Using Sensor Metadata Streams to Identify Topics of Local Events in the City

In this paper, we study the emerging Information Retrieval (IR) task of local event retrieval using sensor metadata streams. Sensor metadata streams include information such as the crowd density from video processing, audio classifications, and social media activity. We propose to use these metadata streams to identify the topics of local events within a city, where each event topic corresponds to a set of terms representing a type of events such as a concert or a protest. We develop a supervised approach that is capable of mapping sensor metadata observations to an event topic. In addition to using a variety of sensor metadata observations about the current status of the environment as learning features, our approach incorporates additional background features to model cyclic event patterns. Through experimentation with data collected from two locations in a major Spanish city, we show that our approach markedly outperforms an alternative baseline. We also show that modelling background information improves event topic identification

DEBS Grand Challenge: Glasgow Automata Illustrated

The challenge is solved using Glasgow automata, concise complex event processing engines executable in the context of a topic-based publish/subscribe cache of event streams and relations. The imperative programming style of the Glasgow Automaton Programming Language (GAPL) enables multiple, efficient realisations of the two challenge queries

Parental Conversation Styles and Learning Science With Preschoolers

Preschool children participated in a science-learning event about light in their own classroom. The same day as the event, parents or caregivers were instructed to converse with their children at home in the evening about either the science learning event or another ‘special or fun’ event that happened to them recently in whatever way was natural for them. One week later, a researcher interviewed children to examine what they remembered about the science-learning event. Analyses focused on the impact of the topic and degree of elaboration of parent-child conversations on children’s memory for the science-learning event a week later. The findings have implications for best practices in preschool education

Human Rights, Economic Justice and U.S. Exceptionalism

On April 5, 2019, PILR held their triennial symposium titled: Revisiting Human Rights: The Universal Declaration at 70. As a reflection of the event, a few panelists composed contribution pieces reflecting on the topic

Reclaiming Refugee Rights as Human Rights

On April 5, 2019, PILR held their triennial symposium titled: Revisiting Human Rights: The Universal Declaration at 70. As a reflection of the event, a few panelists composed contribution pieces reflecting on the topic