Fully Automated Fact Checking Using External Sources

Given the constantly growing proliferation of false claims online in recent years, there has been also a growing research interest in automatically distinguishing false rumors from factually true claims. Here, we propose a general-purpose framework for fully-automatic fact checking using external sources, tapping the potential of the entire Web as a knowledge source to confirm or reject a claim. Our framework uses a deep neural network with LSTM text encoding to combine semantic kernels with task-specific embeddings that encode a claim together with pieces of potentially-relevant text fragments from the Web, taking the source reliability into account. The evaluation results show good performance on two different tasks and datasets: (i) rumor detection and (ii) fact checking of the answers to a question in community question answering forums.Comment: RANLP-201

“ANÁLISIS E IMPLEMENTACIÓN DE UN DISPOSITIVO VIRTUAL EN EL LENGUAJE ABIERTO PREPROCESADOR DE HIPERTEXTO (PHP) SOBRE LINUX QUE EMULE UN DISPOSITIVO MÓVIL PARA LA GENERACIÓN DE LLAMADAS PREPAGO, POSTPAGO Y EL ENVIÓ Y RECEPCIÓN DE MENSAJES CORTOS (SMS), CON UNA INTERACCIÓN DIRECTA CON UNA CENTRAL DE CONMUTACIÓN MÓVIL (MSC).”

El proyecto se realizó bajo la arquitectura del protocolo SS7, con el que se implementó la reproducción de llamadas prepago y postpago desde un dispositivo virtual en el lenguaje abierto Preprocesador de Hipertexto (PHP) que va a simular a una estación móvil (MS) sobre el sistema operativo LINUX que tiene una interacción directa con una Central de Conmutación Móvil (MSC). La visualización de las estaciones móviles y del flujo de señalización entre entidades son ejecutados mediante varios archivos en formato PHP y HTML que crean scripts para generar una plataforma virtual que simule el flujo de mensajes entre una estación móvil y una central de conmutación, además de realizar servicios básicos de telefonía celular como llamadas, actualización de localización, consulta y recarga de saldo. El enfoque principal para obtener esta plataforma virtual consistió en describir los pasos necesarios para instalar y adecuar, en un servidor Linux, los paquetes necesarios para poder desarrollar la implementación del protocolo SS7 en una llamada prepago desde la estación móvil hasta la MSC, además de otros procesos. Como resultado se logró implementar una aplicación didáctica donde se aplicó la señalización del protocoló SS7 y en la que se realizó procesos de telefonía celular.The project is based on the architecture of the SS7 protocol, which implement different process like prepaid and postpaid calling from a virtual device in the open language Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) that will simulate a mobile station (MS) on the system LINUX operation that have a direct interaction with a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) .The viewer of the mobiles stations and the flow of signaling between entities are executed by multiple files in PHP and HTML format to create scripts to generate a virtual platform that simulate the flow of messages between a mobile station and a switching center, also it makes basics services of mobile telephony like calls, location update, consultation and buying credit . The principal target for it get this virtual platform is describe the steps required to install and adjust, on a Linux server packages needed to develop the implementation of the SS7 protocol prepaid call from the mobile station to the MSC, and other processes. As a result we obtained a didactic application in which we apply SS7 signaling protocol and in which make different process of mobile telephony

A collaboratively derived environmental research agenda for Galapagos

Galápagos is one of the most pristine archipelagos in the world and its conservation relies upon research and sensible management. In recent decades both the interest in, and the needs of, the islands have increased, yet the funds and capacity for necessary research have remained limited. It has become, therefore, increasingly important to identify areas of priority research to assist decision-making in Galápagos conservation. This study identified 50 questions considered priorities for future research and management. The exercise involved the collaboration of policy makers, practitioners and researchers from more than 30 different organisations. Initially, 360 people were consulted to generate 781 questions. An established process of preworkshop voting and three rounds to reduce and reword the questions, followed by a two-day workshop, was used to produce the final 50 questions. The most common issues raised by this list of questions were human population growth, climate change and the impact of invasive alien species. These results have already been used by a range of organisations and politicians and are expected to provide the basis for future research on the islands so that its sustainability may be enhanced. </jats:p

A new risk locus on chromosome 1 is suggested by genome‐wide association study in Peruvians for Alzheimer disease

Abstract Background Increasing ethnic/ancestral diversity in genetic studies is critical for defining the genetic architecture of Alzheimer disease (AD). Amerindian (AI) populations are substantially underrepresented in AD genetic studies. The Peruvian (PE) population, with up to ∼80% of AI ancestry, provides a unique opportunity to assess the role of AI ancestry in AD. We performed the first genome‐wide association study (GWAS) in the PE population to identify novel AD susceptibility loci and characterize known AD genetic risk loci. Method The PE dataset includes array‐genotype and phenotype data from 542 individuals (189 cases; 353 controls), imputed to the NHLBI TOPMedv5 haplotype reference panel. We used a generalized linear mixed‐model (SAIGE software) for the GWAS analysis. We analyzed two separate models; the first model accounted for sex, age, and population substructure, while the second model also included the dosage of APOEe4. In both models, we included a genetic relationship matrix as a random effect to account for any potential relatedness. To determine if the associations are specific to specific ancestries, we employed ancestry‐aware approaches using the RFMix software. Result APOE was significantly associated with AD with an effect size comparable to that found in non‐Hispanic white (NHW) populations (OR = 3.3(2.2‐4.8),pv = 8.0×10 −10 ). Two additional known AD loci, TREML2 (pv = 0.008) and CLU (pv = 0.012), showed nominal significance Variants at three additional loci reached suggestive significance (pv<1×10 −6 ): NFASC (pv = 9.4×10 −8 ;chromosome 1), STK32A (pv = 9.3×10 −7 ; chromosome 5), and LOC100132830 (pv = 6.7×10 −7 ;chromosome 6). The NFASC locus neared genome‐wide significance in the APOE adjusted model (pv = 6.7×10 −8 ). The haplotypes associated with AD at the NFASC locus were found to be of European origin. Additionally, the STK32A locus was found to have a protective effect specifically among individuals of AI background. We did not observe significant heterogeneity of effect at the APOE and LOC100132830 loci across different ancestral backgrounds. Conclusion PE GWAS identified a novel, promising AD susceptibility locus in the NFASC gene of European origin. We also detected a potential protective effect in the STK32A locus on AI background, emphasizing the importance of incorporating ancestry‐aware approaches in gene discovery in admixed populations