scholarly journals Unboxing news automation

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Sirén-Heikel ◽  
Leo Leppänen ◽  
Carl-Gustav Lindén ◽  
Asta Bäck

AbstractNews automation is an emerging field within journalism, with the potential to transform newswork. Increasing access to data, combined with developing technology, will allow further inquiries into automated journalism. Producing news text using NLG (natural language generation) is currently largely undertaken in specific, predictable news domains, such as sports or finance. This interdisciplinary study investigates how elite media representatives from Finland, Europe and the US imagine the affordances of this emerging technology for their organization. Our analysis shows how the affordances of news automation are imagined as providing efficiency, increasing output and aiding in reallocating resources to pursue quality journalism. The affordances are, however, constrained by such factors as access to structured data, the quality of automation and a lack of relevant skills. In its current form, automated text generation is seen as providing only limited benefits to news organizations that are already imagining further possibilities of automation.

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 31-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Ahern ◽  
R. Benson ◽  
R. Casey ◽  
C. Trabant ◽  
B. Weertman

Abstract. With the support of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and on behalf of the international seismological community, IRIS developed a Data Management Center (DMC; Ahern, 2003) that has for decades acted as a primary resource for seismic networks wishing to make their data broadly available, as well as a significant point of access for researchers and monitoring agencies worldwide that wish to access high quality data for a variety of purposes. Recently IRIS has taken significant new steps to improve the quality of and access to the services of the IRIS DMC. This paper highlights some of the current new efforts being undertaken by IRIS. The primary topics include (1) steps to improve reliability and consistency of access to IRIS data resources, (2) a comprehensive new approach to assessing the quality of seismological and other data, (3) working with international partners to federate seismological data access services, and finally (4) extensions of the federated concept to extend data access to data from other geoscience domains.


Author(s):  
Ke Wang ◽  
Xiaojun Wan

Generating texts of different sentiment labels is getting more and more attention in the area of natural language generation. Recently, Generative Adversarial Net (GAN) has shown promising results in text generation. However, the texts generated by GAN usually suffer from the problems of poor quality, lack of diversity and mode collapse. In this paper, we propose a novel framework - SentiGAN, which has multiple generators and one multi-class discriminator, to address the above problems. In our framework, multiple generators are trained simultaneously, aiming at generating texts of different sentiment labels without supervision. We propose a penalty based objective in the generators to force each of them to generate diversified examples of a specific sentiment label. Moreover, the use of multiple generators and one multi-class discriminator can make each generator focus on generating its own examples of a specific sentiment label accurately. Experimental results on four datasets demonstrate that our model consistently outperforms several state-of-the-art text generation methods in the sentiment accuracy and quality of generated texts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (7) ◽  
pp. 592-596
Author(s):  
Quinn Dufurrena ◽  
Kazi Imran Ullah ◽  
Erin Taub ◽  
Connor Leszczuk ◽  
Sahar Ahmad

BACKGROUND: Remotely guided ultrasound (US) examinations carried out by nonmedical personnel (novices) have been shown to produce clinically useful examinations, at least in small pilot studies. Comparison of the quality of such exams to those carried out by trained medical professionals is lacking in the literature. This study compared the objective quality and clinical utility of cardiac and pulmonary US examinations carried out by novices and trained physicians.METHODS: Cardiac and pulmonary US examinations were carried out by novices under remote guidance by an US expert and independently by US trained physicians. Exams were blindly evaluated by US experts for both a task-based objective score as well as a subjective assessment of clinical utility.RESULTS: Participating in the study were 16 novices and 9 physicians. Novices took longer to complete the US exams (median 641.5 s vs. 256 s). For the objective component, novices scored higher in exams evaluating for pneumothorax (100% vs. 87.5%). For the subjective component, novices more often obtained clinically useful exams in the assessment of cardiac regional wall motion abnormalities (56.3% vs. 11.1%). No other comparisons yielded statistically significant differences between the two groups. Both groups had generally higher scores for pulmonary examinations compared to cardiac. There was variability in the quality of exams carried out by novices depending on their expert guide.CONCLUSION: Remotely guided novices are able to carry out cardiac and pulmonary US examinations with similar, if not better, technical proficiency and clinical utility as US trained physicians, though they take longer to do so.Dufurrena Q, Ullah KI, Taub E, Leszczuk C, Ahmad S. Feasibility and clinical implications of remotely guided ultrasound examinations. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(7):592–596.


2020 ◽  
pp. 304-312

Background: Insult to the brain, whether from trauma or other etiologies, can have a devastating effect on an individual. Symptoms can be many and varied, depending on the location and extent of damage. This presentation can be a challenge to the optometrist charged with treating the sequelae of this event as multiple functional components of the visual system can be affected. Case Report: This paper describes the diagnosis and subsequent ophthalmic management of an acquired brain injury in a 22 year old male on active duty in the US Army. After developing acute neurological symptoms, the patient was diagnosed with a pilocytic astrocytoma of the cerebellum. Emergent neurosurgery to treat the neoplasm resulted in iatrogenic cranial nerve palsies and a hemispheric syndrome. Over the next 18 months, he was managed by a series of providers, including a strabismus surgeon, until presenting to our clinic. Lenses, prism, and in-office and out-of-office neurooptometric rehabilitation therapy were utilized to improve his functioning and make progress towards his goals. Conclusions: Pilocytic astrocytomas are the most common primary brain tumors, and the vast majority are benign with excellent surgical prognosis. Although the most common site is the cerebellum, the visual pathway is also frequently affected. If the eye or visual system is affected, optometrists have the ability to drastically improve quality of life with neuro-optometric rehabilitation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (0) ◽  
pp. 56-63
Author(s):  
Laura Silvia Hernández Gutiérrez ◽  
Angélica García-Gómez ◽  
Argimira Vianey Barona Nuñez ◽  
Erick López Léon

The education based on simulation is an educationalstrategy where students learn from their errors, developing skills, knowledge, competences,etc. in a controlled environment. During the process of teaching by simulation, it is necessaryto execute various types of assessments (diagnostic, summative, formative) in order tomake adjustments or changes in the educational process of the students, therefore identifying areas of opportunity for improvement. With the simulation, different processes can be taught, like interprofessionalism and collaborative work. Nowadays, there is a major concern for added safety and the quality of care for the patients and their families. Therefore, a WHO study group determined the basic interprofessional competences, and has been given the task of disseminating and promoting interprofessional education. Some educational institutions in the US, Canada and Europe have integrated interprofessional and collaborative work in simulation practices. All the activity by simulation must be evaluated in order to provide feedback to the participants and establish improvement strategies. The assessment of the interprofessional work focuses on the evaluation of common skills and competencies among various health professionals.


Author(s):  
Arne L. Kalleberg

This chapter discusses how the growth of precarious work and the polarization of the US labor market have produced major problems for the employment experiences of young workers. A prominent indicator of young workers’ difficulties in the labor market has been the sharp increase in their unemployment rates since the Great Recession. Another, equally if not more severe, problem faced by young workers today is the relatively low quality of the jobs that they were able to get. Other problems include the exclusion of young workers from the labor market and from education and training opportunities; the inability to find jobs that utilize their education, training, and skills; and the inability to obtain jobs that provide them with an opportunity to get a foothold in a career that would lead to progressively better jobs and thus be able to construct career narratives.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110361
Author(s):  
Gentian Qejvanaj

Roma segregation in Albania has been causing growing concern since the fall of the communist regime. In this study, we analyze the effectiveness of the Albanian national action plan for Roma inclusion 2016–2020, in 2018, halfway in its implementation period. We gathered data on education and employment from the pre-implementation period (2015) and compared it with the latest available data in 2018. Interviews with local experts and surveys by the Balkan Barometer will provide background information to assess the current state of Roma integration in Albania. Moreover, descriptive statistics from national and international institutions and structured interviews will draw an independent narrative of Roma affairs. In our conclusion, we suggest moving beyond the “us and them” approach with programs run on inertia; our findings highlight that although encouraging achievements have been reached under the 2016–2020 action plan, real inclusion is still far, as statistical achievements do not say much about the quality of the education or job training provided under the 2016–2020 action plan.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaia Balp

This article outlines potential pros and cons of a future European regulation of proxy advisory firms, as set forth in the Commission’s Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2007/36/EC. After summarizing criticisms concerning the proxy advisory industry, and findings regarding its de facto influence on investors’ voting conduct both in the US and in the European context, the article adverts to why the power of proxy advisors appears to be overestimated. Uncertainty on the status quo of the industry’s actual impact on key decisions in listed companies, as well as costs associated with a regulation, need to be considered for assessing the suitability of the rules drafted to ensure adequate levels of independence and quality of voting recommendations. While transparency rules may be preferred to stricter legal constraints or requirements in a first stage, possible shortcomings of the Draft Directive exist that may undermine its effectiveness. Analyzing the amendments to the Proposal adopted by the European Parliament, and the Council’s Presidency compromise text, may suggest a preferable approach as regards single rules still making their way through the European legislative process.


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