UNIPI-NLE at CheckThat! 2020: Approaching Fact Checking from a Sentence Similarity Perspective Through the Lens of Transformers

This paper describes a Fact Checking system based on a combination of Information Extraction and Deep Learning strategies to approach the task named Verified Claim Retrieval" (Task 2) for the CheckThat! 2020 evaluation campaign. The system is based on two main assumptions: a claim that verifies a tweet is expected i) to mention the same entities and keyphrases, and ii) to have a similar meaning. The former assumption has been addressed by exploiting an Information Extraction module capable of determining the pairs in which the tweet and the claim share at least a named entity or a relevant keyword. To address the latter, we exploited Deep Learning to refine the computation of the text similarity between a tweet and a claim, and to actually classify the pairs as correct matches or not. In particular, the system has been built starting from a pre-trained Sentence-BERT model, on which two cascade fine-tuning steps have been applied in order to i) assign a higher cosine similarity to gold pairs, and ii) classify a pair as correct or not. The final ranking produced by the system is the probability of the pair labelled as correct. Overall, the system reached a 0.91 MAP@5 on the test set

Three-dimensional modelling of scattering loss in InGaAsP/InP and silica-on-silicon bent waveguides

A three-dimensional (3D) method for the estimation of scattering loss due to sidewalls roughness in bent optical waveguides is proposed and validated. The approach, based on Volume Current Method (VCM), has been pointed out to accurately calculate the scattering loss as dependent on curvature radius and wavelength. An exponential model has been employed to analytically describe the sidewalls roughness and a 3D mode solver based on mode-matching method has been used to calculate optical field distribution in the bent waveguide cross-section. Scattering loss suffered by two low index contrast waveguides has been investigated by the developed algorithm. For a buried InGaAsP/InP waveguide and a 6 μm x 6 μm Silica-on-Silicon guiding structure scattering loss dependence on bending radius, wavelength, roughness, correlation length and standard deviation has been investigated and discussed. Because of the different index contrast values, InGaAsP/InP waveguide exhibits a scattering loss which is quite six times larger than in Silica-on-Silicon. For both guiding structures, quasi-TM mode shows a larger scattering loss than quasi-TE one

Physical constraints on global social-ecological energy system

Energy is the main driver of human Social-Ecological System (SES) dynamics. Collective energy properties of human SES can be described applying the principles of statistical mechanics: (i) energy consumption repartition; (ii) efficiency; (iii) performance, as efficient power, in relation to the least-action principle. International Energy Agency data are analyzed through the lens of such principles. Declining physical efficiency and growth of power losses emerge from our analysis. Losses mainly depend on intermediate system outputs and non-energy final output. Energy performance at Country level also depends on efficient power consumption. Better and worse performing Countries are identified accordingly. Five policy-relevant areas are identified in relation to the physical principles introduced in this paper: Improve efficiency; Decouple economic growth from environmental degradation; Focus on high value added and labor-intensive sectors; Rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption; Upgrade the technological capabilities. Coherently with our findings, policies should support the following actions: (1) redefine sectoral energy distribution shares; (2) Improve Country-level performance, if needed; (3) Reduce intermediate outputs and non-energy final output; (4) Reduce resources supply to improve eco-efficiency together with system performance

Solvent-Free One-Pot Synthesis of Epoxy Nanocomposites Containing Mg(OH)2 Nanocrystal−Nanoparticle Formation Mechanism

[Image: see text] Epoxy nanocomposites containing Mg(OH)(2) nanocrystals (MgNCs, 5.3 wt %) were produced via an eco-friendly “solvent-free one-pot” process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) confirm the presence of well-dispersed MgNCs. HRTEM reveals the presence also of multisheet-silica-based nanoparticles and a tendency of MgNCs to intergrow, leading to complex nanometric structures with an intersheet size of ∼0.43 nm, which is in agreement with the lattice spacing of the Mg(OH)(2) (001) planes. The synthesis of MgNCs was designed on the basis of a mechanism initially proposed for the preparation of multisheet-silica-based/epoxy nanocomposites. The successful “in situ” generation of MgNCs in the epoxy via a “solvent-free one-pot” process confirms the validity of the earlier disclosed mechanism and thus opens up possibilities of new NCs with different fillers and polymer matrix. The condition would be the availability of a nanoparticle precursor soluble in the hydrophobic resin, giving the desired phase through hydrolysis and polycondensation

Quality factor and finesse optimization in buried InGaAsP/InP ring resonators

Quality factor and finesse of buried In1-xGaxAsyP1-y / InP ring resonators have been optimized in this paper by a very general modelling technique. Limiting effect of propagation loss within the ring has been investigated using a three-dimensional (3D) highly accurate complex mode solver based on mode matching method to analyze bending loss dependence on ring radius and wavelength. Coupling between straight input/output (I/O) bus waveguides and ring resonator has been studied by 3D Beam Propagation Method (BPM), deriving coupling loss and coupling coefficient for a large range of ring radius and bus waveguides-ring distance values (for both polarizations). Ring resonator has been modelled by the transfer-matrix approach, while finesse and quality factor dependence on radius has been estimated for two resonator architectures (including one or two I/O bus waveguides) and for quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes. Guiding structure has been optimized to enhance resonator performance. The modelling approach has been validated by comparing results obtained by our algorithm with experimental data reported in literature. Influence of rejection (at resonance wavelength) at through port on quality factor and finesse has been widely discussed. A quality factor larger than 8 x 105 has been predicted for the ring resonator employing only one I/O bus waveguide and having a radius of 400 μm. This resonator exhibits a rejection of -8 dB at through port

MULTI-Fake-DetectiVE at EVALITA 2023: Overview of the MULTImodal Fake News Detection and VErification Task

This paper introduces the MULTI-Fake-DetectiVE shared task for the EVALITA 2023 campaign. The task was aimed at exploring multimodality within the realm of fake news and intended to address the problem from two perspectives, represented by the two sub-tasks. In sub-task 1, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of multimodal fake news detection systems. In sub-task 2, we sought to gain insights into the interplay between text and images, specifically how they mutually influence the interpretation of content in the context of distinguishing between fake and real news. Both perspectives were framed as classification problems. The paper presents an overview of the task. In particular, we detail the key aspects of the task, including the creation of a new dataset for fake news detection in Italian, the evaluation methodology and criteria, the participant systems, and their results. In light of the obtained results, we argue that the problem is still open and propose some future directions