Task Oriented Conversational Modelling With Subjective Knowledge

Existing conversational models are handled by a database(DB) and API based systems. However, very often users' questions require information that cannot be handled by such systems. Nonetheless, answers to these questions are available in the form of customer reviews and FAQs. DSTC-11 proposes a three stage pipeline consisting of knowledge seeking turn detection, knowledge selection and response generation to create a conversational model grounded on this subjective knowledge. In this paper, we focus on improving the knowledge selection module to enhance the overall system performance. In particular, we propose entity retrieval methods which result in an accurate and faster knowledge search. Our proposed Named Entity Recognition (NER) based entity retrieval method results in 7X faster search compared to the baseline model. Additionally, we also explore a potential keyword extraction method which can improve the accuracy of knowledge selection. Preliminary results show a 4 \% improvement in exact match score on knowledge selection task. The code is available https://github.com/raja-kumar/knowledge-grounded-TOD

The Perceived Needs of First Responders to Identify and Support Sex Trafficking Victims: A Case Study

Researchers have found that sex trafficking in the 21st century is a growing human rights atrocity. This qualitative case study investigates law enforcement professionals’ perceived needs as first responders to identify and support sex trafficking victims. Specifically, this study examines resources, training, and support that they perceive to be critical to their success. The primary research question that guides this study is what do first responders need to identify and support sex trafficking victims? To answer this question, the following sub-questions facilitate the inquiry: A) What resources do law enforcement professionals need to identify and support victims of sex trafficking? B) What do first responders need to navigate the emotional challenges of their jobs? This study will use purposeful sampling to select ten law enforcement officers that have at least three years of experience working with sex trafficking within the five boroughs of New York. The primary data collection method will be semi-structured interviews; interview questions were formulated in alignment with the study’s purpose and research questions. After collection, the data will be coded and organized observing the research questions. Analysis and interpretation will be organized based on the conceptual framework

The Perceived Needs of First Responders to Identify and Support Sex Trafficking Victims: A Case Study

Researchers have found that sex trafficking in the 21st century is a growing human rights atrocity. This qualitative case study investigates law enforcement professionals’ perceived needs as first responders to identify and support sex trafficking victims. Specifically, this study examines resources, training, and support that they perceive to be critical to their success. The primary research question that guides this study is what do first responders need to identify and support sex trafficking victims? To answer this question, the following sub-questions facilitate the inquiry: A) What resources do law enforcement professionals need to identify and support victims of sex trafficking? B) What do first responders need to navigate the emotional challenges of their jobs? This study will use purposeful sampling to select ten law enforcement officers that have at least three years of experience working with sex trafficking within the five boroughs of New York. The primary data collection method will be semi-structured interviews; interview questions were formulated in alignment with the study’s purpose and research questions. After collection, the data will be coded and organized observing the research questions. Analysis and interpretation will be organized based on the conceptual framework

An expansionary approach for the allocation of next generation ipv6 internet addresses.

Tesis ini menunjukkan bahawa ‘penyahpusatan lanjut bagi peruntukan Pengalamat Internet IPv6 Generasi Akan Datang adalah mungkin tanpa memberi kesan terhadap kebolehskalaan (scalability) dan kestabilan sistem laluan Internet.’ Ia menjelaskan suatu ‘Pendekatan Ekspansionari’ dan ‘Model Implementasi’ yang memungkinkan penyahpusatan yang sedemikian. This thesis shows that ‘further decentralization for the allocation of Next Generation IPv6 Internet Addresses is possible without affecting the scalability and stability of the Internet routing system.’ It describes an ‘Expansionary Approach’ and an ‘Implementation model’ that allows for such decentralization

Cytotoxic Effect of Betulinic Acid on Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Betulinic Acid (BA) is a widely available plant-derived triterpene reported as a selective cytotoxic activity against cancer cell of neuroectodermal origin and leukaemias. Interestingly, this will be first report to demonstrate the cytotoxic effect of BA in VSMCs. First, MTT cytotoxic assay was used to measure cell viability of VSMCs with predetermined concentrations of BA for 24h, 48h and 72h. The results obtain indicated that BA inhibit the growth and proliferation of VSMCs in a dose dependent manner IC10 of 0.4μg/ml, IC25 of 1μg/ml and IC50 of 3.8 μg/ml significantly (P<0.05). Secondly, the genotoxic potential associated to exposure to BA was assessed on VSMCs in vitro by the comet assay. BA exhibits low level of DNA damage and not likely to increase the level of DNA damage after 24 h exposure. Moreover, Flow cytometric analysis revealed that BA treatment FOR 24 h induced cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase and caused the appearance of a sub-G1 DNA peak at 48 h. Finally, the cell death morphology indicates that the percentage of apoptotic at 24 h were 12.43 ± 1.55% and at 48 h were 23.17 ± 1.73%, the percentage of necrotic cells at 48 h were 14.63 ± 1.45%. An increase percentage of apoptotic cells at 72 h were 45.92 ± 1.45%. In conclusion, exposure of BA to VSMCs initiate early DNA damage, arrest at G1 phase and induce apoptosis