287 research outputs found
Mitigating Gender Bias in Machine Learning Data Sets
Artificial Intelligence has the capacity to amplify and perpetuate societal
biases and presents profound ethical implications for society. Gender bias has
been identified in the context of employment advertising and recruitment tools,
due to their reliance on underlying language processing and recommendation
algorithms. Attempts to address such issues have involved testing learned
associations, integrating concepts of fairness to machine learning and
performing more rigorous analysis of training data. Mitigating bias when
algorithms are trained on textual data is particularly challenging given the
complex way gender ideology is embedded in language. This paper proposes a
framework for the identification of gender bias in training data for machine
learning.The work draws upon gender theory and sociolinguistics to
systematically indicate levels of bias in textual training data and associated
neural word embedding models, thus highlighting pathways for both removing bias
from training data and critically assessing its impact.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 5 Tables, Presented as Bias2020 workshop (as
part of the ECIR Conference) - http://bias.disim.univaq.i
Assumptions behind grammatical approaches to code-switching: when the blueprint is a red herring
Many of the so-called âgrammarsâ of code-switching are based on various underlying assumptions, e.g. that informal speech can be adequately or appropriately described in terms of ââgrammarââ; that deep, rather than surface, structures are involved in code-switching; that one âlanguageâ is the âbaseâ or âmatrixâ; and that constraints derived from existing data are universal and predictive. We question these assumptions on several grounds. First, âgrammarâ is arguably distinct from the processes driving speech production. Second, the role of grammar is mediated by the variable, poly-idiolectal repertoires of bilingual speakers. Third, in many instances of CS the notion of a âbaseâ system is either irrelevant, or fails to explain the facts. Fourth, sociolinguistic factors frequently override âgrammaticalâ factors, as evidence from the same language pairs in different settings has shown. No principles proposed to date account for all the facts, and it seems unlikely that âgrammarâ, as conventionally conceived, can provide definitive answers. We conclude that rather than seeking universal, predictive grammatical rules, research on CS should focus on the variability of bilingual grammars
Can majority support save an endangered language? A case study of language attitudes in Guernsey
Many studies of minority language revitalisation focus on the attitudes and perceptions of minorities, but not on those of majority group members. This paper discusses the implications of these issues, and presents research into majority andf minority attitudes towards the endangered indigenous vernacular of Guernsey, Channel Islands. The research used a multi-method approach (questionnaire and interview) to obtain attitudinal data from a representative sample of the population that included politicians and civil servants (209 participants). The findings suggested a shift in language ideology away from the post-second world war âculture of modernisationâ and monolingual ideal, towards recognition of the value of a bi/trilingual linguistic heritage. Public opinion in Guernsey now seems to support the maintenance of the indigenous language variety, which has led to a degree of official support. The paper then discusses to what extent this âattitude shiftâ is reflected in linguistic behaviour and in concrete language planning measures
ART-XC: A Medium-energy X-ray Telescope System for the Spectrum-R-Gamma Mission
The ART-XC instrument is an X-ray grazing-incidence telescope system in an ABRIXAS-type optical configuration optimized for the survey observational mode of the Spectrum-RG astrophysical mission which is scheduled to be launched in 2011. ART-XC has two units, each equipped with four identical X-ray multi-shell mirror modules. The optical axes of the individual mirror modules are not parallel but are separated by several degrees to permit the four modules to share a single CCD focal plane detector, 1/4 of the area each. The 450-micron-thick pnCCD (similar to the adjacent eROSITA telescope detector) will allow detection of X-ray photons up to 15 keV. The field of view of the individual mirror module is about 18 x 18 arcminutes(exp 2) and the sensitivity of the ART-XC system for 4 years of survey will be better than 10(exp -12) erg s(exp -1) cm(exp -2) over the 4-12 keV energy band. This will allow the ART-XC instrument to discover several thousand new AGNs
The Socio-Economic Significance of Four Phonetic Characteristics in North American English
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Multiple viral infections in Agaricus bisporus - characterisation of 18 unique RNA viruses and 8 ORFans identified by deep sequencing
Thirty unique non-host RNAs were sequenced in the cultivated fungus, Agaricus bisporus, comprising 18 viruses each encoding an RdRp domain with an additional 8 ORFans (non-host RNAs with no similarity to known sequences). Two viruses were multipartite with component RNAs showing correlative abundances and common 3âČ motifs. The viruses, all positive sense single-stranded, were classified into diverse orders/families. Multiple infections of Agaricus may represent a diverse, dynamic and interactive viral ecosystem with sequence variability ranging over 2 orders of magnitude and evidence of recombination, horizontal gene transfer and variable fragment numbers. Large numbers of viral RNAs were detected in multiple Agaricus samples; up to 24 in samples symptomatic for disease and 8â17 in asymptomatic samples, suggesting adaptive strategies for co-existence. The viral composition of growing cultures was dynamic, with evidence of gains and losses depending on the environment and included new hypothetical viruses when compared with the current transcriptome and EST databases. As the non-cellular transmission of mycoviruses is rare, the founding infections may be ancient, preserved in wild Agaricus populations, which act as reservoirs for subsequent cell-to-cell infection when host populations are expanded massively through fungiculture
Biomarker and transcriptomics profiles of serum selenium concentrations in patients with heart failure are associated with immunoregulatory processes
Acknowledgements The authors thank Martin Dokter, Jan Koerts and Karin Koerts-Steijn for their excellent technical assistance.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
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