Teaching Visual Accessibility in Introductory Data Science Classes with Multi-Modal Data Representations

Although there are various ways to represent data patterns and models, visualization has been primarily taught in many data science courses for its efficiency. Such vision-dependent output may cause critical barriers against those who are blind and visually impaired and people with learning disabilities. We argue that instructors need to teach multiple data representation methods so that all students can produce data products that are more accessible. In this paper, we argue that accessibility should be taught as early as the introductory course as part of the data science curriculum so that regardless of whether learners major in data science or not, they can have foundational exposure to accessibility. As data science educators who teach accessibility as part of our lower-division courses in two different institutions, we share specific examples that can be utilized by other data science instructors.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

KoMultiText: Large-Scale Korean Text Dataset for Classifying Biased Speech in Real-World Online Services

With the growth of online services, the need for advanced text classification algorithms, such as sentiment analysis and biased text detection, has become increasingly evident. The anonymous nature of online services often leads to the presence of biased and harmful language, posing challenges to maintaining the health of online communities. This phenomenon is especially relevant in South Korea, where large-scale hate speech detection algorithms have not yet been broadly explored. In this paper, we introduce "KoMultiText", a new comprehensive, large-scale dataset collected from a well-known South Korean SNS platform. Our proposed dataset provides annotations including (1) Preferences, (2) Profanities, and (3) Nine types of Bias for the text samples, enabling multi-task learning for simultaneous classification of user-generated texts. Leveraging state-of-the-art BERT-based language models, our approach surpasses human-level accuracy across diverse classification tasks, as measured by various metrics. Beyond academic contributions, our work can provide practical solutions for real-world hate speech and bias mitigation, contributing directly to the improvement of online community health. Our work provides a robust foundation for future research aiming to improve the quality of online discourse and foster societal well-being. All source codes and datasets are publicly accessible at https://github.com/Dasol-Choi/KoMultiText.Comment: Accepted to the NeurIPS 2023 Workshop on Socially Responsible Language Modelling Research (SoLaR

Surface mass balance contributions to acceleration of Antarctic ice mass loss during 2003-2013

Recent observations from satellite gravimetry (the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission) suggest an acceleration of ice mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS). The contribution of surface mass balance changes (due to variable precipitation) is compared with GRACE-derived mass loss acceleration by assessing the estimated contribution of snow mass from meteorological reanalysis data. We find that over much of the continent, the acceleration can be explained by precipitation anomalies. However, on the Antarctic Peninsula and other parts of West Antarctica, mass changes are not explained by precipitation and are likely associated with ice discharge rate increases. The total apparent GRACE acceleration over all of the AIS between 2003 and 2013 is −13.6 ± 7.2 Gt/yr^2. Of this total, we find that the surface mass balance component is −8.2 ± 2.0 Gt/yr^2. However, the GRACE estimate appears to contain errors arising from the atmospheric pressure fields used to remove air mass effects. The estimated acceleration error from this effect is about 9.8 ± 5.8 Gt/yr^2. Correcting for this yields an ice discharge acceleration of −15.1 ± 6.5 Gt/yr^2

Surface mass balance contributions to acceleration of Antarctic ice mass loss during 2003-2013

Recent observations from satellite gravimetry (the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission) suggest an acceleration of ice mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS). The contribution of surface mass balance changes (due to variable precipitation) is compared with GRACE-derived mass loss acceleration by assessing the estimated contribution of snow mass from meteorological reanalysis data. We find that over much of the continent, the acceleration can be explained by precipitation anomalies. However, on the Antarctic Peninsula and other parts of West Antarctica, mass changes are not explained by precipitation and are likely associated with ice discharge rate increases. The total apparent GRACE acceleration over all of the AIS between 2003 and 2013 is −13.6 ± 7.2 Gt/yr^2. Of this total, we find that the surface mass balance component is −8.2 ± 2.0 Gt/yr^2. However, the GRACE estimate appears to contain errors arising from the atmospheric pressure fields used to remove air mass effects. The estimated acceleration error from this effect is about 9.8 ± 5.8 Gt/yr^2. Correcting for this yields an ice discharge acceleration of −15.1 ± 6.5 Gt/yr^2

China׳s information security standardization: Analysis from the perspective of technical barriers to trade principles

There have been many attempts for ICT standardization in China. Among them, this paper deals with information security standards. Although information security is often mentioned regarding China׳s ICT standardization, it has been rarely examined per se. While most studies on China׳s ICT standardization focus on economic aspects (e.g. increased bargaining power) or the government׳s role, this paper draws on legal aspects. We select WAPI and ZUC for case studies, and examine their legal aspects, particularly from the perspective of WTO׳s TBT (technical barriers to trade) principles. We have found that China׳s standardization strategy becomes international-bound and, in fact, the manner in which the Chinese government handles standardization projects has become refined, flexible, and communicative with foreign stakeholders. We see that the changes are responses to the trade concerns raised by foreign stakeholders in various TBT Committee meetings and bilateral meetings. In addition, the Chinese government appears to become market-oriented even in the field of information security where it previously maintained a rigid stance on the ground of national security. This paper points out that the changes are attributed to growing external pressure from foreign governments and firms as well as to internal efforts toward innovation based on indigenous technology

Constrained Linear Deconvolution of GRACE Anomalies to Correct Spatial Leakage

Time-varying gravity observed by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites measures surface water and ice mass redistribution driven by weather and climate forcing and has emerged as one of the most important data types in measuring changes in Earth’s climate. However, spatial leakage of GRACE signals, especially in coastal areas, has been a recognized limitation in quantitatively assessing mass change. It is evident that larger terrestrial signals in coastal regions spread into the oceans and vice versa and various remedies have been developed to address this problem. An especially successful one has been Forward Modeling but it requires knowledge of geographical locations of mass change to be fully effective. In this study, we develop a new method to suppress leakage effects using a linear least squares operator applied to GRACE spherical harmonic data. The method is effectively a constrained deconvolution of smoothing inherent in GRACE data. It assumes that oceanic mass changes near the coast are negligible compared to terrestrial changes, with additional spatial regularization constraints. Some calibration of constraint weighting is required. We apply the method to estimate surface mass loads over Australia using both synthetic and real GRACE data. Leakage into the oceans is effectively suppressed and when compared with mascon solutions there is better performance over interior basins

Antarctic ice mass variations from 1979 to 2017 driven by anomalous precipitation accumulation

Antarctic ice mass balance is determined by precipitation and ice discharge, and understanding their relative contributions to contemporary Antarctic ice mass change is important to project future ice mass loss and resulting sea level rise. There has been evidence that anomalous precipitation affects Antarctic ice mass loss estimates, and thus the precipitation contribution should be understood and considered in future projections. In this study, we revisit changes in Antarctic ice mass over recent decades and examine precipitation contributions over this period. We show that accumulated (time-integrated) precipitation explains most inter-annual anomalies of Antarctic ice mass change during the GRACE period (2003-2017). From 1979 to 2017, accumulated Antarctic precipitation contributes to significant ice mass loss acceleration in the Pacific sector and deceleration in the Atlantic-Indian Sectors, forming a bi-polar spatial pattern. Principal component analysis reveals that such a bi-polar pattern is likely modulated by the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). We also find that recent ice mass loss acceleration in 2007 is related to a variation in precipitation accumulation. Overall ice discharge has accelerated at a steady rate since 1992, but has not seen a recent abrupt increase.Y

연성 트리콤 날개에 의한 틸란드시아 표면 물 수송 특성 분석

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