MUFFLE: Multi-Modal Fake News Influence Estimator on Twitter

To alleviate the impact of fake news on our society, predicting the popularity of fake news posts on social media is a crucial problem worthy of study. However, most related studies on fake news emphasize detection only. In this paper, we focus on the issue of fake news influence prediction, i.e., inferring how popular a fake news post might become on social platforms. To achieve our goal, we propose a comprehensive framework, MUFFLE, which captures multi-modal dynamics by encoding the representation of news-related social networks, user characteristics, and content in text. The attention mechanism developed in the model can provide explainability for social or psychological analysis. To examine the effectiveness of MUFFLE, we conducted extensive experiments on real-world datasets. The experimental results show that our proposed method outperforms both state-of-the-art methods of popularity prediction and machine-based baselines in top-k NDCG and hit rate. Through the experiments, we also analyze the feature importance for predicting fake news influence via the explainability provided by MUFFLE

Persuasion and church ministry as it relates to woman abuse : an evaluation of \u27No place for abuse\u27 on the knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of Asbury Theological Seminarians

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1208/thumbnail.jp

Combining translation into the second language and second language learning : an integrated computational approach

This thesis explores the area where translation and language learning intersects. However, this intersection is not one in the traditional sense of second language teaching: where translation is used as a means for learning a foreign language. This thesis treats translating into the foreign language as a separate entity, one that is as important as learning the foreign language itself. Thus the discussion in this thesis is especially relevant to an academic institution which contemplates training foreign language learners who can perform translation into the foreign language at a professional level. The thesis concentrates on developing a pedagogical model which can achieve the goal of fostering linguistic competence and translation competence at the same time. It argues that constructing such a model under a computerised framework is a viable approach, since the task of translation nowadays relies heavily on all kinds o

DECEPTION AND EXERCISE PERFORMANCE DURING REPEATED 4-KM CYCLING TIME TRIALS

Cyclists have been shown to improve their performance in a simulated 4-km laboratory based time trial when given feedback derived from a prior performance which is surreptitiously augmented. Presently, it is unknown whether or not these performance gains are persistent after the subjects are informed of the deception. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not performance gains achieved through deception persist after the deception was revealed. A secondary aim of this study was to assess whether the subjects’ pacing strategy changed after the deception was revealed. METHODS: The subjects were trained competitive cyclists. All subjects who were admitted into the study completed a total of four (4) simulated 4-kilometer cycling time trials comprising of a familiarization trial, baseline trial (BAS), deception trial (DEC), and knowledge of deception trial (KDE) performed on separate occasions. In the DEC and KDE trials, subjects competed against an on-screen avatar set to 102% of their baseline average power output. Time to completion, average power output, mean power output for each 0.5-km segment of the distance covered, and change in blood lactate concentration from pre- to post- time trial for each time trial were recorded. RESULTS: Subjects who completed the DEC trial faster compared to BAS trial also completed the KDE trial faster compared to the BAS trial (F = 13.61, p = 0.003), but time to completion in DEC and KDE trials were not different in these subjects (95% CI = -3.3 to 4.3s). Subjects who did not complete the DEC trial faster than the BAS trial also demonstrated differences in time to completion (F = 17.31, p = 0.003), with the KDE trial being completed faster than the DEC trial (95% CI = 5.3 to 17.5 s), but not the BAS trial (95% CI = -6.3 to 15.0 s). Analysis of the pacing strategy adopted by subjects revealed no differences between trials for subjects who improved in the DEC trial (F = 1.53, p = 0.238), but significant differences were observed in subjects who did not improve in the DEC trial (F = 8.91, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Trained cyclists whose performance improves upon receiving surreptitiously augmented feedback during simulated 4-km time trials are able to retain their performance gains once the deception is revealed. They do not appear to adopt a different pacing strategy in either of the improved trials (DEC and KDE).Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in the Department of Kinesiology Indiana Universit

Inspiration for the Future: The Role of Inspiratory Muscle Training in Cystic Fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited, multi-system, life-limiting disease characterized by a progressive decline in lung function, which accounts for the majority of CF-related morbidity and mortality. Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) has been proposed as a rehabilitative strategy to treat respiratory impairments associated with CF. However, despite evidence of therapeutic benefits in healthy and other clinical populations, the routine application of IMT in CF can neither be supported nor refuted due to the paucity of methodologically rigorous research. Specifically, the interpretation of available studies regarding the efficacy of IMT in CF is hampered by methodological threats to internal and external validity. As such, it is important to highlight the inherent risk of bias that differences in patient characteristics, IMT protocols, and outcome measurements present when synthesizing this literature prior to making final clinical judgments. Future studies are required to identify the characteristics of individuals who may respond to IMT and determine whether the controlled application of IMT can elicit meaningful improvements in physiological and patient-centered clinical outcomes. Given the equivocal evidence regarding its efficacy, IMT should be utilized on a case-by-case basis with sound clinical reasoning, rather than simply dismissed, until a rigorous evidence-based consensus has been reached

McDonald Generalized Power Weibull Distribution: Properties, and Applications

This research introduces a novel six-parameter model called the McDonald Generalized Power Weibull distribution. The model contains several sub-models that prove highly valuable in modeling real-life scenarios, including the McDonald Weibull, McDonald exponential, McDonald Nadarajah-Haghighi, beta generalized power Weibull distribution, and Kumaraswamy generalized power distributions, among others. The proposed model demonstrates suitability in modeling survival/reliability data, accommodating various hazard failure rates such as increasing, decreasing, unimodal (upside-down bathtub), modified bathtub, and reversed J-shape. Various properties of the new model are investigated, including moments, quantiles, incomplete moments, moment-generating functions, and order statistics. The maximum likelihood estimation method is employed to estimate the model parameters. The study concludes by illustrating the flexibility of the proposed model through the use of lifetime data to demonstrate its applicability

SiO 2

We reported the SiO2 nanopillars on microscale roughened surface on GaN-based LED to enhance light-extraction efficiency. ZnO nanoparticles were deposited on SiO2 as an etching mask before ICP etching SiO2 by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method (SILAR), and the different heights of SiO2 nanopillars on microroughened ITO/GaN were obtained after etching. Compared to a regular (flat surface) GaN-based LED, the light output power for a LED with microroughening was increased by 33%. Furthermore, the proposed LEDs with SiO2 nanopillars on microroughened surface show the enhancement in light output power by 42.7%–49.1% at 20 mA. The increase in light output power is mostly attributed to reduction in Fresnel reflection by rough surface. The height of SiO2 nanopillars was increasing cause resulting in more rough on the microscale surface of GaN-based LEDs

Preparation and characterization of cellulose-based nanoparticlers and hydrogel

This project focuses on the synthesis and characterization of cellulose-based nanoparticles and hydrogel from three different sources. Preparation and modification of cellulose particles size required the dissolution of cellulose in suitable solvent systems. Two solvent systems, a solution mixture of 6% NaOH and 5% Thiourea, a 8.5% NaOH solution were used in the dissolution of cellulose samples. Differences in cellulose solubility for these two solvents systems were compared and changes in chemical structures of cellulose were characterized. Three main cellulose-based particles were prepared: regenerated cellulose, cross-linked cellulose and cellulose nanocrystallite. Regenerated celluloses were prepared by dialysis of cellulose suspensions against ultra-pure water for different time intervals. The regenerated cellulose appeared to form aggregation readily with increase in the dialysis duration. Meanwhile, cross-linked cellulose particles were synthesized in the water-in-oil emulsion using epichlorohydrin (ECH) as the cross-linker. Cellulose nanocrystallites were prepared by sulfuric acid hydrolysis. Preparation of cellulose nanocrystallites was strongly dependent on hydrolysis temperature and time. The particles sizes, morphology and chemical structures of these cellulose-based particles were characterized by SEM and FTIR. Though particles synthesized from different sources possessed very similar physical and chemical properties, they are distinctively different morphologically from their respective precursor materials