In the study, the frequencies and rates of the individuals included in the study according to different variables are presented with descriptive statistics. Various Chi-square analyzes were conducted to determine differences in distribution rates between groups. The significance level in the analyzes was determined as p < .05. It was determined that the successful lifts ratios of the athletes who achieved gold, bronze, silver medals in the light weight, middle weight and heavy weight categories of the male and female groups were higher than the unsuccessful lifts ratios in both lifting techniques (excluding silver medals in clean and jerk in lightweight for men; except bronze medals in snatch in lightweight for women). It was observed that the percentage rates in the unsuccessful lifts of athletes who achieved gold medals in both snatch and clean and jerk of the male and female groups were lower than the percentage rates in the unsuccessful lifts of athletes who took part in silver and bronze medals. It was observed that there was no significant difference between the distribution rates of successful and unsuccessful lifts distribution rates according to gender in both snatch and clean and jerk of both genders. It was observed that the successful lifts rates in both the snatch and clean and jerk of the male and female groups decreased from the 1st attempt to the 3rd attempt, and the lifting rates in the unsuccessful lifts increased. It has been observed that the lift attempts that determine the medal rankings of the groups in snatch, clean and jerk and total are the 2nd attempt and 3rd attempt. The findings can provide a comprehensive perspective on the in-competition factors that contribute to World Championship success in order to directly inform coach and athlete strategies. These findings may also be valid for national or regional champions and may include other strength-based sports with a similar structure.

Medals awarded to the personnel of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902–1904: an inconsistency of recognition

ABSTRACT The 1902–1904 Scottish National Antarctic (Scotia) Expedition led by William Speirs Bruce was overshadowed by the 1901–1904 British National Antarctic (Discovery) Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott. The establishment of the independent Scottish expedition had been resented by those promoting the ‘official’ British venture and the accolades accorded to each on their return home were very different. The Royal Scottish Geographical Society honoured both leaders with prestigious medals and later, after public pressure, rewarded Scotia’s captain and scientific staff but not her officers or crew. By contrast, the Royal Geographical Society rewarded the leader and personnel of the Discovery expedition and completely ignored Scotia. An even greater demarcation arose when the Polar Medal was hastily created for the benefit of Scott and the Discovery team, and subsequently extended to the crews of their two relief ships. Aggrieved that his men had not received such public recognition, Bruce commissioned his own expedition silver medal, yet did not present it to all eligible personnel. His exclusion of artist William Cuthbertson and taxidermist Alastair Ross is paradoxical given his indignation over the partiality of other awards but may indicate some unacknowledged personal friction during the Scotia expedition. The paper illuminates the politics and personalities involved in recognition of the achievements of early twentieth-century Antarctic exploration after the events themselves.

President & CEO of American Coatings Association awarded with silver medal by BCF

President & CEO of American Coatings Association awarded with silver medal by BCF

In memory of Kristaps Juris Keggi — a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Kristaps Juris Keggi was born on August 9, 1934 in Riga in the family of surgeon Janis Keggi. In 1944, the family moved to Germany and then to the United States, where Kristaps received his medical education at Yale University. In 1966, he became an associate professor at the University’s Orthopaedic school and focused on hip and knee arthroplasty. In the 70s of the twentieth century, Kristaps Keggi developed direct anterior approach to the hip joint and started to do arthroplasty using a minimally invasive technique. Over the years, he performed more than 10,000 total hip replacements with his technology at hospitals in New Haven and Waterbury, Connecticut, and authored 135 scientific papers and monographs. In 1989, Kristaps became a Clinical professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Yale Medical School and in 2008 was elected a Full professor. During this time, he trained hundreds of residents and became the founder of his own orthopedic school. Keggi was known for a variety of innovative technologies that were widely used all over the world. In 1988, Keggi organized a non-profit Orthopedic Foundation to provide educational programs for official academic exchanges between the United States and the republics of the USSR. For 10 years, more than 300 doctors from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Central Asia, Vietnam and East Germany have received scholarships and the opportunity to learn the basics of the hip and knee arthroplasties In parallel, he traveled to the clinics with lectures, seminars and demonstration surgeries. For outstanding services to national healthcare, in 1993 he was elected a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and, subsequently, the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2012, Professor Keggi was awarded the silver medal “For Medical Dignity and Service to Russian Medicine”. A brilliant surgeon, inventor, scientist and teacher, successful athlete, philanthropist, Kristaps Juris Keggi died on July 4, 2023, leaving in our hearts a feeling of deep respect and vivid impressions from communicating with him.

The Book Review Column

Leslie Valiant, the father of computational learning theory, has written a new book, The Importance of Being Educable: A New Theory of Human Uniqueness (Princeton University Press, 2024), which proposes "educability" as a potentially more scientific theory of human cognition. Leslie Valiant, the father of computational learning theory, has written a new book, The Importance of Being Educable: A New Theory of Human Uniqueness (Princeton University Press, 2024), which proposes "educability" as a potentially more scientific theory of human cognition. Theorems of the 21st Century, Volume 1 by Bogdan Grechuk (Springer Nature Switzerland, 2019) deposits the first installment of important yet approachable results gleaned from the Annals of Mathematics in the first decade of the twenty-first century, from the point of view of an International Mathematical Olympiad gold and silver medalist.

THE INFLUENCE OF CHANGES IN COMPETITION RULES ON TACTICS OF WEIGHT CATEGORY CHOICE IN WRESTLING

The article presents the types and specifics of tactics of the weight category choice in women’s, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. In modern scientific papers participation tactics of athletes in the competition system is covered fragmentally. Moreover, tactics of weight category choice is not described at all. We analyzed the dynamics of performances and results of 72 elite wrestlers who won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Games of XXXI Olympiad 2016 in Rio de Janeiro in different weight categories (four athletes in each one). In general, we compared the results of 24 women, 24 freestyle and 24 Greco-Roman wrestlers. There were discovered eight types of tactics which athletes used during four seasons in 2013–2016 Olympic cycle. Some types provided performances only in one Olympic weight category, while others were connected with participation in tournaments in two or even three weight categories during the same season. In all cases elite wrestlers used one weight category (mainly an Olympic one) as prior, while one or two weight categories were considered as additional. We established that the choice of the particular weight category depended on the specifics of the Olympic qualification system-2016, the prospects of obtaining the Olympic quota place in the International Qualification Tournaments and the results demonstrated at official international events in various weight categories. It was also discovered that in 2013 and 2016 the most popular was a tactics that involved performances in one prior Olympic weight category (70.83% of wrestlers used it). In 2014 and 2015 some athletes (1.39–11.11%) performed in the prior weight category and used one or two of them as additional. The largest number of tactics was used by representatives of women’s and freestyle wrestling as the upper limits of weight categories were changed more than in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Uncertain Blackness: The Mysterious Case of Joseph Stadler

Abstract Historians have identified George Coleman Poage as the first African American Olympian. Poage won two bronze medals in the hurdles at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. In that same year, the name of another potential Black Olympian, Joseph Stadler, appeared briefly in a few newspaper stories previewing the games. Stadler clearly competed in St. Louis, winning a silver medal and bronze medal in the now-archaic forms of standing jumps. Whether he should join Poage on the roster of pioneering African American Olympians, however, remains a mystery among Olympic researchers—as does his racial identity. Analyzing the historical record regarding these claims and employing new information from census data and other public records reveals that Stadler was most likely white. His “misidentification,” however, reveals more than just a trivial episode about an inaccurate reading of racial identity from limited sources. The long history of narratives about Joseph Stadler's identity reveals important patterns about the social construction of race, illuminates the complexities of more than a century of seeking to depict the Olympics as a fulcrum of racial progress in American culture, and showcases the dangers of attempting to read “race” from historic photographs.

Field Hockey in China: An Exploration of Socioeconomic and Political Changes, 1900–2024

Field hockey’s development in China, mirroring its socio-political shifts over a century, unfolds in four phases. The first phase began in 1900; field hockey was introduced into China because Westerners played in Foreign Concession in Shanghai. With the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, field hockey gained official recognition, marking the second phase. Following the Cultural Revolution, field hockey gained significant prominence in the third phase, particularly women’s field hockey, peaking with a 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medal, reflecting China’s strategic Olympic ambitions. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games led the development of field hockey into the fourth phase. Youth field hockey received more and more attention. While this has elevated China’s field hockey population, it also underscores potential imbalances between promoting elite sports and grassroots development. The professionalisation of field hockey remains in its nascent stages, with state-driven growth overshadowing broader public participation. The development of field hockey in China reflects the intricate interplay between China’s sports policies, national identity, and international ambitions and offers researchers a window to develop critical perspectives on the power dynamics and policy-making processes in sports.

Acoustical Society of America Silver Medal in Acoustical Oceanography 2023: Stan E. Dosso

The Silver Medal is presented to individuals, without age limitation, for contributions to the advancement of science, engineering, or human welfare through the application of acoustic principles, or through research accomplishment in acoustics.

Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal in Computational Acoustics, Physical Acoustics, and Engineering Acoustics 2024: D. Keith Wilson

The Silver Medal is presented to individuals, without age limitation, for contributions to the advancement of science, engineering, or human welfare through the application of acoustic principles, or through research accomplishment in acoustics.

Tony Embleton—Distinguished researcher, successful manager, consummate acoustician

Tony F. W. Embleton was a distinguished researcher in acoustics. His early career focused on practical noise control projects and experimental non-linear acoustics. Later, Tony made important contributions to the understanding of sound propagation outdoors. Tony spent much of his career at the National Research Council of Canada (NRCC). His professional homes were the ASA and the CAA. Tony received numerous awards from the ASA for his work, including the R. Bruce Lindsay Award in 1964, the ASA Silver Medal in Noise in 1986, and the ASA Gold Medal in 2002 “For fundamental contributions to understanding outdoor sound propagation and noise control and for leadership in the Society.” Tony recognized the value of professional organizations and served the ASA as Vice-President (1977–78) and President (1980–81). He also understood the importance of practical applications in acoustics serving as ASA Standards Director (1993–97), navigating the organization through a tough period, and growing the program toward a solid future. Most importantly, Tony was known for his kind and generous spirit, and his outreach and inspiration to newer colleagues. Many of us are the grateful beneficiaries of his gentle enthusiasm.

The Invention of Tribology: Peter Jost’s Contribution

Peter Jost is known to the international tribology community as the father of the subject—‘the man who made the world spin a little easier’. He was the author of the eponymous ‘Jost Report’, the report of the Working Group set up in 1964 to investigate the state of lubrication education and research in the UK. Over the following five decades, up to his death in 2016, he was tireless in extolling the importance of tribology to manufacturing efficiency, energy conversion and environmental sustainability. He was instrumental in establishing the International Tribology Council and its prestigious gold, silver and bronze medals. Jost was himself the recipient of numerous national and international awards. In 1976, he was the President of the Institution of Production Engineers, and in 2013, he received the Sustained Achievement Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering. What is less well known is the story behind the Jost report—what was it that led the recently elected Labour government and its newly established Ministry of Technology to investigate lubrication and to choose Jost to lead the investigating panel? The story illustrates the combination of serendipity and determination on which success can so often depend.

Adverse effects of unilateral transfemoral amputation on para-alpine sit skiers and mitigation methods

ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the adverse effects of unilateral transfemoral amputation on neuromuscular and kinematic parameters in alpine sit skiers, and to determine if additional restraints on the human–bucket interface could help mitigate the effects. DesignCross-sectional, repeated measures study. MethodsSimulated skiing tests were conducted indoors involving 10 skiers with unilateral transfemoral amputation and 10 able-bodied participants. A Paralympic silver medalist performed slalom skiing tests on snow. These tests were conducted with and without additional strapping on the residual limb. Surface electromyography of trunk muscles and athletic performance was measured, and the asymmetry index was calculated. ResultsAthletes were significantly dependent on muscle activation on the dominant side (asymmetry index = 7.8 %–28.3 %, p < 0.05). Worse athletic performance to the dominant side was found based on inclination angles of the indoor board (asymmetry index = −9.8 %, p = 0.014) and outdoor sit ski (−11.1 %, p = 0.006), and distance to the gate poles during skiing turns (18.6 %, p < 0.001). After using additional restraints, the above asymmetry index declined significantly (asymmetry index < 4.5 %, p < 0.05). Furthermore, athletic performance was significantly improved on both body sides by 11.1 %–30.7 % (p < 0.05). ConclusionsUnilateral transfemoral amputation caused the dependence on the trunk muscles of the dominant side and the corresponding unilateral poor performance in athletes. Adjusting restraints in the human–equipment interface by additional strapping could mitigate the asymmetry issues and improve athletic performance.

Petanque Aceh Athletes Achievement From 2015 to 2020

Abstract Petanque is a new sport that originated in France. This game is played using an iron ball whose goal is to get the iron ball as close to the wooden ball as possible. Petanque has two basic techniques, namely shooting and pointing. Shooting is throwing the bored ball as precisely as possible on the target. Pointing is throwing a blank ball as close to a wooden ball as possible. The purpose of this study was to determine the achievements of Petanque Aceh athletes from 2015 to 2020. This study used a qualitative approach using descriptive historical methods. The subjects in this study totaled 18 people consisting of the head of the Aceh FOPI Pengprov, Aceh Petanque trainers, Petanque Sports observers and Aceh Petanque athletes. Data collection techniques in this study were used by means of interviews and data documentation. The data analysis technique in this study used a qualitative descriptive analysis. Based on the research results, it is known that the achievements of the Aceh Petanque Team have developed very well so that they are able to obtain achievements from year to year, from 2017 to 2020 the Aceh Petanque Team has participated in 16 National championships and 3 International championships, of the championships the Petanque team has participated in Aceh has collected a total of 57 medals, which are divided into 22 gold medals, 14 silver medals and 21 bronze medals. From these results it can be concluded that the achievements of the Petanque Aceh sport have developed very well so that they are able to carve out glorious achievements from year to year.&#x0D; &#x0D; Keywords: Achivement, Petanque, Athlete&#x0D; &#x0D;

The brand names of craft gins in South Africa*

Abstract Gin has become a very popular alcoholic drink, and is often used with various other mixers, often including fruit. The definition ( Collins Paperback English Dictionary ) reads as follows: “an alcoholic drink distilled from malted grain and flavoured juniper berries” (1994: 351). One of the most common drinks is gin mixed with tonic water, but there are also others mixers involved. Recently, in 2020, a competition was held in South Africa, with a panel of assessors tasting a wide variety of gins, and many who supplied their gin products with the brand names thereof achieved gold and silver medals for their entries of mainly craft gins. The purpose of this contribution is to analyze the various craft gin names in South Africa, as well as the names of the producing firms, distilleries, and estates. Within the context of onomastics, the focus is therefore on the actual name of the brand as it appears on the label, as well as on the location where it was produced, hence it is a combination of brand and location.

SEG Awards for 2022: Penrose Gold Medal, Silver Medal, Waldemar Lindgren Award, Marsden Award, Brian J. Skinner Award

SEG Awards for 2022: Penrose Gold Medal, Silver Medal, Waldemar Lindgren Award, Marsden Award, Brian J. Skinner Award

Natalie Artzi, Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal Recipient

Natalie Artzi, Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal Recipient

Natalie Artzi, 2024 Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal Recipient

Natalie Artzi, 2024 Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal Recipient

Natalie Artzi, 2024 Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal Recipient

Natalie Artzi, 2024 Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal Recipient