Developing a Cross-lingual Semantic Word Similarity Corpus for English–Urdu Language Pair

Semantic word similarity is a quantitative measure of how much two words are contextually similar. Evaluation of semantic word similarity models requires a benchmark corpus. However, despite the millions of speakers and the large digital text of the Urdu language on the Internet, there is a lack of benchmark corpus for the Cross-lingual Semantic Word Similarity task for the Urdu language. This article reports our efforts in developing such a corpus. The newly developed corpus is based on the SemEval-2017 task 2 English dataset, and it contains 1,945 cross-lingual English–Urdu word pairs. For each of these pairs of words, semantic similarity scores were assigned by 11 native Urdu speakers. In addition to corpus generation, this article also reports the evaluation results of a baseline approach, namely “Translation Plus Monolingual Analysis” for automated identification of semantic similarity between English–Urdu word pairs. The results showed that the path length similarity measure performs better for the Google and Bing translated words. The newly created corpus and evaluation results are freely available online for further research and development.

“I Know What I Like” – Indecisiveness Is Unrelated to Behavioral Indicators of Evaluation Difficulties

Indecisiveness, the subjective inability to make satisfying decisions, is an individual difference trait that may impede effective actions. Mechanisms underlying indecisiveness are largely unknown. In four studies, we tested the prediction that indicators of evaluation difficulty were associated with indecisiveness in simple evaluations. Across studies, indecisiveness was measured via self-report while evaluation difficulties were derived behaviorally from three indicators: difficulty distinguishing between similar evaluation objects (i.e., standard deviation of evaluation ratings), evaluation duration (reaction times), and implicit evaluations (evaluative priming effect) using familiar everyday objects. Study 1 (N = 151) was based on attractiveness evaluations of portraits. Studies 2a (N = 201) and 2b (N = 211) used chocolate as evaluation objects and manipulated to what extent the evaluations were equivalent to a decision. In Study 3 (N = 80) evaluations were measured implicitly through evaluative priming using food pictures. Contrary to our predictions, indecisiveness showed no reliable association to any indicator of evaluation difficulty, regardless of type of evaluation object, equivalence of evaluation and decision, and whether evaluation difficulty was based on explicit or implicit evaluations. All null findings were supported by Bayes factors. These counterintuitive results are a first step toward investigating evaluation processes as potential mechanisms underlying indecisiveness, showing that for both explicit and implicit measurements, indecisiveness is not characterized by difficulties when evaluating familiar everyday objects.

Using Handwriting Evaluation Software to Predict and Increase Diagnosis for Parkinson’s

Around the world, there currently exists a problem when it comes to the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Unfortunately, nearly half of all Americans who have PD remain undiagnosed, which is problematic when one considers the implications of such ignorance. People who continue to be undiagnosed do not have access to special treatments, therapies, and medications that would help alleviate the symptoms of PD and decrease the burden of it altogether. Fortunately, amidst recent technological advancements in computing and the contemporary paradigm shift to using handwriting as a diagnosis method for PD, a shimmer of hope reveals itself. By using a machine learning software program that predicts a user’s likelihood of having PD through their handwriting alone, people might feel more inclined to seek a formal evaluation for the disease. Since it is rather inexpensive, based on concrete, quantitative kinematics of an individual’s handwriting, and holds legitimacy due to the existence of similar evaluation programs, the software could help increase the amount of people that seek a formal PD evaluation and diagnosis.

Alliances between Israel and Other Nations in Light of the Pentateuch’s Prohibitions in the Greek Bible

The conducted exegesis of some particular verses from the Septuagint indicates that two initial covenants made between a representative of the chosen nation with a Gentile party (Abraham and Solomon) did not breach the obligations resulting from the Law of Moses. The theological portrait of Abraham in the Book of Genesis captures an unambiguous evaluation of his conduct in accordance with the Law although the Law itself appeared considerably later when Moses lived. The pact between Solomon and Hiram deserves a similar evaluation. However, the later covenants between the kings of Israel and Judah with Gentile rulers deserve an extremely negative evaluation. Although they did not formally violate the Mosaic prohibitions, they were evaluated as a violation of trust in the Lord as He was the only Partner of the covenant between Himself and the Israelites. Such an interpretation is possible especially in light of Deut 7:6 which accentuates the uniqueness of Israel as a nation chosen by God from among other nations. And because this selection of Israel was done on the foundation of the covenant made on the Mount Sinai, it should be a one-of-a-kind covenant that should not be replaced with another pact signed with a human being, and let alone a Gentile. In all of the cases above, starting from King Asa and ending with Archpriest Jonathan, there was a true violation of the rule whereby the Lord was the only Partner of the covenant with His people. Thus, each of the analyzed treatises met with valid criticism both from a prophet and the inspired author. It is difficult to treat these violations as a major breach of the faith of Israel because of the established diplomatic relations. However, it was the rule of God’s uniqueness as a foundation for any sphere in the life of the chosen people that was violated. It included the political sphere which should not be excluded from the chosen people’s faith.

Przymierza Izraelitów z narodami w świetle zakazów Pięcioksięgu Biblii greckiej

The conducted exegesis of some particular verses from the Septuagint indicates that two initial covenants made between a representative of the chosen nation with a Gentile party (Abraham and Solomon) did not breach the obligations resulting from the Law of Moses. The theological portrait of Abraham in the Book of Genesis captures an unambiguous evaluation of his conduct in accordance with the Law although the Law itself appeared considerably later when Moses lived. The pact between Solomon and Hiram deserves a similar evaluation. However, the later covenants between the kings of Israel and Judah with Gentile rulers deserve an extremely negative evaluation. Although they did not formally violate the Mosaic prohibitions, they were evaluated as a violation of trust in the Lord as He was the only Partner of the covenant between Himself and the Israelites. Such an interpretation is possible especially in light of Deut 7:6 which accentuates the uniqueness of Israel as a nation chosen by God from among other nations. And because this selection of Israel was done on the foundation of the covenant made on the Mount Sinai, it should be a one-of-a-kind covenant that should not be replaced with another pact signed with a human being, and let alone a Gentile. In all of the cases above, starting from King Asa and ending with Archpriest Jonathan, there was a true violation of the rule whereby the Lord was the only Partner of the covenant with His people. Thus, each of the analyzed treatises met with valid criticism both from a prophet and the inspired author. It is difficult to treat these violations as a major breach of the faith of Israel because of the established diplomatic relations. However, it was the rule of God’s uniqueness as a foundation for any sphere in the life of the chosen people that was violated. It included the political sphere which should not be excluded from the chosen people’s faith.

Development of a dual-stage and visual-servo filming robot

This article presents the development of a visual-servo filming robot for dolly & truck style camera movement in filming applications. The robot was implemented with a fast-response slider as the upper stage on top of the slow-response tracked robot body as the lower stage, to improve target tracking performance. A new switching controller was developed, which controlled the stages’ motions by balancing and adjusting the weights of vision error and slider’s noncentering error of the upper stage, thus achieving tracking performance better than the traditional master–slave control strategy. The simulations were carried out to evaluate the tracking performance of the model, particularly focusing on evaluating how the dual stage improves the overall response of the model. The similar evaluation was executed experimentally as well. Both results confirm that the fast-response characteristics of the upper stage can compensate the slow dynamics of lower stage, the tracked robot which is inevitably heavy due to its composition.

Influence of orthopedic support structure and construction on compression and behavior during stress relaxation

This work was focused on changes of the compression generated by knitted orthopedic supports during the stress relaxation in order to find in which period of the stress relaxation the most significant part of the compression is lost. The influence of knitted structure, elastomeric inlay-yarn insertion density and shape/orientation of the rigid element fixed on the fabric on the compression and its changes under the stress relaxation was also investigated in this study. 11 different knitted structures and constructions were used in this research. It was found that the higher density of elastomeric inlay-yarn insertion into the knitted structure is not only responsible for higher compression generation, but also makes compression degradation during the time slower. In addition, the higher pre-tension of the elastomeric inlay-yarn leads to the faster relaxation process. Moreover, the shape and orientation of the rigid element can significantly affect the compression generation, however behavior of all variants during the stress relaxation is very similar. Evaluation of the tensile force after at least 120-300 s of the stress relaxation has to be used in design algorithm of very different compression products and applied in estimation of the compression at different manufacturing stages of the product.

An Alternate Unsupervised Technique Based on Distance Correlation and Shannon Entropy to Estimate λ0-Fuzzy Measure

λ0-measure is a special type of fuzzy measure. In the context of multi-attribute decision making (MADM), the measure can be used together with Choquet integral to model the interdependencies that usually present between the decision attributes. Unfortunately, the range of techniques available to estimate λ0-measure values is too limited i.e., only four techniques are available to this date. Besides, the review on literature shows that each of these existing techniques either requires some initial data from the decision-makers or misrepresents the actual interdependencies held by the attributes. Thus, an alternate unsupervised technique is needed for the estimation of λ0-measure values. This study has developed such a technique by integrating the idea of distance correlation and Shannon entropy. In this technique, the two inputs required to estimate λ0-measure values, namely, the interdependence degrees and fuzzy densities are determined by utilizing the distance correlation measures and entropy weights, respectively. An evaluation to rank the websites owned by five different hospitals located in Sabah, Malaysia, was conducted to illustrate the usage of the technique. A similar evaluation was also performed with a few selected MADM techniques for comparison purposes, where the proposed technique is found to have produced the most consistent ranking. From the literature perspective, this study has contributed an alternate unsupervised technique that can estimate λ0-measure values without necessitating any additional data from the decision-makers, and at the same time can better capture the interdependencies held by the attributes.

Evaluating the appropriateness of Facebook posts – What do faculty and residents consider?

In order to understand what constitutes unprofessional online behaviour from the perspectives of stakeholders, there have been studies that examine the perceptions of doctors and the public on hypothetical online postings. However, the considerations and reasoning of the participants when they evaluate online posts have not been explored in-depth. This project aimed to examine the main considerations and possible conflicting considerations of faculty and residents when they evaluate the appropriateness of Facebook posts, and how they might negotiate any conflicts. Faculty and residents from the National Healthcare Group – Alexandra Health Pte Ltd Residency in Singapore were randomly presented Facebooks posts as part of an online questionnaire, rated their appropriateness, and provided explanations for their ratings. Responses were coded for main considerations and responses with 2 or more conflicting considerations were further analysed to describe the conflict and the way they were negotiated. 182 faculty and residents rated the appropriateness of three out of six Facebook posts and explained their evaluation. Except for one post which was evaluated as ‘Neither appropriate nor inappropriate’ by the majority (37%) of the respondents, all other posts were rated as either ‘Very inappropriate’ or ‘Inappropriate’ by the majority of respondents (34%-69%). Despite similar evaluation of inappropriateness, faculty and residents take into account a wide range of considerations. These considerations tend to conflict with one another when the respondents considered freedom of expression of the poster and the educational purpose of a post. Understanding physicians’ negotiation of conflicting considerations provides insight into their outworking of professionalism in social media context.

appRaiseVR – An Evaluation Framework for Immersive Experiences

Objective. VR is evolving into everyday technology. For all diverse application areas, it is essential to understand the user’s condition to ensure a safe, pleasant, and meaningful VR experience. However, VR experience evaluation is still in its infancy. The present paper takes up this research desideratum by conflating diverse expertise and learnings about experience evaluation in general and VR experiences in particular into a systematic evaluation framework (appRaiseVR).Method. To capture diverse expertise, we conducted two focus groups (bottom-up approach) with experts working in different fields of experience evaluation (e. g., Movie Experience, Theatre Experiences). First, we clustered the results of both focus groups. Then, we conflated those results and the learnings about experience evaluation stemming from the field of user experience into the final framework (top-down approach).Results. The framework includes five steps providing high-level guidance through the VR evaluation process. The first three steps support the definition of the experience and evaluation conditions (setting, level, plausibility). The last two steps guide the selection to find an appropriate time course and tools of measure.Conclusion. appRaiseVR offers high-level guidance for evaluators with different expertise and contexts. Finally, establishing similar evaluation procedures might contribute to safe, pleasant, and meaningful VR experiences.