Introduction to the CoNLL-2003 Shared Task: Language-Independent Named Entity Recognition

We describe the CoNLL-2003 shared task: language-independent named entity recognition. We give background information on the data sets (English and German) and the evaluation method, present a general overview of the systems that have taken part in the task and discuss their performance

Combined optimization of feature selection and algorithm parameters in machine learning of language

Comparative machine learning experiments have become an important methodology in empirical approaches to natural language processing (i) to investigate which machine learning algorithms have the 'right bias' to solve specific natural language processing tasks, and (ii) to investigate which sources of information add to accuracy in a learning approach. Using automatic word sense disambiguation as an example task, we show that with the methodology currently used in comparative machine learning experiments, the results may often not be reliable because of the role of and interaction between feature selection and algorithm parameter optimization. We propose genetic algorithms as a practical approach to achieve both higher accuracy within a single approach, and more reliable comparisons

Amorfisten metallioksidien plastisten ominaisuuksien simulointi

Amorfisissa metallioksideissa on havaittu mikroskooppisessa mittakaavassa plastisia ominaisuuksia. Tässä työssä amorfisten metallioksidien plastista deformaatiota ja elastisia ominaisuuksia tutkittiin mikroskooppisessa mittakaavassa molekyylidynamiikkasimulaatioilla. Amorfiset aineet eroavat kiderakenteen omaavista aineista siten, ettei niillä ole suurilla etäisyyksillä säännöllistä rakennetta. Tässä työssä simuloitu amorfinen materiaali luotiin sulattamalla kiteinen materiaali nesteeksi ja jäähdyttämällä se nopeasti kiinteäksi. Jäähdytysnopeuden vaikutusta tutkit tiin alumiinioksidilla (Al2O3) luomalla noin 100 000 atomin simulaatiokoppi ja jäähdyttämällä se nestemäisestä faasista kiinteäksi jäähdytysnopeuksilla 1011 , 1012 ja 1013 K/s. Simulaatioista huomattiin, että jäähdytyksen aikana tapahtuvan lasitransition lämpötila riippuu jäädytysnopeud esta. Suuremmilla jäähdytysnopeuksilla lasitransitiolämpötila (Tg) on korkeampi. Alumiiniok sidi jäähdytettiin 300:aan sekä 50:een kelviniin, jonka jälkeen niille suoritettiin venytyssimulaa tio. Deformaatio-jännitys -kuvaajasta nähtiin, että suuremmalla lasitransitiolämpötilalla plasti nen aluea saavutettiin pienemmällä jännityksellä. Matalammassa lämpötilassa (50 K) jännitetyillä systeemeillä oli korkeampi vetolujuus kuin korkeammassa lämpötilassa jännitetyillä systeemeillä (300 K) vahvistaen siten Frankbergin hypoteesin plastisen virtauksen aktivoimisesta mekaanisella työllä. Plastisten ilmiöiden yleisyyttä tutkittiin myös galliumoksidilla (Ga2O3) samoilla prosesseilla kuin alumiinoksidilla. Sopivien potentiaaliparametrien puutteen vuoksi materiaalille sovitettiin parametrit sen kiderakennetta ja elastisia ominaisuuksia hyväksikäyttäen GULP-ohjelmalla. So vitetuilla potentiaaliparametreilla lasketut galliumoksidin elastiset vakiot vastaavat hyvin kirjallisu usarvoja. Amorfinen Ga2O3 käyttäytyi vastaavasti kuin samalla nopeudella jäähdytetty amorfinen Al2O3. Lupaavista galliumoksidin potentiaaliparametreistä huolimatta jatkotutkimuksia tarvitaan parametrien validoimiseen. Parametrejä tulisi myös vielä kehittää ottamalla huomioon myös amor fisen Ga2O3 rakenteita ja elastisia ominaisuuksia sekä tutkimalla amofisen galliumoksidin elastisia ominaisuuksia kokeellisesti.Amorphous metal oxides have proven to deform in a plastic manner at microscopic scale. In this study the plastic deformation and elastic properties of amorphous metal oxides are studied at microscopic scale using classical molecular dynamics simulations. Amorphous solids differ from crystalline solids by not having a regular lattice nor long range order. In this study the amorphous materials were created in simulations by melt-quenching. The glass transition temperature (Tg) depends on the material and cooling rate. The effect of cooling rate was studied with aluminiumoxide (Al2O3) by creating a simulation cell of 115 200 atoms and melt-quenching it with cooling rates of 1011 , 1012 and 1013 K/s. It was observed that faster cooling rates yield higher Tg. The Al2O3 was cooled to 300 K and 50 K after which the material was stretched. The stress-strain curve of the material showed that samples with higher Tg deforms in plastic manner with smaller stresses. The system stretched at 50 K had higher ultimate tensile strength than the system stretched at 300 K and thus confirming the hypothesis proposed by Frankberg about activating plastic flow with work. In order to see if the plastic phenomena can be generalized to other amorphous metal oxides the tensile simulation was performed also with a-Ga2O3 by creating a simulation cell of 105 000 atoms, melt-quenching it and then stretching. Due to the lack of parameters for Buckingham potential these parameters were fitted with GULP using the elastic properties and crystalline structure of Ga2O3. The elastic properties of Ga2O3 with the fitted potential parameters agreed very well with the literature values. The elongated a-Ga2O3 behaved in a very similar fashion compared to a-Al2O3 cooled with the same cooling rate. Further work is needed to establish the Buckingham potential parameters of a-Ga2O3 by experimen tal work. The potential can also be developed further by using the elastic constants and structures of amorphous a-Ga2O3 in the fitting process, although the potential shows already very promising results

Antwerp City Wastescapes. Historic interplays between waste & urban development.

This paper analyses waste management and the production of space over time in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. By reconstructing how shifting waste practices simultaneously reshape our urban environments at multiple scales, this paper also articulates historic interplays between waste management, urban development and planning practices. Benefiting from available waste processes and materials is a practice that disappeared during industrialisation scale jumps and more linear processes of urbanisation and consumption indeed dominate the current practices. But cities like Antwerp are rethinking these resource consumptive processes and orienting their policies towards what is generally labelled as a resource independent ‘circular economy’. In order to be resilient for climate change, Antwerp’s centralized and heavily engineered and stressed waste collection and treatment installations of the last century require revision, if not systemic redefinition. After a century of dumping on peripheral locations, bottom-up initiatives such as repair cafés, zero waste shops, green schools and even supermarkets are changing the cultural appreciation of ‘waste’ in Antwerp by pulling ‘waste practices’ back into the city and activating social community spaces. What can we learn from the historic interplays between waste and urban development in Antwerp at the eve of Antwerp’s next –circular- waste geography

Designated or preferred? A deaf academic and two signed language interpreters working together for a PhD defence: A case study of best practice

In this paper we present an appreciative inquiry case study of our work together in a PhD defence, which we believe demonstrates a best practice in the field of signed language interpreting. We call into question the meaning and relevance of the ‘designated interpreter’ model, examining whether there is a ‘perfect formula’ for deaf academics and interpreters working together, not only in PhD defences, but also in academia more generally. We also challenge the very system for the provision of interpreter services as an institution creating structural inequalities, because it is heavily based on privilege. We argue that what is key is preference (i.e. the ability to exercise real choice) and familiarity, rather than the assignation of a ‘designated’ interpreter, and that simply achieving a degree in interpreting cannot guarantee that an interpreter will be prepared to meet the needs of deaf professionals. We also argue that sign language interpreter education needs to focus more than it does now on training to work into English (and/or other spoken languages in non-English-speaking countries), on performing visibly comfortable language work, and on specific specializations linked to deaf professional access and continuing professional development

Mapping the realms of the soldiers: cartographies of military landscapes in Skopje and Bitola

This paper presents the process and the results of a cartographic exploration on the interactions between the military and the civil society. It features two interrelated study-cases : the cities of Skopje and Bitola, both characterised by consequent periods of war and strong army presence. Frequent and often abrupt changes of occupying military power combined with the local effects of ever-evolving military strategy, altogether having a dramatic impact upon their urban landscapes and the overall territorial settings. The proposed method of exploration includes the study and processing of archival sources as well as the creation of novel interpretative maps. The former includes a critical analysis of historical and contemporary cartographies, taking into account the specific agency of mapping and its embedded politics. As for the later, two series of eight maps each are created, offering a diachronic as well as a synchronic reading of the history of the local militarised landscapes. Through the simultaneous deconstruction of archival maps and the construction of interpretative maps, the research approaches the interaction of the military and the city in a twofold way: on the one hand revealing process of appropriation through the act of mapping -in which the specific agency of the military plays a significant role, and on the other hand constructing a palimpsests of urban and territorial army-related narratives that enables the formation and transmission of the city's memory.Peer Reviewe

A named entity recognition system for Dutch

We describe a Named Entity Recognition system for Dutch that combines gazetteers, hand-crafted rules, and machine learning on the basis of seed material. We used gazetteers and a corpus to construct training material for Ripper, a rule learner. Instead of using Ripper to train a complete system, we used many different runs of Ripper in order to derive rules which we then interpreted and implemented in our own, hand-crafted system. This speeded up the building of a hand-crafted system, and allowed us to use many different rule sets in order to improve performance. We discuss the advantages of using machine learning software as a toot in knowledge acquisition, and evaluate the resulting system for Dutch

Cajamarca: Mapping (Post)Mining Palimpsests of the Peruvian Andes

Mining, in addition to other human activities and natural phenomena, has repeatedly reshaped the landscapes of the Peruvian Andes. Long-standing, significantly modified and new Andean landscapes have resulted in a complex reading of the ‘land as palimpsest’ (Corboz, 1983). In recent decades, large-scale modern mining has disturbed headwater landscapes and broader Andean ecologies, as exemplified in Cajamarca’s gold mines. This article critically reads past and present spatial transformations induced by gold mining in the headwaters of the Cajamarca Basin. Through archival documentation, fieldwork and interpretative cartography, it analyses the large-scale surface mining operations in Cajamarca from 1993 to 2020, as well as their impact on downstream rural and urban ecologies. A cross-scalar mapping investigation discloses the spatial-ecological outcomes of twenty-seven years of mining (and closure) operational procedures. As a conclusion of the palimpsest reading, a design-research question is posed as to how Cajamarca’s post-mining landscapes can be opportunely premeditated. It hypothesizes that, already during exploitation, the post-mining landscapes can be consciously constructed by an intelligent manipulation of mining procedures and create a layer of the territory that is more robust. Environmental reconstruction after mining closure recreates a pseudo-natural environment that supposedly erases the traces of mining and restores natural condition—literally back to nature, with no cultural trace. In this regard, reconstruction is merely theoretical since the repairing to a natural state would mean no palimpsests. However, despite the most imaginative and ecological repair, the territory remains a mega palimpsest, cruelly violated and disrupted. Therefore, at best, the proposition can be to build a cultural, consciously conceived and tailored post-mining landscape, merging mining and post-mining landscape construction into one movement, where the remaining (palimpsest) is part-and-parcel of the newly constructed