Winter is here: summarizing Twitter streams related to pre-scheduled events

Pre-scheduled events, such as TV shows and sports games, usually garner considerable attention from the public. Twitter captures large volumes of discussions and messages related to these events, in real-time. Twitter streams related to pre-scheduled events are characterized by the following: (1) spikes in the volume of published tweets reflect the highlights of the event and (2) some of the published tweets make reference to the characters involved in the event, in the context in which they are currently portrayed in a subevent. In this paper, we take advantage of these characteristics to identify the highlights of pre-scheduled events from tweet streams and we demonstrate a method to summarize these highlights. We evaluate our algorithm on tweets collected around 2 episodes of a popular TV show, Game of Thrones, Season 7.Published versio

Did that happen? predicting social media posts that are indicative of what happened in a scene: a case study of a TV show

While popular Television (TV) shows are airing, some users interested in these shows publish social media posts about the show. Analyzing social media posts related to a TV show can be beneficial for gaining insights about what happened during scenes of the show. This is a challenging task partly because a significant number of social media posts associated with a TV show or event may not clearly describe what happened during the event. In this work, we propose a method to predict social media posts (associated with scenes of a TV show) that are indicative of what transpired during the scenes of the show. We evaluate our method on social media (Twitter) posts associated with an episode of a popular TV show, Game of Thrones. We show that for each of the identified scenes, with high AUC’s, our method can predict posts that are indicative of what happened in a scene from those that are not-indicative. Based on Twitters policy, we will make the Tweeter ID’s of the Twitter posts used for this work publicly available.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000577484 - The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvaniahttps://aclanthology.org/2022.lrec-1.781/Published versio

Resolving pronouns in Twitter streams: context can help!

Many people live-tweet televised events like Presidential debates and popular TV-shows and discuss people or characters in the event. Naturally, many tweets make pronominal reference to these people/characters. We propose an algorithm for resolving personal pronouns that make reference to people involved in an event, in tweet streams collected during the event.Published versio

Inferring causal molecular networks: empirical assessment through a community-based effort.

It remains unclear whether causal, rather than merely correlational, relationships in molecular networks can be inferred in complex biological settings. Here we describe the HPN-DREAM network inference challenge, which focused on learning causal influences in signaling networks. We used phosphoprotein data from cancer cell lines as well as in silico data from a nonlinear dynamical model. Using the phosphoprotein data, we scored more than 2,000 networks submitted by challenge participants. The networks spanned 32 biological contexts and were scored in terms of causal validity with respect to unseen interventional data. A number of approaches were effective, and incorporating known biology was generally advantageous. Additional sub-challenges considered time-course prediction and visualization. Our results suggest that learning causal relationships may be feasible in complex settings such as disease states. Furthermore, our scoring approach provides a practical way to empirically assess inferred molecular networks in a causal sense

International Olympic Committee consensus statement on pain management in elite athletes

Pain is a common problem among elite athletes and is frequently associated with sport injury. Both pain and injury interfere with the performance of elite athletes. There are currently no evidence-based or consensus-based guidelines for the management of pain in elite athletes. Typically, pain management consists of the provision of analgesics, rest and physical therapy. More appropriately, a treatment strategy should address all contributors to pain including underlying pathophysiology, biomechanical abnormalities and psychosocial issues, and should employ therapies providing optimal benefit and minimal harm. To advance the development of a more standardised, evidence-informed approach to pain management in elite athletes, an IOC Consensus Group critically evaluated the current state of the science and practice of pain management in sport and prepared recommendations for a more unified approach to this important topic

Health risk assessment and management approaches for recycled water irrigation in agriculture

This PhD portfolio presents five papers which identify innovative health risk assessment and management approaches for securing safe irrigation with recycled water in agriculture. They are based on a research project from 2002 to 2012 carried out primarily at the Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme (HWRS) in Sydney's northwest, which irrigates a wide range of food crops and pasture types using tertiary treated sewage effluent from the Richmond sewage treatment plant (STP). Most of this irrigation takes place on the Hawkesbury agricultural campus of the University of Western Sydney (UWS). Motivation for the project came from a number of local and international health incidents involving large-scale contamination of food or water with faecal matter, raising concerns which overspilled into the agricultural irrigation sector. Reliance by irrigation schemes on a single set of water quality data supplied by the STP was challenged, given the potential for change in water quality as the result of bacterial growth, or through contamination by farm or wild animals including birds during environmentally-open scheme storage. This and other issues required investigation and a research project was initiated by the author following a request from the HWRS

Considerations in establishing a health risk management system for effluent irrigation in modern agriculture

Treated sewage effluent is a valuable and reliable agricultural irrigation resource in areas of low or unpredictable rainfall. Its importance is likely to grow under the influence of global climate change. The use of this resource is not, however, without health risk which is difficult to estimate using data from standard microbial and physicochemical monitoring alone. A health risk management system enables risk reduction through hazard identification, risk characterisation and analysis, strategy development and implementation, intervention assessment and risk communication. In this process data from both risk assessment and routine technological monitoring are integrated to yield synergies. In addition to meaningful information is a need for intersectoral collaboration in making the right decisions. This can be achieved through the establishment of a multidisciplinary risk management team with members drawn from communities of practice. Examples from the University of Western Sydney (UWS) experience are used to support the suggestions made

Toxicology Investigation into Binkill Garbage Bin Fumigation Product for Waste and Community Protection Division, Penrith Council. Parts 1 and 2

In March 2010 the University of Western Sydney was requested by Penrith City Council to carry out a toxicological assessment of the potential use by residents of Penrith Council area of a commercial pesticide product, Binkill, with potential for exposure to residents, their families and pets. The product was to be used as recommended by the manufacturer by residents as a slow release fly killer contained in a capsule to be placed by householders in bulk collection bins for green and kitchen waste, with the intention of controlling flies and their immature forms during storage, pending collection as part of a municipal composting operation. Part 1 of this toxicology report concerns a critical review of the research literature relating to dichlorvos and naphthalene as the main active ingredients. This review was not to be merely a summary of findings in relevant literature, but an evaluation of those findings with relevance to the safe use of the product in the intended household setting, with exposition of any problems which might be envisaged from a toxicological perspective. Part 2 of the report is an original health risk assessment based on the use of Binkill itself in terms of the device which is used to contain the active ingredients, labelling of the product packaging and device, risk to Penrith Council staff or public in terms of storage, handling use and disposal of the product, and potetial local threats to the environment as a consequence of using the product. In this section potential hazards were identified, risks characterised and a framework established for their prioritisation. Information gathered in terms of this scientific research was required to inform Council to enable them to take proactive measures for managing risk, and to enable them to move forward with the current widely-supported recycling program, with regard to duty of care towards Penrith City residents, visitors, staff, and others. Some initial conclusions of the investigation were that dichlorvos was a good pesticide of choice for the intended application in terms of its relatively low health risk, effectiveness in killing adult flies and immature forms of the family Muscidae, ability to dissipate rapidly, and ease of availability and use. Problems with which Council should be concerned in terms of the intended, Council-sanctioned use were identified and described with recommendations for Council action. The main problems included labelling inadequacies, visible chips of pesticide material outside the capsule in the surrounding plastic wrapping, and inadequate child-proof nature of the packaging. A number of other items with acceptably low risk were identified for the information and general consideration of Council and the manufacturer. In addition to the specific safety recommendations mentioned above, suggestions for educational material for residents, and a controlled system for distribution of the product at residential level, were made

Engaging communities of practice for risk communication in the Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme

Sustainable conceptions of urban water management include the recycling of treated effluent and urban stormwater as valued resources. The future acceptability and confidence in these initiatives depends upon pluralist approaches for communicating and managing associated risks. The case study described here focuses on risk communication and management associated with the Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme near Sydney, Australia. Action research strategies with communities of practice have contributed to the co-construction of effective risk management strategies. These strategies are both informed by differentiated perspectives and practices, and supported by a network of coordinated information. The focus on communities of practice is discussed in relation to pragmatic approaches to action research and systemic inquiry, along with the implications for the role of universities in engaging with the complex issues of sustainability