Towards an automated journalism framework for social data monitoring

Presented at: Nordic AI young researcher symposium, Oslo, 14.11. - 15.11.22News and information dissemination have long been a vital human practice. Concurrent with the traditional media channels such as radio and television, online social networks (OSNs), are regarded as the new generation of media that seem to have the ability to compete with traditional media. Millions of individuals around the world can communicate breaking news on social media platforms during the hours after midnight. The spread of misinformation and disinformation aside, the process of publishing news on OSNs, to a very good extent, happens more openly and unbiasedly. Automated journalism or according to [1] “the auto generation of journalistic stories through software and algorithms, without any human input”, can be used in newsrooms to supplement or replace traditional journalism in a variety of ways, such as providing real-time reporting of events or generating stories from data that would be otherwise difficult to mine. Due to their real-time and open nature, OSNs, particularly Twitter, are among the greatest candidate data sources to be explored in this context. MediaFutures, Centre for Research-Based Innovation (SFI), is a research centre in Bergen, Norway, which is a consortium of the most important media players in Norway and beyond. The centre is hosted and lead by the University of Bergen’s Department of Information Science and Media Studies. In this research, in collaboration with MediaFuture SFI, we are developing a platform that can assist journalists in newsrooms in real time and enables them to easily obtain and monitor their desired newsworthy content from the mass volume of unverified content from Twitter platform. AI techniques have been applied for analysing social media data but many of them do not function in real time. In MediaFuture SFI we are involved in developing innovative tools which could be used by the journalists in the newsroom daily, secondly, most of prior works, either focus on collecting, filtering, and analysing tweets using predefined metrics [2] (such as number of replies, likes, etc.) or are only focused on analysing tweets’ content [3][4]. Considering the lack of a comprehensive framework suited to the needs of journalists, we present our own visual analytical framework that is not only based on information retrieval from Twitter but also enriched by machine learning and network science. In this work, we intend to use state of the art techniques such as community detection, influential node identification and monitoring, fake news, deepfake and cheapfake detection, etc

Thinking outside the skin: Look at the thyroid for true diagnosis

Keratoderma is a group of disorders characterized by abnormal thickening of skin. Acquired palmar keratoderma has many underlying causes. The association of thyroid disease and palmar keratoderma rarely reported. Hypothyroidism, although very rare association, must be suspected in patients with acquired PPK, particularly when it occurs in setting of systemic symptoms or predisposing conditions.We report first case of acquired plantar keratoderma associated with undiagnosed hypothyroidism in Down syndrome

Promising Option for Treatment of Striae Alba: Fractionated Microneedle Radiofrequency in Combination with Fractional Carbon Dioxide Laser

Background. A consistent treatment has not been proposed for treatment of Striae Alba (SA). The present study was designed to compare the fractionated microneedle radiofrequency (FMR) alone and in combination with fractional carbon dioxide laser (FMR + CO2) in the treatment of SA. Methods. Forty-eight pairs of SA from six patients were selected. Right or left SAs were randomly assigned to one of the treatment groups. The surface area of the SA before and after treatment and clinical improvement using a four-point scale were measured at the baseline, after one and three months. Results. The mean age of the patients was 30.17±5.19 years. The mean difference of the surface area between pre- and posttreatment in the FMR + CO2 group was significantly higher than that in the FMR group (p=0.003). Clinical improvement scales showed significantly higher improvement in the FMR + CO2 group than in the FMR group in the first and second follow-up (p=0.002 and 0.004, resp.). There were no major persistence side-effects in both groups. Conclusions. The results showed that FMR + CO2 laser was more effective than FMR alone in the treatment of SA

Fairness in automated data journalism systems

Automated data journalism is an application of computing and artificial intelligence (AI) that aims to create stories from raw data, possibly in a variety of formats (such as visuals or text). Conventionally, a variety of methodologies and tools, including statistical software packages and data visualization tools have been used to generate stories from raw data. Artificial intelligence, and particularly machine learning techniques have recently been introduced because they can handle more complex data and scale more easily to larger datasets. However, AI techniques may raise a number of ethical concerns such as an unfair presentation which typically occurs due to bias. Stories that contains unfair presentation could be destructive at individual and societal levels; they could also damage the reputation of news providers. In this paper we study an existing framework of automated journalism and enhance the framework to make it aware of fairness concern. We present various steps of the framework where bias enters into the production of a story and address the causes and effects of different types of biases

Evaluating the Effectiveness of GPT Large Language Model for News Classification in the IPTC News Ontology

News classification plays a vital role in newsrooms, as it involves the time-consuming task of categorizing news articles and requires domain knowledge. Effective news classification is essential for categorizing and organizing a constant flow of information, serving as the foundation for subsequent tasks, such as news aggregation, monitoring, filtering, and organization. The automation of this process can significantly benefit newsrooms by saving time and resources. In this study, we explore the potential of the GPT large language model in a zero-shot setting for multi-class classification of news articles within the widely accepted International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) news ontology. The IPTC news ontology provides a structured framework for categorizing news, facilitating the efficient organization and retrieval of news content. By investigating the effectiveness of the GPT language model in this classification task, we aimed to understand its capabilities and potential applications in the news domain. This study was conducted as part of our ongoing research in the field of automated journalism

The effect of pseudocatalase/superoxide dismutase in the treatment of vitiligo: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVE Pseudocatalase/superoxide dismutase (PSD) is a topical gel considered having therapeutic effects in vitiligo. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of this combination in vitiligo. METHODS This was a pilot randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial on 46 symmetrical vitiligo lesions of limbs in 23 patients referring to dermatology clinics, Isfahan, Iran in 2010. Patients were received this formula or placebo gels for the right and left lesions. Lesion area and degree of pigmentation were assessed at baseline, 2, 4, and 6 months. FINDINGS There were no significant changes in lesion area and perifollicular pigmentation in each group (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION The results indicated no significant therapeutic effect for PSD in vitiligo

Primary cutaneous lymphomas: A clinical and histological study of 99 cases in Isfahan, Iran

Background: Primary cutaneous lymphomas (PCLs) represent a heterogeneous group of T- and B-cell lymphomas that present in the skin with no evidence of extracutaneous disease at the time of diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess and report the epidemiological characteristics of PCLs in Isfahan, Isfahan Province, Iran - as a main province of Iran. Materials and Methods: A total of 99 patients were recruited over a recent 10-year period (2003-2013) with diagnosis of PCLs; the patients were classified according to the The World Health Organization/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (WHO-EORTC) criteria. Mean and standard deviations (SDs) were used to describe continuous data, numbers, and percentages for categorical data. Statistical significance was defined as P < 0.05. Results: The patients comprised 45 men and 54 women aged 5-80 years (median 36) at diagnosis. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1.2. Histological examination showed features of primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas (PCBCLs) in four cases. The mean ± SD age in primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (PCTCLs) and PCBCLs was 37.9 ± 16.5 years and 39.7 ± 9.1 years, respectively (P = 0.72). The mean ± SD latent period between the time of diagnosis and initiation of skin lesions in men and women was 2.3 ± 4.1 years and 5.9 ± 10.1 years, respectively (P = 0.02). The most frequent subtypes were mycosis fungoides (MFs) (86.9%) followed by Sιzary syndrome (SS) (4%). Five patients died from PCL-related deaths. Conclusion: The distinguishing epidemiologic characteristics of PCL in Iran are the absence of a male predominance and a lower age of diagnosis. The study highlights the ethnic or regional variations in the clinicoepidemiological characteristics of PCLs

Co-existence of various clinical and histopathological features of mycosis fungoides in a young female

Mycosis fungoides is the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and a rare disorder that typically affects older adults with erythematous scaling patches and plaques. Hypopigmented patches are a rare clinical variant of the disease. Granulomatous mycosis fungoides (GMF) is also a rare type of CTCL. No particular clinical criteria are available for the diagnosis of GMF, because of its variable presentations, and so the detection of GMF is primarily considered as a histopathological diagnosis. Rarely, a co-existence of more than one clinical or histopathological feature of mycosis fungoides may be present. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of MF that shows the simultaneous co-existence of more than one clinical and histopathological variant of MF. We present a 29-year-old female with clinical presentations of both classic and hypopigmented mycosis fungoides (MF), and also the histopathological features of the classic and granulomatous types of the disease

A comparative study of osteopontin and MMP-2 protein expression in peripheral and central giant cell granuloma of the jaw

Introduction: Oral peripheral and central giant cell granulomas are lesions with little-known etiology and pathogenesis. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare matrix metalloproteinases-2 and osteopontin protein expression in the multinucleated giant cells and mononuclear cells of the peripheral and central giant cell granuloma lesions. Methods: In this retrospective study, the presence of matrix metalloproteinases-2 and osteopontin in 37 cases of central giant cell granuloma and 37 cases of peripheral giant cell granuloma paraffin blocks were assessed by streptavidin-biotin immunohistochemistry. Independent sample t-test, Chi-square, Mann–Whitney tests and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used. Results: The osteopontin was expressed in both multinucleated giant cells and mononuclear cells in all cases of peripheral and central giant cells granulomas. However, the matrix metalloproteinases-2 expression was positive in 86.5% of giant cells and it was positive in all of mononuclear cells in peripheral giant cells granuloma. In central giant cells granulomas, 91.8% of giant cells and all mononuclear cells were positive for matrix metalloproteinases-2 marker. Percentage and Intensity of staining were significantly higher in central than peripheral giant cells lesions, for both markers (p ˂ 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the expression of osteopontin in giant cells supports the theory of osteolcastic nature of these cells. Also, the presence of osteopontin and matrix metalloproteinases-2 in mononuclear cells may indicate the monocyte-macrophage origin of these cells, as the differentiation of the precursors of the mononuclear stromal monocyte/macrophage to osteoclasts is possibly affected by the expression of osteolytic factors. Also, may be differences in biological behaviors of these lesions are associated with the level of osteopontin and matrix metalloproteinases-2 expression. Resumo: Introdução: Os granulomas periféricos e centrais de células gigantes são lesões com etiologia e patogênese pouco conhecidas. Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar a expressão das proteínas metaloproteinases da matriz-2 e osteopontina nas células gigantes multinucleadas e células mononucleares no granuloma periférico e central de células gigantes. Método: Neste estudo retrospectivo, a presença de metaloproteinases da matriz-2 e osteopontina em 37 casos de granuloma central de células gigantes e 37 casos de granuloma periférico de células gigantes em blocos de parafina foram avaliadas por imunohistoquímica pela estreptavidina-Biotina. Foram utilizados teste t para amostra independente, teste de Qui-quadrado, Mann-Whitney e coeficiente de correlação de Spearman. Resultados: A osteopontina foi expressa em células gigantes multinucleadas e células mononucleares em todos os casos de granuloma periférico de células gigantes e granuloma central de células gigantes. No entanto, a expressão de metaloproteinases da matriz-2 foi positiva em 86,5% de células gigantes e foi positiva em todas as células mononucleares em granuloma periférico de células gigantes. Em granuloma central de células gigantes, 91,8% das células gigantes e todas as células mononucleares foram positivas para o marcador metaloproteinases da matriz-2. A porcentagem e intensidade de coloração em granuloma central de células gigantes foram significantemente maiores do em granuloma periférico de células gigantes para ambos os marcadores (p ˂ 0,05). Conclusão: Este estudo mostrou que a expressão de osteopontina em células gigantes apoia a teoria da natureza osteoclástica dessas células. Além disso, a presença de osteopontina e metaloproteinases da matriz-2 em células mononucleares pode indicar a origem dos monócitos-macrófagos dessas células, uma vez que a diferenciação dos precursores do monócito/macrófago estromal mononuclear em osteoclastos é possivelmente afetada pela expressão de fatores osteolíticos. Além disso, as diferenças nos comportamentos biológicos dessas lesões estão associadas ao nível de expressão de osteopontina e metaloproteinases da matriz-2. Keywords: Osteopontin, MMP-2, PGCG, CGCG, Immunohistochemistry, Palavras-chave: Osteopontina, MMP-2, PGCG, CGCG, Imunohistoquímic