Annotation-Scheme Reconstruction for "Fake News" and Japanese Fake News Dataset

Fake news provokes many societal problems; therefore, there has been extensive research on fake news detection tasks to counter it. Many fake news datasets were constructed as resources to facilitate this task. Contemporary research focuses almost exclusively on the factuality aspect of the news. However, this aspect alone is insufficient to explain "fake news," which is a complex phenomenon that involves a wide range of issues. To fully understand the nature of each instance of fake news, it is important to observe it from various perspectives, such as the intention of the false news disseminator, the harmfulness of the news to our society, and the target of the news. We propose a novel annotation scheme with fine-grained labeling based on detailed investigations of existing fake news datasets to capture these various aspects of fake news. Using the annotation scheme, we construct and publish the first Japanese fake news dataset. The annotation scheme is expected to provide an in-depth understanding of fake news. We plan to build datasets for both Japanese and other languages using our scheme. Our Japanese dataset is published at https://hkefka385.github.io/dataset/fakenews-japanese/.Comment: 13th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), 202

Stability of Metastable Vacua in Gauge Mediated SUSY Breaking Models with Ultra Light Gravitino

Recently Murayama and Nomura proposed a simple scheme to construct the gauge mediation models, using metastable supersymmetry breaking vacua. It has a possibility to predict the ultra light gravitino mass m_{3/2} \lesssim 16 eV, while such a light gravitino may destabilize the metastable vacua. We investigate stability of the metastable vacuum of their model. The transition rate from the false vacuum to true ones is evaluated by numerical calculation, including the Coleman-Weinberg potential destabilizing the metastable vacuum. It is found that when the messenger sector is minimal, stability of the metastable vacuum imposes an upperbound on squark mass M_{\tilde q} for the ultra light gravitino as M_{\tilde q} \lesssim 1800 GeV at most. Squarks with this mass may be found in the LHC experiments.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Detection of vegetation drying signals using diurnal variation of land surface temperature: Application to the 2018 East Asia heatwave

Satellite-based vegetation monitoring provides important insights regarding spatiotemporal variations in vegetation growth from a regional to continental scale. Most current vegetation monitoring methodologies rely on spectral vegetation indices (VIs) observed by polar-orbiting satellites, which provide one or a few observations per day. This study proposes a new methodology based on diurnal changes in land surface temperatures (LSTs) using Japan's geostationary satellite, Himawari-8/Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI). AHI thermal infrared observation provides LSTs at 10-min frequencies and ∼ 2 km spatial resolution. The DTC parameters that summarize the diurnal cycle waveform were obtained by fitting a diurnal temperature cycle (DTC) model to the time-series LST information for each day. To clarify the applicability of DTC parameters in detecting vegetation drying under humid climates, DTC parameters from in situ LSTs observed at vegetation sites, as well as those from Himawari-8 LSTs, were evaluated for East Asia. Utilizing the record-breaking heat wave that occurred in East Asia in 2018 as a case study, the anomalies of DTC parameters from the Himawari-8 LSTs were compared with the drying signals indicated by VIs, latent heat fluxes (LE), and surface soil moisture (SM). The results of site-based and satellite-based analyses revealed that DTR (diurnal temperature range) correlates with the evaporative fraction (EF) and SM, whereas Tmax (daily maximum LST) correlates with LE and VIs. Regarding other temperature-related parameters, T0 (LST around sunrise), Ta (temperature rise during daytime), and δT (temperature fall during nighttime) are unstable in quantification by DTC model. Moreover, time-related parameters, such as tm (time reaching Tmax), are more sensitive to topographic slope and geometric conditions than surface thermal properties at humid sites in East Asia, although they correlate with EF and SM at a semi-arid site in Australia. Additionally, the spatial distribution of the DTR anomaly during the 2018 heat wave corresponds with the drying signals indicated as negative SM anomalies. Regions with large positive anomalies in Tmax and DTR correspond to area with visible damage to vegetation, as indicated by negative VI anomalies. Hence, combined Tmax and DTR potentially detects vegetation drying indetectable by VIs, thereby providing earlier and more detailed vegetation monitoring in both humid and semi-arid climates

A Realistic Extension of Gauge-Mediated SUSY-Breaking Model with Superconformal Hidden Sector

The sequestering of supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking parameters, which is induced by superconformal hidden sector, is one of the solutions for the mu/B_mu problem in gauge-mediated SUSY-breaking scenario. However, it is found that the minimal messenger model does not derive the correct electroweak symmetry breaking. In this paper we present a model which has the coupling of the messengers with the SO(10) GUT-symmetry breaking Higgs fields. The model is one of the realistic extensions of the gauge mediation model with superconformal hidden sector. It is shown that the extension is applicable for a broad range of conformality breaking scale.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Ideas from IDS: Graduate Papers from 2018/19

This is the third edition of Ideas from IDS, our publication featuring student essays, now from the 2018/19 academic year. This is the first time this publication has a thematic focus: food. Food is a prominent development issue that concerns hunger, malnutrition, inequality, environmental sustainability, power and politics, social justice, and cultural identity. It is about the trade-offs that this era of globalisation has brought about, such as ensuring food security for all, while protecting the environment. It is about striking paradoxes such as the concurrence of under and overnutrition, sometimes in the same country or region, which reflects pervasive social inequalities and power imbalances in the food system. As this publication illustrates, postgraduate teaching at the Institute of Development Studies and the University of Sussex reflects the significance of food in global development and its relevance across disciplines and fields of study. This publication compiles a selection of ten essays written by students undertaking six different postgraduate courses: MA Development Studies; MA Gender and Development; MA Globalisation, Business and Development; MA Poverty and Development; MSc Climate Change, Development and Policy; and the new MA Food and Development. The latter, specifically, encapsulates the growing significance of food studies in research and teaching at Sussex. This new course, which has just celebrated the graduation of its first cohort of students, has recently been listed by Devex amongst the top 20 unique courses and programmes in global development

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Development of a new high precision continuous measuring system for atmospheric O2/N2 and Ar/N2 and its application to the observation in Tsukuba, Japan

A high precision continuous measurement system has been developed for analysis of the atmospheric O2/N2 and Ar/N2 ratios based on a mass spectrometry method. Sample and reference air flows through an inlet system and only a miniscule amount of each is transferred to the ion source of the mass spectrometer through thermally insulated thin fused silica capillaries. The measured O2/N2 and Ar/N2 values are experimentally corrected for the effects of pressure imbalance between the sample air and reference air during their introduction into the mass spectrometer, as well as for the influence of CO2 concentration and O2/N2 ratio of the sample air. Standard deviations of the measured O2/N2 and Ar/N2 ratios of standard air are ±3.2 and ±6.5 per meg, respectively, for our normal measurement time of 62 seconds. Our standard air is prepared by drying natural air and then stored in 48-L high-pressure cylinders; its O2/N2 and Ar/N2 ratios are stable to within ±1.1 and ±5.8 per meg, respectively, over a period of 11 months. The CO2/N2 ratio is also simultaneously measured by this system, and converted to CO2 concentration with a precision better than ±0.3 ppm using an experimentally determined relationship. This system has been field tested in Tsukuba, Japan since February 2012. Preliminary results show clear seasonal cycles of atmospheric potential oxygen (APO=O2 +1.1×CO2), as well as of Ar/N2. If we ignore the fossil fuel influence, then that part the seasonal APO cycle driven by the air–sea heat flux accounts for 23% of the observed seasonal APO cycle, as estimated from the seasonal cycle of Ar/N2; any residuals are attributed to ocean biology and ventilation

Concentration variations of the tropospheric carbon dioxide over the Antarctic region

Aircraft measurements of the atmospheric CO_2 concentration have been made over Syowa Station, Antarctica since 1983. The minimum concentration of the average seasonal CO_2 cycle appears in March throughout the troposphere, while the maximum concentration occurs in mid-August in the upper troposphere and in late September in the middle and lower troposphere. The peak-to-peak amplitude of the seasonal cycle decreases with height. The CO_2 concentration increases with height during most of the year; however, this height dependency is larger from summer to early winter than in the remaining seasons. The average concentration difference between the upper troposphere and the ground surface is about 0.3ppmv. From comparisons with the results of the ground-based and aircraft measurements at southern middle and high latitudes and trajectory analysis, it is hypothesized that the seasonal cycle of height-dependent atmospheric transport processes could influence the seasonal cycle and the vertical distribution of the CO_2 concentration over Syowa Station

The Relationship between tropospheric ozone concentration and atmospheric transport over Syowa Station, Antarctica

Aircraft measurements of the tropospheric O_3 concentration were made over Syowa Station, Antarctica from May 1989 to January 1990,except during the polar night months of June and July. The O_3 concentration increased with height for the whole period of the measurements. Lower tropospheric O_3 concentration showed a prominent seasonal variation with maximum concentration in winter and minimum in summer, which is very close to the result of continuous O_3 measurements at Syowa Station. In the upper troposphere, the concentration reached high values in winter, decreased gradually from September to early November and then increased again. As a result, the height-dependent difference of the concentration was reduced from late fall to early spring and enhanced in the remaining seasons of the year. From these results, it is hypothesized that the seasonal variation of height-dependent atmospheric transport processes could influence that of the tropospheric O_3 concentration over Syowa Station