Improving cross language information retrieval using corpus based query suggestion approach

Users seeking information may not find relevant information pertaining to their information need in a specific language. But information may be available in a language different from their own, but users may not know that language. Thus users may experience difficulty in accessing the information present in different languages. Since the retrieval process depends on the translation of the user query, there are many issues in getting the right translation of the user query. For a pair of languages chosen by a user, resources, like incomplete dictionary, inaccurate machine translation system may exist. These resources may be insufficient to map the query terms in one language to its equivalent terms in another language. Also for a given query, there might exist multiple correct translations. The underlying corpus evidence may suggest a clue to select a probable set of translations that could eventually perform a better information retrieval. In this paper, we present a cross language information retrieval approach to effectively retrieve information present in a language other than the language of the user query using the corpus driven query suggestion approach. The idea is to utilize the corpus based evidence of one language to improve the retrieval and re-ranking of news documents in the other language. We use FIRE corpora - Tamil and English news collections in our experiments and illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed cross language information retrieval approach

You’re not ALONE: exploring the impact of Covid-19 on loneliness and social isolation: a cohort study of ALONE service users in South Tipperary

This research looks at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on a small cohort of older people in South Tipperary in terms of loneliness and social isolation. Primary research was carried out with five service users of the ALONE Good Morning South Tipperary service to ascertain their views of the pandemic and how it has affected their everyday lives. The interviews took place over the phone and the qualitative data was recorded on a dictation device. The epistemological positioning applied to this research is constructivism and the theoretical perspective is from an interpretivist lens. A full review of the literature on the impact of Covid-19 on older people was carried out as well as a comprehensive review of the literature on loneliness and social isolation. This dissertation was completed as part of the UCC Community-Academic Research Links initiative (CARL) in conjunction with ALONE. The qualitative data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. The themes highlighted in the findings include: the impact of Covid-19 on ALONE service users, loneliness and social isolation, activation and socialisation programmes, the importance of the ALONE Good Morning South Tipperary service, and future development of ALONE services in Tipperary. All research participant’s noted that Covid-19 has been especially difficult for people over seventy and has led to an increase in loneliness and social isolation among this age cohort. Participant’s reported feelings of frustration with the closure of day centres, family resource centres, community education classes and coffee shops in their communities. Research participants were highly complementary about the Good Morning South Tipperary service and look forward to availing of other specialist ALONE services when the restrictions ease. In the final chapter, this researcher makes a number of concluding remarks and recommendations on the future development of ALONE services in Tipperar

A Stage Model of Social Media Adoption

There is very little understanding of how organisations manage social media. In particular, there is no established path of activities that guide a company down the path of social readiness, and the management and organisation of social media is under-researched. Consequently, many organisations experience significant problems with their social media business profiles (SMBP). Stage of growth (SoG) models represent a picture of evolution, where the current stage can be understood in terms of history and future, providing an opportunity to identify the stages, paths of evolution, benchmark variables, and dominant problems experienced by organisations at each stage. Following a review of four decades (1974-2014) of SoG model research, and a review of existing social media research and practitioner insight across multiple domains, the authors adopt Gottschalk and Solli-Saether’s (2010) [1] five step Stage Modelling Process as a research methodology to develop a stage model of SMBP implementation and management. The paper analyses the findings from Step 1 (Suggested Stage Model) and Step 2 (Conceptual Stage Model) of the Stage Modelling Process, before concluding with the key findings. This research contributes to academia by enhancing the existing four decades of knowledge of SoG models, extending it to the management of social media in an organisational context. This research is also a critical piece of research from a practitioner perspective, as organisations struggle to devise tactics and strategies to manage social media adoption and use

The effect of fossil sampling on the estimation of divergence times with the fossilised birth death process

Timescales are of fundamental importance to evolutionary biology as they facilitate hypothesis tests of historical evolutionary processes. Through the incorporation of fossil occurrence data, the fossilised birth-death (FBD) process provides a framework for estimating divergence times using more palaeontological data than traditional node calibration approaches have allowed. The inclusion of more data can refine evolutionary timescale estimates, but for many taxonomic groups it is computationally infeasible to include all fossil occurrence data. Here, we utilise both empirical data and a simulation framework to identify approaches to subsampling fossil occurrence data that result in the most accurate estimates of divergence times. To achieve this we assess the performance of the FBD-Skyline model when implementing multiple approaches to incorporating subsampled fossil occurrences. Our results demonstrate that it is necessary to account for all available fossil occurrence data to achieve the most accurate estimates of clade age. We show that this can be achieved if an empirical Bayes approach to account for fossil sampling through time is applied to the FBD process. Random subsampling of occurrence data can lead to estimates of clade age that are incompatible with fossil evidence if no control over the affinities of fossil occurrences is enforced. Our results call into question the accuracy of previous divergence time studies incorporating the FBD process that have used only a subsample of all available fossil occurrence data.Supplementary Figure 1Median age estimates and 95% HPDs obtained to demonstrate the behaviour of the FBD process without the subsampling of fossil occurrences. These results demonstrate the suitability of the simulation framework employed for subsequent analyses.Positive_Control.pdfSupplementary Figure 2Median age estimates and 95% HPDs for Hymenoptera obtained using a range of approaches to constructing a subsample of fossil occurrences and constraining their placement. These approaches consist of: a uniform subsample of occurrences with and without topological constraints, a uniform subsample of occurrences supplemented with the oldest unequivocal members of clades which were then constrained to their respective crown groups, a subsample consisting of only the oldest unequivocal members of clades with and without topological constraints applied to constrain them to their respective crown groups.Supp_Empirical.PDFSupplementary Figure 3The accuracy and precision of estimated node ages obtained from subsamples of 100 replicate fossil occurrence datasets after the addition of the oldest occurrences for each clade to the subsample. These occurrences were then topologically constrained to lineages that descend from the node either 1, 2, or 4 nodes below the direct ancestor of the occurrence. Each point represents the median posterior age estimate of one clade, with grey bars representing the 95% HPD for that node age estimate. When occurrences are placed one node below their direct ancestor an approach in which the rate of fossil sampling is estimated produces the greatest accuracy. When occurrences are placed with reduced accuracy then the accuracy of age estimates when sampling rate is an estimated parameter of the FBD process decreases. Conversely, fixing the rate of fossil sampling or placing an informed prior on this parameter improves the accuracy as fossils are placed with reduced accuracy. For all cases in which fossils occurrences are placed at a node that is lower than their true ancestral fossil the 95% HPDs of age estimates extend to ages that violate the minimum age of the clade, as implied by the complete sample of fossil occurrences.Drop_Results.ep

Where is the crowd?

Crowdfunding has received increasing attention in the financial services space in the past few years. This is because crowdfunding has become a viable alternative to traditional capital investment and thus a threat to investors in that sector. Various platforms exist which allow fundraisers to pitch an idea and spread awareness with the intention of acquiring backers. Most backers of crowdfunding campaigns come to the platform with the fundraiser rather than from the platform itself [25]. Fundraisers must find and engage a crowd and not rely on the platform for provision of the crowd. This paper sets out four action design principles for identifying and engaging a crowd. Using a boundary object theory approach, the crowdfunding campaign is broken down based on backer’s social worlds which define the crowd and their interests

Pyrimidine in aqueous media

The electrochemical reduction of pyrimidine in aqueous media was studied using alternating current (a.c.) polarography. Over the pH-range, 0.5-13, five moderately to highly irreversible a.c. waves were observed, which corresponded to the five waves observed on d.c. polarography. Although the electrochemical reduction path of pyrimidine is complex and only partially understood, good qualitative agreement between the features of the mechanism and various polarographic parameters was achieved, providing further support for the proposed mechanism, and indicaing the validity of the current theoretical and experimental results in the area of the a.c. polarography of quasi-reversible electrode reactions. Summit potentials for the five waves, which vary linearly with pH, are independent of applied alternating voltage, mercury column height (drop-time) and concentration, but shift to more negative potential with increasing frequency. Total alternating current for all waves increases linearly with amplitude of applied alternating voltage and the negative square root of droptime; plots of total alternating current vs. square root of applied frequency exhibit curvilinear trends with a maximum in the range, 15-50 Hz.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32988/1/0000372.pd

Innovation co-creation in a virtual world

The emergence of web-based technologies has radically influenced the ways in which individuals around the world communicate, represent themselves, share ideas, and otherwise interact with one another (Ward and Sonneborn, 2009; Rogers, 2003). In particular, these technologies allow people to communicate directly with one another and to share and shape their own experiences; as a result, customers and other organisational stakeholders are increasingly involved in the design of products and services (Ramaswamy and Gouillart, 2010, p. 102). During innovation co-creation specifically, customers take an active and creative role in the intentional and successful adoption and application of ideas, processes, products or procedures that are new to the adopting organization. This study carries out six case studies of innovation co-creation in the virtual world of Second Life. Virtual worlds allow users to engage in highly active and participatory forms of co-creation that are difficult if not impossible to replicate in other environments. The study explores collaborative processes used for innovation co-creation in virtual worlds. In particular, the study presents an analysis of behaviours used to facilitate innovation co-creation in virtual world projects and the factors that affect it. The study leverages this analysis to derive practical recommendations for virtual world users and virtual world designers that can be used to stimulate and support innovation co-creation in virtual worlds