CROWN: Conversational Passage Ranking by Reasoning over Word Networks

Information needs around a topic cannot be satisfied in a single turn; users typically ask follow-up questions referring to the same theme and a system must be capable of understanding the conversational context of a request to retrieve correct answers. In this paper, we present our submission to the TREC Conversational Assistance Track 2019, in which such a conversational setting is explored. We propose a simple unsupervised method for conversational passage ranking by formulating the passage score for a query as a combination of similarity and coherence. To be specific, passages are preferred that contain words semantically similar to the words used in the question, and where such words appear close by. We built a word-proximity network (WPN) from a large corpus, where words are nodes and there is an edge between two nodes if they co-occur in the same passages in a statistically significant way, within a context window. Our approach, named CROWN, improved nDCG scores over a provided Indri baseline on the CAsT training data. On the evaluation data for CAsT, our best run submission achieved above-average performance with respect to AP@5 and [email protected]: TREC 2019, 14 page

Conversational Question Answering over Passages by Leveraging Word Proximity Networks

Question answering (QA) over text passages is a problem of long-standing interest in information retrieval. Recently, the conversational setting has attracted attention, where a user asks a sequence of questions to satisfy her information needs around a topic. While this setup is a natural one and similar to humans conversing with each other, it introduces two key research challenges: understanding the context left implicit by the user in follow-up questions, and dealing with ad hoc question formulations. In this work, we demonstrate CROWN (Conversational passage ranking by Reasoning Over Word Networks): an unsupervised yet effective system for conversational QA with passage responses, that supports several modes of context propagation over multiple turns. To this end, CROWN first builds a word proximity network (WPN) from large corpora to store statistically significant term co-occurrences. At answering time, passages are ranked by a combination of their similarity to the question, and coherence of query terms within: these factors are measured by reading off node and edge weights from the WPN. CROWN provides an interface that is both intuitive for end-users, and insightful for experts for reconfiguration to individual setups. CROWN was evaluated on TREC CAsT data, where it achieved above-median performance in a pool of neural methods.Comment: SIGIR 2020 Demonstration

Hannover: Bevölkerungsentwicklung zwischen Zu- und Abwanderung; Ansätze der kommunalen Wohnungsmarktpolitik

Die Einwohnerzahl der Landeshauptstadt Hannover entwickelte sich in den letzten Jahren sehr dynamisch. Hierbei prägen insbesondere die hohe Zuwanderung von Ausländerinnen und Ausländern bei gleichzeitiger Abwanderung von Familien mit Kindern ins Umland die Entwicklung. Die über lange Jahre vergleichsweise entspannte Situation auf dem hannoverschen Wohnungsmarkt hat sich mittlerweile deutlich verändert: Als Folge einer für lange Zeit sehr geringen Wohnungsbautätigkeit und fast völligen Erliegens des Baus preiswerter und geförderter Wohnungen, verzeichnet der hannoversche Wohnungsmarkt mit gewachsener Nachfrage eine deutliche Verknappung des Angebotes und dazu kräftige Preissteigerungen sowohl der Mieten als auch der Wohnimmobilienkaufpreise. Die Stadt reagiert mit verschiedenen wohnungspolitischen Maßnahmen, die aus dem im Jahr 2013 im Rat der Stadt beschlossenen Wohnkonzept 2025 entwickelt wurden.Population trends in the state capital Hannover have been very dynamic in recent years. The high level of in-migration of foreign nationals combined with the simultaneous out-migration of families with children to the periphery has particularly influenced the trend. For many years the situation on the housing market in Hannover was comparatively relaxed; this has changed significantly. As a result of a long period of very low levels of housing construction and an almost complete standstill in the building of affordable and subsidised housing, increased demand means that the housing market in Hannover is characterised by clear shortages in supply and strong increases in both rents and residential property prices. The city is reacting to the situation with various housing policy measures that have been developed from the Housing Concept 2025 passed by the city council in 2013

Measuring cultural capital: Sense of entitlement, concerted cultivation, leisure activities, gatekeeper bias and skills

Cardona A, Diewald M, Kaiser T, Osmanowski M. Measuring cultural capital: Sense of entitlement, concerted cultivation, leisure activities, gatekeeper bias and skills. SFB 882 Technical Report Series. Vol 15. Bielefeld: DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities; 2015

Postpartum dysgalactia syndrome in sows: effects on behavior of sows and piglets

Background To investigate if specific sow and piglet behavioral characteristics could be used diagnostically, this case-cohort study of the behavior of sows and piglets during the periparturient period (from 24 h before the birth of first piglet to 24 h after the birth of last piglet) was conducted. Data included 32 sows diagnosed with PDS (PDS+) vs. 37 healthy matched controls (PDS-) and their litters. Results A significant change from active behavior with many postural changes to a more passive behavior was noted in connection with parturition. Sow nesting behavior was less frequent in PDS+ sows compared to PDS- sows during (p = 0.04) and after parturition (p = 0.0004). No difference was found between PDS+ and PDS- in the number of postural changes, interval from last time standing to the birth of the first piglet, interval from last time eating/drinking to the birth of the first piglet, interval from the birth of the first piglet to the sow standing after farrowing, interval from the birth of the last piglet until eating/drinking, occurrence of bar biting, or frequency or duration of eating/drinking during the observation period. Piglets of PDS+ sows stayed outside the creep areas more often than piglets of PDS- sows (p < 0.0001), but there was no difference in the mean number of piglets observed massaging the udder every 10 min. Conclusion These results confirm that sow behavior changes from active before parturition to more passive after parturition. Being diagnosed with PDS affected the periparturient behavior of sows as well as their piglets. The observed reduction in nesting behavior in PDS+ sows may suggest that a highly motivated piglet-oriented behavior was affected. However, classical sickness behaviors like lethargy and passivity seem to be poor markers for PDS

Kooperativer Bericht vom 7. Deutschen Bibliothekskongress: „Bibliotheken verändern“ (Leipzig, 18.–21. März 2019)

Der 7. Deutsche Bibliothekskongress hat von 18. bis 21. März 2019 in Leipzig stattgefunden. Das Motto der Konferenz, an der über 4.000 Personen (darunter 95 aus Österreich) teilgenommen haben, lautete „Bibliotheken verändern“. Im vorliegenden kooperativen Bericht werden folgende Themen behandelt: Förderprogramm Fachinformationsdienste für die Wissenschaft, Langzeitarchivierung, Repositorien, Forschungsdaten und Forschungsdatenmanagement, Open Access, NS-Provenienzforschung, Qualitätsmanagement und Barrierefreiheit

Cooperative report of the 7th German Librarians’ Congress: „Libraries For Change“ (Leipzig, March 18-21, 2019)

Der 7. Deutsche Bibliothekskongress hat von 18. bis 21. März 2019 in Leipzig stattgefunden. Das Motto der Konferenz, an der über 4.000 Personen (darunter 95 aus Österreich) teilgenommen haben, lautete „Bibliotheken verändern“. Im vorliegenden kooperativen Bericht werden folgende Themen behandelt: Förderprogramm Fachinformationsdienste für die Wissenschaft, Langzeitarchivierung, Repositorien, Forschungsdaten und Forschungsdatenmanagement, Open Access, NS-Provenienzforschung, Qualitätsmanagement und Barrierefreiheit.The 7th German Librarians’ Congress took place from 18 to 21 March 2019 in Leipzig. The motto of the conference, which was attended by more than 4.000 people (including 95 from Austria), was „Libraries for change“. This cooperative report covers the following topics: Specialised Information Services programme, long-term archiving, repositories, research data and research data management, open access, NS provenance research, quality management and accessibility

Procoagulant platelet sentinels prevent inflammatory bleeding through GPIIBIIIA and GPVI

Impairment of vascular integrity is a hallmark of inflammatory diseases. We recently reported that single immune-responsive platelets migrate and reposition themselves to sites of vascular injury to prevent bleeding. However, it remains unclear how single platelets preserve vascular integrity once encountering endothelial breaches. Here we demonstrate by intravital microscopy combined with genetic mouse models that procoagulant activation (PA) of single platelets and subsequent recruitment of the coagulation cascade are crucial for the prevention of inflammatory bleeding. Using a novel lactadherin-based compound, we detect phosphatidylserine (PS)-positive procoagulant platelets in the inflamed vasculature. We identify exposed collagen as the central trigger arresting platelets and initiating subsequent PA in a CypD- and TMEM16F-dependent manner both in vivo and in vitro. Platelet PA promotes binding of the prothrombinase complex to the platelet membrane, greatly enhancing thrombin activity and resulting in fibrin formation. PA of migrating platelets is initiated by costimulation via integrin αIIbβ3 (GPIIBIIIA)/Gα13-mediated outside-in signaling and glycoprotein VI signaling, leading to an above-threshold intracellular calcium release. This effectively targets the coagulation cascade to breaches of vascular integrity identified by patrolling platelets. Platelet-specific genetic loss of either CypD or TMEM16F as well as combined blockade of platelet GPIIBIIIA and glycoprotein VI reduce platelet PA in vivo and aggravate pulmonary inflammatory hemorrhage. Our findings illustrate a novel role of procoagulant platelets in the prevention of inflammatory bleeding and provide evidence that PA of patrolling platelet sentinels effectively targets and confines activation of coagulation to breaches of vascular integrity

Alu-repeat–induced deletions within the NCF2 gene causing p67- phox –deficient chronic granulomatous disease (CGD)

Mutations that impair expression or function of the components of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase complex cause chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), which is associated with life-threatening infections and dysregulated granulomatous inflammation. In five CGD patients from four consanguineous families of two different ethnic backgrounds, we found similar genomic homozygous deletions of 1,380 bp comprising exon 5 of NCF2 , which could be traced to Alu-mediated recombination events. cDNA sequencing showed in-frame deletions of phase zero exon 5, which encodes one of the tandem repeat motifs in the tetratricopeptide (TPR4) domain of p67- phox . The resulting shortened protein (p67Δ5) had a 10-fold reduced intracellular half-life and was unable to form a functional NADPH oxidase complex. No dominant negative inhibition of oxidase activity by p67Δ5 was observed. We conclude that Alu-induced deletion of the TPR4 domain of p67- phox leads to loss of function and accelerated degradation of the protein, and thus represents a new mechanism causing p67- phox –deficient CGD. Hum Mutat 30:1–8, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64904/1/21156_ftp.pd

Thrombocytopenia and splenic platelet-directed immune responses after IV ChAdOx1 nCov-19 administration

Vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are based on a range of novel platforms, with adenovirus-based approaches (like ChAdOx1 nCov-19) being one of them. Recently, a novel complication of SARS-CoV-2–targeted adenovirus vaccines has emerged: immune thrombocytopenia, either isolated, or accompanied by thrombosis (then termed VITT). This complication is characterized by low platelet counts, and in the case of VITT, also by platelet-activating platelet factor 4 antibodies reminiscent of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, leading to a prothrombotic state with clot formation at unusual anatomic sites. Here, we detected antiplatelet antibodies targeting platelet glycoprotein receptors in 30% of patients with proven VITT (n = 27) and 42% of patients with isolated thrombocytopenia after ChAdOx1 nCov-19 vaccination (n = 26), indicating broad antiplatelet autoimmunity in these clinical entities. We use in vitro and in vivo models to characterize possible mechanisms of these platelet-targeted autoimmune responses leading to thrombocytopenia. We show that IV but not intramuscular injection of ChAdOx1 nCov-19 triggers platelet-adenovirus aggregate formation and platelet activation in mice. After IV injection, these aggregates are phagocytosed by macrophages in the spleen, and platelet remnants are found in the marginal zone and follicles. This is followed by a pronounced B-cell response with the emergence of circulating antibodies binding to platelets. Our work contributes to the understanding of platelet-associated complications after ChAdOx1 nCov-19 administration and highlights accidental IV injection as a potential mechanism of platelet-targeted autoimmunity. Hence, preventing IV injection when administering adenovirus-based vaccines could be a potential measure against platelet-associated pathologies after vaccination