Search Bias Quantification: Investigating Political Bias in Social Media and Web Search

Users frequently use search systems on the Web as well as online social media to learn about ongoing events and public opinion on personalities. Prior studies have shown that the top-ranked results returned by these search engines can shape user opinion about the topic (e.g., event or person) being searched. In case of polarizing topics like politics, where multiple competing perspectives exist, the political bias in the top search results can play a significant role in shaping public opinion towards (or away from) certain perspectives. Given the considerable impact that search bias can have on the user, we propose a generalizable search bias quantification framework that not only measures the political bias in ranked list output by the search system but also decouples the bias introduced by the different sources—input data and ranking system. We apply our framework to study the political bias in searches related to 2016 US Presidential primaries in Twitter social media search and find that both input data and ranking system matter in determining the final search output bias seen by the users. And finally, we use the framework to compare the relative bias for two popular search systems—Twitter social media search and Google web search—for queries related to politicians and political events. We end by discussing some potential solutions to signal the bias in the search results to make the users more aware of them.publishe

Event by Event Analysis of High Multiplicity Events Produced in 158 A GeV/c 208 Pb- 208 Pb Collisions

An extensive analysis of individual high multiplicity events produced in 158 A GeV /c 208Pb- 208Pb collisions is carried by adopting different methods to examine the anomalous behavior of these rare events. A method of selecting the events with densely populated narrow regions or spikes out of a given sample of collision events is discussed.Employing this approach two events with large spikes in their eta- and phi- distributions are selected for further analysis. For the sake of comparison, another two events which do not exhibit such spikes are simultaneously analyzed. The findings suggest that the systematic studies of particle density fluctuations in one- and two-dimensional phase-spaces and comparison with those obtained from the studies of correlation free Monte Carlo events, would be useful for identifying the events with large dynamical fluctuations. Formation of clusters or jet like phenomena in multihadronic final states in individual events is also discussed and the experimental findings are compared with the independent particle emission hypothesis by carrying out Monte Carlo simulations

Comparison of double disc and combined disc method for the detection of extended spectrum beta lactamases in enterobacteriaceae

Objective: To compare double disc approximation and combined disc method for their ability to detect extended spectrum b lactamase (ESBL) production in enterobacteriaceae and determine the percentage of isolates which are falsely reported as sensitive in absence of ESBL detection, in a clinical microbiology laboratory of a tertiary care hospital between September-October 2002. Methods: Selected isolates were identified according to standard biochemical tests. Disc susceptibility tests were performed according to NCCLS. ESBL detection by combined disc [cefotaxime (30 ug) versus cefotaxime plus clavulanate (30+10 ug)] was compared with detection using double discs [amoxy-clavulanic acid (20+10 ug) and aztreonam (30 ug) applied 10 mm apart]. Results were interpreted according to NCCLS and analysed on SPSS version 10. Results: ESBL production was detected in 140 (30%) isolates by combined disc method and 139 (29.5%) by double disc method. There was no significant difference between two methods. Of the ESBL positive isolates 41 (29%) gave zone diameters that were within the sensitivity range cutoff and would have been falsely reported as being beta lactam sensitive in absence of ESBL detection. Conculsion: ESBL detection should be routinely performed in clinical laboratories as false reporting would result in treatment failure despite in vitro sensitivity. No difference was found between the combined disc and double disc methods hence either of two could be used

Acute intermittent porphyria with syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) and neurological crisis, successfully treated with haemodialysis

We report a 35 years old male, a case of Acute Intermittent Porphyria (AIP) with Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone secretion (SIADH) and neurological crisis for its rarity. Since specific parenteral medication (hemin) was not available, patient was empirically treated with haemodialysis with satisfactory outcome

Viewpoint: ‘When black lives matter all lives will matter’ − a teacher and three students discuss the BLM movement

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is generating a new appetite for understanding the ubiquity of systemic racism. In this short piece, a professor and three newly graduated students from different racialized groups reflect on the reproduction of social inequalities in key institutions and on what decolonization means for the nation, not just for education

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease in school children--a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequencies of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in school children. The information may help in designing interventions aimed at modifying unhealthy lifestyle in children, which may reduce the later incidence of cardiovascular disease in adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 206 students (ages 14-18 years), enrolled in higher secondary school. Students were interviewed about their lifestyles, family history of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors. Moreover, they were assessed for height, weight and blood pressure. RESULTS: Twenty nine percent of the children were physically inactive, 31% were taking unhealthy diet daily, 21% were overweight (BMI \u3e or = 25) and 6% were smokers. History of paternal smoking was reported by 36% of the children, and among them 76% of fathers smoked in the presence of their children. Family history of cardiac disease, hypertension and diabetes were positive in 4%, 23% and 16% of the children respectively. Overall, 58% of the children had at least one modifiable risk factor. CONCLUSION: Majority of the children had modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Prevention efforts are required early in life, using strategies for behavioral modification and health promotion

Epidemiology of humerus shaft fractures in children-observational study of 50 patients

Background: Objective was to study the epidemiology of humerus shaft fracture in children. Methods: This was an observational study of 50 cases of humeral diaphyseal fractures in children aged between 5 to 15 years reporting to tertiary care center over a period of 18 months. Each patient was categorized with respect to age, sex, mode of trauma, side injured, type of fracture, associated injuries, modality of treatment given. Results: Most patients belonged to upper lower class (66 %), and 80% patient belonged to rural population. Boys (60%) were more prone to have humerus shaft fracture than girls. Mean age of the patient were 10.12 years (±2.6 SD). Most common mode of trauma was accidental fall on arm (68%). Traumatic fracture was noted in 94% of cases while 6 % cases were having pathological fracture. Most patients were having middle third shaft fracture (40%), followed by distal third (30%) and lastly proximal third (22%), and left side involvement (58%) was more. Out of the 50 patients, poly trauma was observed in 4 cases, multiple bone fracture was noted in 2 cases, while 2 patients were having fibrous dysplasia and 1 with bony cyst as an associated cause of pathological fracture and 1 patient had radial nerve injury pre-operatively. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the epidemiology of humerus shaft fractures in children in respect to age, sex, socio-economic status, mode of trauma. These data can help understand the risk factors and help in preventing the incidence. Most of these fracture can be managed successfully with retrograde titanium elastic nailing system (TENS) nailing with minimal complications.

Command Similarity Measurement Using NLP

Peer reviewe

On Fairness, Diversity and Randomness in Algorithmic Decision Making

Consider a binary decision making process where a single machine learning classifier replaces a multitude of humans. We raise questions about the resulting loss of diversity in the decision making process. We study the potential benefits of using random classifier ensembles instead of a single classifier in the context of fairness-aware learning and demonstrate various attractive properties: (i) an ensemble of fair classifiers is guaranteed to be fair, for several different measures of fairness, (ii) an ensemble of unfair classifiers can still achieve fair outcomes, and (iii) an ensemble of classifiers can achieve better accuracy-fairness trade-offs than a single classifier. Finally, we introduce notions of distributional fairness to characterize further potential benefits of random classifier ensembles