Rhetorical relations for information retrieval

Typically, every part in most coherent text has some plausible reason for its presence, some function that it performs to the overall semantics of the text. Rhetorical relations, e.g. contrast, cause, explanation, describe how the parts of a text are linked to each other. Knowledge about this socalled discourse structure has been applied successfully to several natural language processing tasks. This work studies the use of rhetorical relations for Information Retrieval (IR): Is there a correlation between certain rhetorical relations and retrieval performance? Can knowledge about a document's rhetorical relations be useful to IR? We present a language model modification that considers rhetorical relations when estimating the relevance of a document to a query. Empirical evaluation of different versions of our model on TREC settings shows that certain rhetorical relations can benefit retrieval effectiveness notably (> 10% in mean average precision over a state-of-the-art baseline)

ISEEQ: Information Seeking Question Generation using Dynamic Meta-Information Retrieval and Knowledge Graphs

Conversational Information Seeking (CIS) is a relatively new research area within conversational AI that attempts to seek information from end-users in order to understand and satisfy users’ needs. If realized, such a system has far-reaching benefits in the real world; for example, a CIS system can assist clinicians in pre-screening or triaging patients in healthcare. A key open sub-problem in CIS that remains unaddressed in the literature is generating Information Seeking Questions (ISQs) based on a short initial query from the end user. To address this open problem, we propose Information SEEking Question generator (ISEEQ), a novel approach for generating ISQs from just a short user query, given a large text corpus relevant to the user query. Firstly, ISEEQ uses a knowledge graph to enrich the user query. Secondly, ISEEQ uses the knowledge-enriched query to retrieve relevant context passages to ask coherent ISQs adhering to a conceptual flow. Thirdly, ISEEQ introduces a new deep generative adversarial reinforcement learning-based approach for generating ISQs. We show that ISEEQ can generate high-quality ISQs to promote the development of CIS agents. ISEEQ significantly outperforms comparable baselines on five ISQ evaluation metrics across four datasets having user queries from diverse domains. Further, we argue that ISEEQ is transferable across domains for generating ISQs, as it shows the acceptable performance when trained and tested on different pairs of domains. The qualitative human evaluation confirms ISEEQ-generated ISQs are comparable in quality to human-generated questions and outperform the best comparable baseline

ISEEQ: Information Seeking Question Generation using Dynamic Meta-Information Retrieval and Knowledge Graphs

Conversational Information Seeking (CIS) is a relatively new research area within conversational AI that attempts to seek information from end-users in order to understand and satisfy users’ needs. If realized, such a system has far-reaching benefits in the real world; for example, a CIS system can assist clinicians in pre-screening or triaging patients in healthcare. A key open sub-problem in CIS that remains unaddressed in the literature is generating Information Seeking Questions (ISQs) based on a short initial query from the end user. To address this open problem, we propose Information SEEking Question generator (ISEEQ), a novel approach for generating ISQs from just a short user query, given a large text corpus relevant to the user query. Firstly, ISEEQ uses a knowledge graph to enrich the user query. Secondly, ISEEQ uses the knowledge-enriched query to retrieve relevant context passages to ask coherent ISQs adhering to a conceptual flow. Thirdly, ISEEQ introduces a new deep generative adversarial reinforcement learning-based approach for generating ISQs. We show that ISEEQ can generate high-quality ISQs to promote the development of CIS agents. ISEEQ significantly outperforms comparable baselines on five ISQ evaluation metrics across four datasets having user queries from diverse domains. Further, we argue that ISEEQ is transferable across domains for generating ISQs, as it shows the acceptable performance when trained and tested on different pairs of domains. The qualitative human evaluation confirms ISEEQ-generated ISQs are comparable in quality to human-generated questions and outperform the best comparable baseline

Evaluation of the Veteran Resilience Project

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a daunting concern among the majority of organizations with diverse, or tangential, affiliations to the United States Military and/or its personnel. Unquestionably, the 21 million service-connected individuals, at the time of this writing, (i.e., Active-Duty, Reserve, National Guard, and Veterans) afflicted with this disorder are the catalyst for the intense public and private sector interest and involvement in eradication of this disorder. Prevalence rates of PTSD among this complex classification of persons vary across the relevant literature. Some estimates suggest anywhere from 11 to 20 percent, while other sources indicate that upwards of 40 percent of some military service-connected populations (i.e., those who served in Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF], Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF], and Operation New Dawn as well as less publicized military actions which have taken place within the same timeframe) demonstrate PTSD or other related mental health disorders. Given the high PTSD prevalence demonstrated among service-connected populations, effective, practical, and accessible treatment of PTSD among this contingent is a primary and salient area of exploration both clinically and empirically. Relevant to this, the Veteran Resilience Project (VRP) of Minnesota utilizes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as an intervention to treat veterans with PTSD. Thus, the organization contracted this program evaluator to undertake a program evaluation of their nonprofit organization. The association utilizes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as a therapeutic intervention due to their belief that it is the most efficacious treatment for PTSD. Along with the comprehensive evaluation of their program and the establishment of proof of efficacy for their interventions of choice, EMDR, the VRP seeks to increase their capacity through the recruitment of military service-connected clients and retention of treating therapists. Therefore, the achievement of these objects occurs through an implementation program evaluation dissertation, based on both qualitative (i.e., using survey and interview methodologies) and quantitative data (i.e., analyzing accessible collected data from a sample of service-connected clients who had previously utilized services at the VRP). As a part of the program evaluation, the data were used to inform specific recommendations thus refining ameliorative procedures. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohio Link ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd

"Back From the Edge of the World": Re-Authoring a Story of Practice with Stress and Trauma Using Gestalt Theories and Narrative Approaches

The aim of this article is to offer an ongoing reflection of the difficulties of working with trauma survivors within mental health agencies which provide brief models of intervention. The dilemma of how to work safely, respectively, and collaboratively with clients who present with a history of trauma is highlighted. The author reflects on her own experience of vicarious traumatization through her practice with a long-term survivor of domestic abuse. The team and organizational narratives which are embedded in the medical and managerial models in the mental health services are reflected upon as constraining the environment in which the author is able to provide a context for the client's healing and collegial practice. By witnessing the abuse survivor's story of survival drawing upon themes in the "New Trauma Therapy," Gestalt and Narrative therapy practice frameworks, the author suggests that other versions of the "story" are made available for the client and for the worker that offer a greater sense of "personal agency." These "re-authored" narratives offer a way forward for the client, individual worker, and team

Falling Into the Rhetorical Black Hole: Navigating Language, Terms, and Rhetoricity in Madness and Disability

Language enables communities to develop meaning and interpretations of words. Language practices and meanings can change through and with discourse among communities. This rhetorical thesis expands on Catherine Prendergast’s theory of the rhetorical black hole — a phenomenon where folks can find themselves without the means to operate rhetorically, as some audiences are unwilling to engage. I argue the rhetorical black hole is not a binary, and I call for further considerations of intersectionality in understanding the impacts of the rhetorical black hole. James A. Berlin’s New Rhetoric is used to demonstrate the meaning making power of terms and language use. I examine community members’ — Harriet McBryde Johnson, Margret Price, Geoffrey Reaume — use of terms and discourse throughout my argument. This project furthers the field’s understanding of rhetorical black holes and considers how individuals and communities can use language practices as forms of resistance to develop their rhetoricity