Real Anaphora Resolution is Hard

We introduce a system for anaphora resolution for German that uses various resources in order to develop a real system as opposed to systems based on idealized assumptions, e.g. the use of true mentions only or perfect parse trees and perfect morphology. The components that we use to replace such idealizations comprise a full-fledged morphology, a Wikipedia-based named entity recognition, a rule-based dependency parser and a German wordnet. We show that under these conditions coreference resolution is (at least for German) still far from being perfect

Inkrementelle Koreferenzanalyse für das Deutsche

Es wird ein inkrementeller Ansatz zur Koreferenzanalyse deutscher Texte vorgestellt. Wir zeigen anhand einer breiten empirischen Untersuchung, dass ein inkrementelles Verfahren einem nichtinkrementellen überlegen ist und dass jeweils die Verwendung von mehreren Klassifizierern bessere Resultate ergibt als die Verwendung von nur einem. Zudem definieren wir ein einfaches Salienzmass, dass annähernd so gute Ergebnisse ergibt wie ein ausgefeiltes, auf maschinellem Lernen basiertes Verfahren. Die Vorverarbeitung erfolgt ausschliesslich durch reale Komponenten, es wird nicht - wie so oft - auf perfekte Daten (z.B. Baumbank statt Parser) zurückgegriffen. Entsprechend tief sind die empirischen Ergebnisse. Der Ansatz operiert mit harten linguistischen Filtern, wodurch die Menge der Antezedenskandidaten klein gehalten wird. Die Evaluierung erfolgt anhand der Koreferenzannotationen der TüBa-D/Z

Anaphora Resolution with Real Preprocessing

In this paper we focus on anaphora resolution for German, a highly inflected language which also allows for closed form compounds (i.e. compounds without spaces). Especially, we describe a system that only uses real preprocessing components, e.g. a dependency parser, a two-level morphological analyser etc. We trace the performance drop occurring under these conditions back to underspecification and ambiguity at the morphological level. A demanding subtask of anaphora resolution are the so-called bridging anaphora, a special variant of nominal anaphora where the heads of the coreferent noun phrases do not match. We experiment with two different resources in order to find out how to cope best with this problem

Improving medication safety in UK care homes: challenges and current perspective

In the UK, there are policy and regulatory concerns regarding the governance of care homes and healthcare provision within these homes. From a public health perspective, these issues can pose significant challenges to the provision of safe and quality medication use services to care home residents. The objective of this paper is to highlight an important and neglected issue for the growing population of institutionalized older adults. We reviewed relevant literature for the years 2000 to present and identified recent efforts undertaken to improve medication safety standards in UK care homes. We consider the limitations and reasons for the National Health Services restricted role and lack of leadership in providing medical services for this institutionalized population. The efforts taken by the Department of Health and other healthcare authorities targeting medication safety in care homes are also highlighted. In order to improve the quality of healthcare, specifically in areas related to medication safety and quality use of medicines, interventions need to be taken by the national government and similarly by local authorities and NHS commissioners

Concept of Formation Length in Radiation Theory

The features of electromagnetic processes are considered which connected with finite size of space region in which final particles (photon, electron-positron pair) are formed. The longitudinal dimension of the region is known as the formation length. If some external agent is acting on an electron while traveling this distance the emission process can be disrupted. There are different agents: multiple scattering of projectile, polarization of a medium, action of external fields, etc. The theory of radiation under influence of the multiple scattering, the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect, is presented. The probability of radiation is calculated with an accuracy up to "next to leading logarithm" and with the Coulomb corrections taken into account. The integral characteristics of bremsstrahlung are given, it is shown that the effective radiation length increases due to the LPM effect at high energy. The LPM effect for pair creation is also presented. The multiple scattering influences also on radiative corrections in a medium (and an external field too) including the anomalous magnetic moment of an electron and the polarization tensor as well as coherent scattering of a photon in a Coulomb field. The polarization of a medium alters the radiation probability in soft part of spectrum. Specific features of radiation from a target of finite thickness include: the boundary photon emission, interference effects for thin target, multi-photon radiation. The experimental study of LPM effect is described. For electron-positron colliding beams following items are discussed: the separation of coherent and incoherent mechanisms of radiation, the beam-size effect in bremsstrahlung, coherent radiation and mechanisms of electron-positron creation.Comment: Revised review paper, 96 pages, 28 figures. Description of SLAC E-146 experiment removed, discussion of CERN SPS experiment adde

From Sensors to Silencers: Quinoline- and Benzimidazole-Sulfonamides as Inhibitors for Zinc Proteases

Derived from the extensive work in the area of small molecule zinc(II) ion sensors, chelating fragment libraries of quinoline- and benzimidazole-sulfonamides have been prepared and screened against several different zinc(II)-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). The fragments show impressive inhibition of these metalloenzymes and preferences for different MMPs based on the nature of the chelating group. The findings show that focused chelator libraries are a powerful strategy for the discovery of lead fragments for metalloprotein inhibition

A high-pressure hydrogen time projection chamber for the MuCap experiment

The MuCap experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute performed a high-precision measurement of the rate of the basic electroweak process of nuclear muon capture by the proton, $\mu^- + p \rightarrow n + \nu_\mu$. The experimental approach was based on the use of a time projection chamber (TPC) that operated in pure hydrogen gas at a pressure of 10 bar and functioned as an active muon stopping target. The TPC detected the tracks of individual muon arrivals in three dimensions, while the trajectories of outgoing decay (Michel) electrons were measured by two surrounding wire chambers and a plastic scintillation hodoscope. The muon and electron detectors together enabled a precise measurement of the $\mu p$ atom's lifetime, from which the nuclear muon capture rate was deduced. The TPC was also used to monitor the purity of the hydrogen gas by detecting the nuclear recoils that follow muon capture by elemental impurities. This paper describes the TPC design and performance in detail.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, to be submitted to Eur. Phys. J. A; clarified section 3.1.2 and made minor stylistic corrections for Eur. Phys. J. A requirement

Knowledge, attitudes, and willingness of healthcare workers in Iraq’s Kurdistan region to vaccinate against human monkeypox: a nationwide cross-sectional study

Although human monkeypox infections had not been recorded in the Kurdistan region of Iraq as of August 2023, the rapid growth of cases worldwide and the detection of monkeypox in neighboring Middle Eastern nations call for careful planning and timely response measures. Educating and empowering frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) so that they can act to curb the spread of monkeypox infections are core elements of primary prevention and protecting public health. Therefore, this study aimed to assess HCWs’ knowledge and attitudes about monkeypox and their willingness to vaccinate against monkeypox. By employing a convenience sampling method, an online survey was disseminated via Google Forms between 1 November 2022 and 15 January 2023. The researchers utilized regression analyses to ascertain the factors associated with the three parameters: knowledge, attitude, and the willingness to vaccinate. A total of 637 HCWs were included in the analysis (ages ranged between 21 and 51 years). The mean overall scores were 8.18 of a max score of 16 (SD 3.37), 3.4 of 5 (SD 1.37), and 2.41 of 5 (SD 1.25) for knowledge, attitude, and willingness to vaccinate, respectively. A multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that HCWs who had heard about monkeypox before 2022 rather than later had a higher level of knowledge (AOR: 4.85; 95% CI: 2.81–8.36; p < 0.001). In addition, those who had newly joined the workforce or had less than 1 year experience in practice had more positive attitudes about curbing monkeypox (AOR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.20–0.59; p < 0.01) than those who practiced for longer. No significant predictors of willingness to vaccinate against monkeypox were identified. The research revealed that HCWs exhibited a relatively low level of monkeypox knowledge. They also had poor attitudes towards monkeypox vaccination and were therefore reluctant to receive the vaccines. Imparting knowledge about the infectious disease can cultivate better awareness and attitudes among HCWs as to their roles in mitigating the spread of an epidemic in the foreseeable future